diff --git a/i3pystatus/updates/__init__.py b/i3pystatus/updates/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60f83f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/i3pystatus/updates/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+from i3pystatus import SettingsBase, IntervalModule, formatp
+
+
+class Backend(SettingsBase):
+    """
+    TODO: doc
+    """
+
+    updates = 0
+
+
+class Updates(IntervalModule):
+    """
+    Generic update checker
+
+    TODO: doc
+    """
+
+    interval = 60 * 5  # 5 minutes
+
+    settings = (
+        ("backends", "List of backends used to check for updates."),
+        ("format", ""),
+        ("format_no_updates", ""),
+        ("color", ""),
+        ("color_no_updates", ""),
+    )
+    required = ("backends",)
+
+    backends = None
+    format = "U {count}"
+    format_no_updates = None
+    color = "#00DD00"
+    color_no_updates = "#FFFFFF"
+
+    on_leftclick = "run"
+
+    def init(self):
+        if not isinstance(self.backends, list):
+            self.backends = [self.backends]
+        return
+
+    def run(self):
+        updates_count = 0
+        for backend in self.backends:
+            updates_count += backend.updates
+
+        if updates_count == 0:
+            self.output = {} if not self.format_no_updates else {
+                "full_text": self.format_no_updates,
+                "color": self.color_no_updates,
+            }
+            return
+
+        fdict = {
+            "count": updates_count,
+        }
+        self.output = {
+            "full_text": formatp(self.format, **fdict).strip(),
+            "color": self.color,
+        }
+        return
diff --git a/i3pystatus/updates/cower.py b/i3pystatus/updates/cower.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aad1650
--- /dev/null
+++ b/i3pystatus/updates/cower.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+from i3pystatus.core.command import run_through_shell
+
+from i3pystatus.updates import Backend
+
+
+class Cower(Backend):
+    """
+    Checks for updates in Arch User Repositories using the `cower` AUR helper.
+    """
+
+    @property
+    def updates(self):
+        command = ["cower", "-u"]
+        cower = run_through_shell(command)
+        out = cower.out.strip()
+
+        return len(out.split("\n")) if len(out) > 0 else 0
+
+Backend = Cower
diff --git a/i3pystatus/updates/pacman.py b/i3pystatus/updates/pacman.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96e56ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/i3pystatus/updates/pacman.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from i3pystatus.core.command import run_through_shell
+
+from i3pystatus.updates import Backend
+
+
+class Pacman(Backend):
+    """
+    Checks for updates in Arch Linux pacman repositories using the
+    `checkupdates` script.
+    """
+
+    @property
+    def updates(self):
+        command = ["checkupdates"]
+        checkupdates = run_through_shell(command)
+        out = checkupdates.out.strip()
+
+        return len(out.split("\n")) if len(out) > 0 else 0
+
+Backend = Pacman
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b8ef64d..8cf3168 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ setup(name="i3pystatus",
           "i3pystatus.core",
           "i3pystatus.mail",
           "i3pystatus.pulseaudio",
+          "i3pystatus.updates",
       ],
       entry_points={
           "console_scripts": [