Best Honey Alternatives
in 2026
Honey was caught cookie-stuffing in 2024–2025, secretly replacing affiliate cookies from content creators and diverting millions in commissions to PayPal. Over 8 million users uninstalledthe extension. If you're looking for a replacement, here are the best alternatives for price tracking, coupons, and cashback — including options that don't require a browser extension at all.
Last updated: April 2026
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels
What Happened to Honey?
Honey was once the most popular shopping browser extension, with 17 million monthly active users when PayPal acquired it for $4 billion in January 2020 — the largest consumer fintech deal at that time. By 2021, PayPal reported Honey had grown to 30+ million members.
In late 2024, YouTuber MegaLag published a detailed investigation revealing that Honey's browser extension was secretly engaging in cookie stuffing— replacing affiliate tracking cookies from content creators (YouTubers, bloggers, review sites) with Honey's own affiliate cookies. This meant that when creators recommended a product and their audience purchased it through Honey, the commission went to PayPal instead of the creator.
The investigation also raised questions about whether Honey always showed the best available coupon codes or sometimes suppressed better codes in favor of merchant partnerships that earned Honey higher commissions. The controversy led to 8 million+ users uninstalling the extension and multiple class-action lawsuits.
The Honey Scandal by the Numbers
PayPal paid to acquire Honey in 2020
Source: PayPal press release
Monthly active users at time of acquisition
Source: PayPal, 2020
Users who uninstalled after the scandal
Source: Industry reports, 2025
Cumulative user savings Honey claimed
Source: PayPal, 2021–22
Best Honey Alternatives Compared
Honey did three things: coupon testing, price tracking (Droplist), and cashback. No single tool replaces all three perfectly. Here are the best options for each.
PriceDrop
Price TrackingFreeExtension: NoAI-powered price tracker that works on any e-commerce website. Paste a product URL, set your target price, and get email alerts when it drops. No browser extension, no cookie manipulation — runs entirely in the cloud.
Best for: Tracking prices on any website (iHerb, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and thousands more). Best Honey replacement for people who used Honey's "Droplist" price tracking feature.
Rakuten
CashbackFreeExtension: OptionalCashback platform with 15+ million US members. Earn 1–10% cashback at partner stores. Has paid out over $3.7 billion in cash back to members as of 2023. Also offers coupons, though fewer than Honey.
Best for: Cashback on purchases you were already going to make. Works at major retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Macy's, and Sephora.
Capital One Shopping
Coupons + Price ComparisonFreeExtension: Yes (required)Browser extension (formerly Wikibuy) with 10+ million users. Automatically tests coupon codes at checkout and compares prices across retailers. Reports average user savings of $160/year.
Best for: Automatic coupon testing at checkout — the closest direct replacement for Honey's core coupon feature.
CamelCamelCamel
Price Tracking (Amazon only)FreeExtension: Optional (The Camelizer)The gold standard for Amazon price history. Tracks millions of Amazon products with detailed price charts. Chrome extension (The Camelizer) has 1–3 million users. Only works on Amazon.
Best for: Amazon-only shoppers who want detailed price history charts and alerts. Does not work on any other website.
Keepa
Price Tracking (Amazon only)$19/monthExtension: Yes (required)Power-user Amazon analytics tool tracking 18+ data points per product — sales rank, Buy Box history, offer counts, and more. Chrome extension has 1–2 million users.
Best for: Professional Amazon sellers and researchers who need deep product analytics. Overkill for everyday shoppers.
Karma
Price Tracking + Coupons + CashbackFreeExtension: Yes (required)All-in-one shopping assistant covering 100,000+ retailers. Combines price tracking, coupon testing, and cashback. Polished mobile app with push notifications.
Best for: Shoppers who want one tool for everything. Broader retailer coverage than CamelCamelCamel, but less depth than PriceDrop's AI-powered detection.
Why Extension-Free Matters
The Honey scandal was not a bug — it was a consequence of the browser extension model. Any extension with access to your browsing data can see every page you visit, modify page content, and manipulate cookies. Honey did exactly this.
A 2018 European Commission studyfound that 20% of e-commerce retailers already used some form of personalized pricing. Browser extensions that track your shopping behavior create an additional data layer that can be monetized in ways users don't expect — as Honey demonstrated.
Cloud-based price trackers like PriceDrop eliminate this risk entirely. There is no extension to install, no access to your browsing data, and no opportunity for cookie manipulation. You paste a URL, set a target, and receive an email when the price drops. The tool never touches your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Honey?
In late 2024 and into 2025, Honey (owned by PayPal since its $4 billion acquisition in 2020) was exposed in a cookie-stuffing scandal. The browser extension secretly replaced affiliate cookies from content creators with Honey's own cookies, diverting millions in commissions to PayPal. YouTuber MegaLag's investigation went viral, leading to over 8 million users uninstalling the extension. Multiple class-action lawsuits followed.
Is Honey safe to use in 2026?
While Honey is still available, trust in the extension has been severely damaged. The core issue — that a browser extension with access to all your browsing data was secretly manipulating cookies — raises fundamental questions about any shopping extension that requires full browser access. Many users have switched to alternatives that don't require browser extensions at all.
What is the best Honey alternative for price tracking?
PriceDrop is the best Honey alternative for price tracking. Unlike Honey, it requires no browser extension — you paste a product URL on the website and PriceDrop's AI monitors the price hourly. It works on any e-commerce site (not just Amazon), and since there's no extension, there's no possibility of cookie manipulation or browsing data access.
What is the best Honey alternative for coupons?
Capital One Shopping is the closest replacement for Honey's coupon-testing feature. It automatically tries coupon codes at checkout across major retailers. However, it still requires a browser extension. If you want to avoid extensions entirely, manually checking coupon sites like RetailMeNot before checkout is the safest approach.
Can I track prices without a browser extension?
Yes. PriceDrop tracks prices on any e-commerce website without requiring a browser extension, desktop app, or mobile app. It runs entirely in the cloud — paste a product URL, set your target price, and receive email alerts when the price drops. This eliminates the privacy and security concerns associated with browser extensions.
How much money did Honey actually save users?
PayPal reported that Honey users collectively saved $4.7 billion cumulatively (as of 2021–2022). However, the cookie-stuffing scandal revealed that Honey was simultaneously diverting affiliate commissions from content creators. The investigation also raised questions about whether Honey always showed the best available coupons or sometimes suppressed better codes in favor of merchant partnerships.
Track Prices Without Extensions
PriceDrop works on any website — no browser extension, no cookie manipulation, no data tracking. Paste a URL, set your price, get alerted.
Try PriceDrop Free