Is Honey safe? The best cashback and coupon extensions

Honey isn't malware, and in our signed-out network check in November 2026 it sent no addresses of non-shopping pages to PayPal and left a publisher's affiliate link alone. The trouble with Honey is the creators whose commissions it is accused of taking: in January 2026 three affiliate networks removed or suspended it, and a class action over those commissions is going ahead. It also pays at only 22 of the 50 big stores we checked, and only in PayPal Rewards points. For cash back, TopCashback is the best extension in 2026: it pays at 40 of those 50 stores with a 4% median headline rate and pays cash from any amount. BeFrugal comes second and posts the highest rate at more of our stores than anyone, and Capital One Shopping is the pick if you mostly want coupons applied and a lower price found.

Two of the extensions we checked did send home what you browse. RetailMeNot sent the name of every site we opened, and Coupert, which we checked but didn't score, sent the full address of every page.

Is Honey safe?

Honey is not malware, and it does what it says for shoppers: it tests coupon codes at checkout and adds PayPal Rewards points at stores that pay them. The safety question is about what it is accused of doing to other people's commissions, and it rests on allegations that a court has not yet decided.

When you click a creator's or a website's affiliate link, the store records that the sale came from them and pays them a commission. Affiliate network rules that date back to 2002 require shopping software to stand down: if someone else referred you, the extension mustn't swap in its own link (Ben Edelman). In December 2024 the YouTuber MegaLag published a video that he said showed Honey replacing creators' affiliate tracking with PayPal's at checkout when shoppers clicked its coupon or rewards button, even when it found no coupon. PayPal replied that "Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution" (Fortune). Creators sued; the case is now In re PayPal Honey Browser Extension Litigation in the Northern District of California (Cohen Milstein's case page). In December 2025 the researcher Ben Edelman published Honey's code and configuration, which he says shows that it honored stand-down only when it suspected it was being tested, for example for accounts under 30 days old or with few points (Honey's Dieselgate).

What followed:

• January 12, 2026: Rakuten Advertising removed Honey from its network. PayPal said "the code causing this behavior has been identified and no longer has an impact", that it predated PayPal's purchase of Honey, and that it affected "less than 0.1% of Honey's traffic" (Hello Partner).
• January 16 and 21, 2026: Impact suspended Honey, and Awin suspended its payments after an investigation it said confirmed policy violations (PPC Land).
• May 2026: Honey adopted Rakuten's open-source stand-down kit and was back on Rakuten Advertising, according to TopCashback's group commercial director, as reported by PPC Land.
• June 22, 2026: the judge denied PayPal's motion to dismiss, so the creators' claims go ahead (PPC Land). That is not a finding that PayPal did anything wrong.
• August 2026: trackers counted about 28,000 stores in Honey's program, down from about 35,000 (PPC Land).

What we saw on November 4, 2026: Honey's live stand-down settings file (cdn.honey.io/ab/ssd.json) has the tester checks Edelman documented switched off, and in our signed-out check Honey left a publisher's Home Depot link alone. A signed-out check can't show what Honey does at checkout for a signed-in user, which is what the case is about.

On privacy, Honey did better than most here. It sent no addresses of non-shopping pages in our check. At a store it sent the product page, price and product codes to its servers, which is how it finds coupons. Its Chrome listing declares that it handles "Web history", and its US privacy statement says "We do not sell personal information to third parties for money or share your personal information for cross context behavioral advertising".

So keep Honey if you value its coupons and price tracking and the case doesn't bother you. If you installed it to earn money back, it is the weakest earner here. Honey's help pages list three ways to use PayPal Rewards points: at PayPal checkout, as store gift cards from 1,000 points, or as a donation (redeeming PayPal Rewards). PayPal announced that cash redemption would end on August 1, 2026, though Doctor of Credit reported in October that the change didn't appear to have been enforced (Doctor of Credit).

The best cashback and coupon extensions, ranked

TopCashback

TopCashback ranks first, and it suits anyone who wants the most cash back at the stores they already use, paid as cash. It showed cash back at 40 of our 50 stores, as many as Rakuten, with a median headline rate of 4%, twice Rakuten's, and it had the top rate at 11 stores, including eBay, Foot Locker and Hotels.com. You can withdraw "any PAYABLE funds" to a US bank, PayPal or Venmo, with no minimum (TopCashback's terms).

Its headlines are category maxima. At Home Depot, "up to 10%" is for home decor and kitchenware; tools and hardware earn 1% ("Core Cash Back"). At Best Buy, 15% is for some Chromebooks and 1.5% covers "All Other Online Purchases". Check the store's rate table before a big purchase.

TopCashback's extension made no requests at all while signed out, because it works only when you're signed in (TopCashback's extension page), so our network check couldn't see what it sends. Its Chrome listing declares only "user activity" and says you activate cash back "in one click". Its opt-out page says its advertising disclosures "may be considered 'selling' or 'sharing'" under some state laws. It says it applies coupons, and it runs on Firefox and Safari, but it has no price comparison or tracking.

BeFrugal

BeFrugal ranks second and suits shoppers who check category rates before a big purchase. It posted the highest headline rate at 25 of our 50 stores, more than any other portal, and pays to a bank, PayPal, Venmo or Zelle from $0.01, with "most Cash Back payouts... sent on the next business day" (BeFrugal's payments help).

Those headlines need reading closely. Walmart's 19.5% is for Flash Deals; BeFrugal's own table pays 4.5% on most categories, 1.5% on electronics and 0% on "Other". Best Buy's 20% is for some Chromebooks, and "Other" earns 2.66%. Home Depot's 10.1% covers home decor, while tools and hardware earn 1.26%. It showed no cash back at 15 of our stores, including Etsy, Apple, IKEA and Wayfair.

BeFrugal sent no page addresses in our check, and its privacy policy limits the extension's tracking to retailer sites, with an opt-out. The same policy lets third-party advertisers "gather information about your activities on this site and other sites to provide you with advertising", which cost it two points on privacy. It lost a point on conduct because its Chrome listing advertises "Automatic Cash Back Activation", saying the extension "activates Cash Back as you shop"; Chrome's 2025 affiliate policy requires a user action before any affiliate link. Signed out, we couldn't see whether it asks first.

Those three points decide the order: without them, BeFrugal would rank first. Its second place also rests on headline rates. On CashbackMonitor's regular rates, BeFrugal's median falls to 1%, and it would drop to fifth.

Rakuten

Rakuten ranks third and takes "Best for credit card points": it is the only portal here that pays in Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt Points as well as by PayPal or check, from $5 (Rakuten's payment help). It showed cash back at 40 of our 50 stores, often one flat rate for the whole store, such as Macy's 2% on "All Other Categories", but its median headline rate was 2% and it had no cash back at Walmart or Home Depot on the day we checked.

Cash and points are paid every three months, on February, May, August and November 15; gift cards come in minutes. Rakuten says its extension applies coupons and checks other stores for a lower price, and it runs on Firefox and Safari. It left a publisher's link alone in our check and sent no non-shopping addresses home, but its privacy policy says it collects "URLs of the pages you visit, including those tracked by our browser extensions", "even without interaction", and that some disclosures to partners "may be considered 'selling', 'sharing'". It honors Global Privacy Control.

ShopBack

ShopBack ranks fourth and suits shoppers who already use it in Asia or Australia and also buy from US stores. It was clean in our check, says it applies coupons, and pays cash by PayPal or US bank transfer once your confirmed balance reaches $10, within 10 calendar days (ShopBack's US withdrawal guide). Its weakness is coverage: cash back at 33 of our 50 stores with a 1.5% median headline rate. It has no Firefox or Safari version that we could find.

Its Chrome listing says it will "only collect your browsing history and cookies to attribute shopping trips at our partner stores". Its privacy policy, on support.shopback.com, refused our automated requests, so we couldn't check whether ShopBack shares data for ads, and we made no deduction for that.

Capital One Shopping

Capital One Shopping ranks fifth and takes "Best for coupons and price checks", the only extension with full marks for tools: it says it applies codes at checkout and looks for a better price at other stores, and it keeps price history with drop alerts (Capital One Shopping's help center). It showed rewards at 43 of our 50 stores, the most here, but at a median rate of 1%, and 0.5% at Best Buy, Home Depot, Target and Apple.

Rewards come only as gift cards, from $5, and "may never be redeemed for cash" (terms of service). Creators sued Capital One, alleging that the extension replaced their affiliate cookies at checkout. Capital One agreed to a settlement of about $4 million and neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing; a federal court in Virginia gave it final approval on September 22, 2026 (final approval order). In our signed-out check it left a publisher's link alone. Its privacy policy says it "may collect pages you view or have viewed (such as product pages, online articles, etc)".

Swagbucks

Swagbucks ranks sixth and suits people who already earn Swagbucks points from surveys. Its SwagButton extension earns SB points (100 SB to $1) at 33 of our 50 stores, with a 1% median headline rate, and you can take them as PayPal cash from $5 (530 SB) or gift cards from $5 (Swagbucks rewards).

Its privacy score is the second lowest here. The privacy policy says the extension will "automatically track certain websites you visit... to correlate your browser history", and "We may disclose or sell aggregate or individualized information about you that may include... other websites you visit". The extension also asks Chrome for permission to manage your other extensions. It shows coupons but, by its listing, doesn't apply them, and we found no Firefox or Safari version.

RetailMeNot

RetailMeNot ranks seventh and suits coupon hunters who want occasional cash back at department stores. It says it finds and applies promo codes, and it pays cash back by PayPal or Venmo from $5.01, "generally" within minutes (Ziff Davis's terms). But in our check it sent the site name of every page we opened, shopping or not, to a merchant lookup on servers run by Ziff Davis, which owns RetailMeNot: a request to matte.ziffmedia.app carried hostname=medlineplus.gov when we read a government health page. Its privacy policy says "we may sell or share the personal data you provide to us to provide ads to you". Its Chrome listing says it applies "cash back offers automatically for you at checkout", which cost it a point on conduct.

RetailMeNot's site refused our automated requests, so its rates come from CashbackMonitor, which listed RetailMeNot cash back at 15 of our 50 stores on November 4, with a $50 cap per order. RetailMeNot's Chrome listing says it pays at more than 3,800 stores, so the true figure at our 50 may be higher.

PayPal Honey

PayPal Honey ranks last of eight and suits people who want automatic coupons and Amazon price tracking more than cash back. Its coupon and price tools are second only to Capital One Shopping's, and it was clean in our check, but it showed rewards at only 22 of our 50 stores, with none at Amazon, Walmart, Target or Best Buy, and its rewards are PayPal Rewards points. Its affiliate conduct score, 2 of 10, reflects the network actions of January 2026, the class action that survived PayPal's motion to dismiss, and a Chrome listing that says "Honey activates them at checkout" of rewards; Is Honey safe? above has the details.

What the extensions did in our browser

We loaded each extension, signed out, into its own new Chrome profile, then read a Wikipedia article, an AP News page and a government health page, opened Home Depot, and finally arrived at Home Depot through a publisher's affiliate link on the Impact network. We logged every request each extension made.

Extension	Sent non-shopping pages home	Touched an affiliate link without a click	Through a publisher's link
TopCashback	Not checked (made no requests signed out)	Not checked	Not checked
BeFrugal	No	No	Left it alone
Rakuten	No	No	Left it alone
ShopBack	No	No	Left it alone
Capital One Shopping	No	No	Left it alone
Swagbucks	No	No	Left it alone
RetailMeNot	Site names of every page	No	Left it alone
PayPal Honey	No	No	Left it alone
Coupert (not scored)	Full address of every page	No	Left the link alone, but showed its coupon pop-up

The finding to remember is the first column. An extension needs permission to "read and change all your data on all websites" to find coupons, and all 11 we checked ask for it. Most only send pages home when you are on a store. RetailMeNot sent the name of every site we visited, everywhere else too, and Coupert sent the full address, including a page about diabetes.

You can limit any of them: in Chrome's extension settings, set "Site access" to "On click", and the extension reads a page only when you click its button.

What headline rates hide

Portals advertise the best category at each store. What an ordinary order earns can be a tenth of it. These are the rates each portal's own page gave on November 4, 2026:

Portal	Home Depot: tools and hardware	Best Buy: everything not in a promoted category
TopCashback	1% (headline up to 10%)	1.5% (headline up to 15%)
BeFrugal	1.26% (headline 10.1%)	2.66% (headline 20%)
Rakuten	No cash back	1% (headline up to 8%)
Capital One Shopping	0.5%	0.5%
PayPal Honey	1%	None
Swagbucks	About 1% (headline up to 8%)	No catch-all rate; many products excluded
ShopBack	Not shown signed out (headline up to 6%)	Not shown signed out (headline up to 9%)

Our scores use headline rates because every portal shows one, on the same day and the same terms. On CashbackMonitor's regular, non-promotional rates for the same 50 stores, the medians were 2% for Rakuten and TopCashback, 1% for BeFrugal and Swagbucks, and 0.9% for ShopBack. Scored on those, TopCashback would still rank first and Rakuten would move up to second; the scoring sheet has the full regular-rate table.

Which one should you choose?

• If you want the most cash back as cash: TopCashback. Before a big purchase, compare its rate table with BeFrugal's for that category.
• If you buy in promoted categories, like a Chromebook or Walmart's Flash Deals: BeFrugal, which posts the highest rate at more of our stores and pays the next business day.
• If you'd rather have Amex or Bilt points: Rakuten.
• If you mainly want coupons and a lower price, and gift cards are fine: Capital One Shopping.
• If you already use Honey: keep it for coupons and price tracking if you like them, but use a portal for cash back.
• If privacy matters most: avoid RetailMeNot and Coupert, which sent our browsing home in our check. Of the rest, BeFrugal's privacy policy limits the extension's tracking to store sites, and TopCashback's Chrome listing declares the least data. Set whichever you choose to "On click".

How we scored

We read every portal's public store page for 50 big US stores on November 4, 2026, signed out, and recorded the headline rate. Honey's and Swagbucks' pages were rendered in a browser; RetailMeNot's rates come from CashbackMonitor, because its site refused our automated requests and we didn't try to get around that. Coupert, Karma and Ibotta show no rates on public store pages, so we ran their extensions through the network check but didn't score them.

For the network check we downloaded each extension's current Chrome Web Store version and loaded it into a new Chromium profile, one extension per profile, never signed in, and logged every request it made. We then searched those requests for the addresses of the pages we had visited, in plain and encoded form, and for any request to an affiliate network.

What we didn't check: anything signed in, any purchase or checkout, whether cash back tracks or pays, and how often coupons work. Coupon and price features are scored on what each company says. A signed-out extension has no account to pay, so it has little reason to touch an affiliate link; the cases against Honey and Capital One Shopping concern signed-in users at checkout. Our conduct scores therefore also count network actions, court cases and what each listing says about activating cash back. Every score, its evidence and the full 50-store table are in the scoring sheet.

What the AI answers got wrong

We asked four AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, through their APIs with web search on) five versions of these questions in November 2026. Honey was named in 15 of the 20 answers, Rakuten and Capital One Shopping in 13 each. These are the facts the answers got wrong or passed on:

• Honey is still in the Chrome Web Store. One answer passed on a source's claim that it was suspended from the store in January 2026. On November 4, 2026 it was listed with 13 million users, updated October 30.
• Honey Gold is gone. Answers still described Honey Gold paid to a PayPal balance. It is PayPal Rewards now, and Honey's help pages no longer list cash.
• Rakuten doesn't pay the most. One answer said it does, citing "up to 40%". Its median headline rate at our 50 stores was 2%, against TopCashback's 4%.
• Capital One Shopping's minimum is $5, in gift cards only, not the $5 to $10 one answer gave.

Whichever you pick, run one cash-back extension, not two: stores usually credit the last link clicked, so a second extension can cancel the first, and each one you add is another that can read every page you open.