Scoring sheet
How we scored the best cashback and coupon extensions
Every score in Is Honey safe? The best cashback and coupon extensions comes from this sheet: the tools we considered, the scale for each criterion, and the evidence and date behind each score.
This page shows the working behind the best cashback and coupon extensions: the extensions we considered, the criteria and weights, what each score means, and every score with the evidence behind it.
The page is desk-researched, with two checks we ran ourselves on November 4, 2026. We read every portal's advertised cash-back rate at the same 50 big US stores, and we ran a signed-out network check: each extension in a new, empty Chrome profile, with every request it made logged while we browsed ordinary pages, a store, and a store reached through a publisher's affiliate link. We never signed in, bought anything or applied a coupon, so coupon and price features are scored on what each company says. Payout terms, privacy policies, lawsuits and affiliate network actions come from primary sources, linked below. Everything was checked on November 4, 2026, unless a line says otherwise.
The question and the reader
The question, in the reader's words: "Is Honey safe to use in 2026?", and then "What's the best cashback extension?" and "Should I uninstall Honey, and what should I use instead?" We asked four AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, through their APIs with web search on) five phrasings of these questions, which gave 20 answers. Those answers built most of the field below.
The reader shops online in the US, has heard that Honey takes commissions from creators, and wants to know which extension pays them the most without spying on them or cheating the people whose links they click.
Must-haves
An extension had to pass all three to be scored. These are filters, not criteria.
- A Chrome extension that pays cash back or rewards at US stores, not only coupons.
- New users in the US can sign up today.
- The portal publishes its rate for each store where anyone can read it, so we could read all of them on the same day on the same terms.
The field
"Named" counts the answers, of 20, whose text recommends or discusses the extension.
| Extension | Named | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| PayPal Honey | 15 | Scored |
| Rakuten | 13 | Scored |
| Capital One Shopping | 13 | Scored |
| TopCashback | 9 | Scored |
| RetailMeNot | 3 | Scored. Its site refused our automated requests, so its rates come from CashbackMonitor, labeled below |
| ShopBack | 2 | Scored |
| Coupert | 1 | Not scored: it shows no cash-back rates on its public store pages, so it fails must-have 3. We ran its extension through the network check anyway: it sent the full address of every page we visited to its servers (see the privacy notes below) |
| Ibotta | 1 | Not scored: its store rates are shown only after you sign in (must-have 3). In our network check its extension sent no addresses of non-shopping pages |
| Stackable | 1 | Not scored: a website that ranks cash-back portals, not an extension that pays cash back |
| Keepa and CamelCamelCamel | 1 each | Not scored: Amazon price trackers with no cash back (must-have 1) |
| CashbackMonitor | 2 | Not scored: a website that compares portal rates. We used its figures for RetailMeNot |
| BeFrugal | 0 | Scored. A long-running US portal with an extension; none of the answers named it, and we added it to see how a smaller portal compares |
| Swagbucks (SwagButton) | 0 | Scored. Prodege's points site, with a shopping extension; added for the same reason |
| Karma | 0 | Not scored: no rates on public store pages (must-have 3). Its privacy policy says it sells aggregated browsing data from the extension |
| CouponCabin | 0 | Not scored: it pays cash back and has an extension, but its store pages returned an error to our automated requests, so we couldn't read its rates (must-have 3 on the day). To retry at the next check |
| SimplyCodes | 0 | Not scored: a coupon-code site and extension; its pages refused our automated requests, so we couldn't confirm whether it pays cash back at US stores (must-have 1) |
| Microsoft Edge Shopping | 0 | Not scored: built into the Edge browser, not an extension you choose; Microsoft retired its coupon feature in 2025 and its cashback needs a Microsoft account |
| Wikibuy | 0 | Not scored: Capital One bought it and it became Capital One Shopping |
| Card-linked offers and card or airline shopping portals (Chase Offers, Amex Offers, airline miles malls) | 0 | Not scored: only for that card's holders or airline's members (must-have 2), and card-linked offers are added in your card account, not by an extension |
| Fetch and other receipt-scanning apps | 0 | Not scored: phone apps for receipts, not browser extensions |
| Phia | 0 | Not scored: a fashion resale price-comparison extension, not a general cash-back portal |
Criteria and weights
Set before any extension was scored.
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 30 | How many of our 50 stores pay anything, and the median advertised rate across all 50 |
| Payout | 15 | Whether you can take the money as cash, the minimum, and whether you get it on request |
| Affiliate conduct | 20 | What it did with affiliate links in our network check, what its listing says about activating cash back, and network sanctions and court cases over taking commissions |
| Privacy | 20 | What it sent home in our network check, what it says it collects, and whether it sells or shares your data for advertising |
| Coupons and tools | 15 | Automatic coupons, price comparison, price tracking, and Firefox and Safari versions |
Why these weights: cash back is the reason to install one, so it counts most. Conduct and privacy each count for a fifth, because these extensions read every page you open and sit between you, the store and the creators whose links you click, which is the whole question about Honey. Payout and tools count less: every portal here lets you take your money out, and coupon features are similar across them.
Not scored: how often coupons actually work, whether cash back tracks, and customer service. No independent test with a published method covers this field, and measuring it would mean buying through every portal.
What each score means
Cash back at 50 big stores
- Coverage: 0.1 point for each of the 50 stores where the portal shows any cash back, up to 5.
- Rate: 1 point for each percentage point of the median headline rate across all 50 stores (counting stores with no cash back as 0%), up to 5, which a 5% median reaches.
- Rounded to one decimal.
What a 10 looks like: cash back at all 50 stores and a median of 5% or more. A 7: about 45 stores with a 2.5% median. A 4: about 30 stores with a 1% median. A 0: no cash back at any of them.
Headline rates are the best category at a store, not what most items earn, and some portals quote single categories more than others. BeFrugal's 19.5% at Walmart is for Flash Deals; its own table pays 4.5% on most categories, 1.5% on electronics and 0% on "Other". We score the headline because every portal shows one, on the same day and the same terms, and we show the regular rates beside it on the page. On CashbackMonitor's regular (non-special) rates for the same 50 stores, the medians were Rakuten 2%, TopCashback 2%, BeFrugal 1%, ShopBack 0.9% and Swagbucks 1% (it doesn't track Honey or Capital One Shopping).
Payout
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| Cash to a bank account or PayPal | 5. Gift cards, store credit or PayPal checkout credit only: 2 |
| Minimum to take money out by the best method | 3 for $5.01 or less; 2 for up to $10; 1 for up to $25; 0 above |
| When you get it | 2 on request; 1 on a fixed schedule (monthly or quarterly); 0 not stated |
What a 10 looks like: cash to PayPal or a bank on request from a few dollars. A 7: gift cards only, on request, from $5. A 4: no cash, a $10 minimum, timing not stated.
Affiliate conduct
Start at 10 and subtract:
| Finding | Points |
|---|---|
| In our network check, it added or replaced affiliate tracking without a click, or replaced the publisher's link we arrived through | Score is 0 |
| An affiliate network suspended, removed or expelled it in the past two years | −4 |
| A court case over taking affiliate commissions: pending after a motion to dismiss was denied | −3 |
| A court case over taking affiliate commissions: settled in the past two years | −2 |
| In our network check, it showed its coupon or cash-back prompt on a page we reached through another publisher's affiliate link | −2 |
| Its US Chrome Web Store listing says cash back or rewards activate, or are applied, automatically, rather than with a click | −1 |
What a 10 looks like: left every link alone in our check, with no sanctions, suits or auto-activation. A 7: a clean check, but a settled suit and an auto-activation claim. A 3: a clean check today, but a network removed it and a suit is live. A 0: caught touching an affiliate link in our check.
Listings were read in US English on November 4, 2026; the Chrome Web Store shows some extensions a different description in other languages.
Our check ran signed out. A signed-out extension has no account to pay, so a clean result here shows what an extension does to a new user, not what it does at checkout for a signed-in one; network actions and court cases cover that.
Privacy
Start at 10 and subtract:
| Finding | Points |
|---|---|
| In our network check, it sent the full address of non-shopping pages to its company | −5 |
| In our network check, it sent the site names of non-shopping pages to its company | −3 |
| Its privacy policy says it collects pages you visit beyond shopping sites, or its Chrome Web Store listing declares "Web history" | −2 |
| Its privacy policy says it sells or shares personal data for targeted or cross-context advertising (including what US state laws call a sale or share), or lets third-party advertisers track your activity on other sites | −2 |
| Its privacy policy says it may sell information about you that includes the websites you visit | −2 more |
What a 10 looks like: nothing about non-shopping pages in our check, collection limited to shopping sites, and no sale or sharing for ads. A 6: a clean check, but it says it collects pages you visit and shares data for ads. A 5: it sent site names home and shares for ads.
Coupons and tools
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| Coupon codes | 4 if it finds and applies codes at checkout for you; 2 if it only shows codes |
| Compares the price at other stores or sellers | 2 (1 if only between sellers on Amazon) |
| Price history or price-drop alerts | 2 |
| A Firefox add-on from the same company | 1 |
| A Safari extension from the same company | 1 |
What a 10 looks like: all five. A 6: automatic coupons and both other browsers. A 2: codes shown, no other browser.
Scores
Rates are each portal's headline rate at the store on November 4, 2026; the full table of 50 stores is below the scores.
TopCashback: total 8.4
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 8 | Cash back at 40 of 50 stores; median headline rate 4%, the highest rate at 11 stores. 4.0 + 4.0. Headlines are category maxima: at Home Depot its "Core Cash Back" on tools and hardware is 1% against a headline of 10%, and Best Buy's "All Other Online Purchases" is 1.5% against 15% |
| Payout | 10 | ACH to a US bank, PayPal, Venmo or Amazon gift cards, "once you have any PAYABLE funds" (terms), so no minimum, on request. 5 + 3 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 10 | Not checked: signed out, its extension made no requests at all; its extension page says you must be signed in to use it. Its Chrome listing says you activate cash back "in one click", so no auto-activation deduction. No network action or court case found |
| Privacy | 8 | Not checked: it was dormant signed out, so our network check shows nothing either way. Its Chrome listing declares only "User activity". Its privacy policy doesn't describe the extension; its opt-out page says its advertising disclosures "may be considered 'selling' or 'sharing'" under some state laws. 10 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 6 | The Chrome listing says it will "find and apply working coupon codes". No price comparison or tracking. Firefox add-on; Safari extension. 4 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 |
BeFrugal: total 8.0
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 8.5 | Cash back at 35 of 50 stores; median headline rate 6.5%, the highest here, and the highest rate at 25 stores. 3.5 + 5.0 (the rate part's maximum). Its headlines are the best category: Walmart 19.5% (Flash Deals; 4.5% on most categories, 1.5% electronics, 0% "Other"), Best Buy 20% (some Chromebooks; "Other" 2.66%), Home Depot 10.1% (home decor; tools and hardware 1.26%) |
| Payout | 10 | Bank direct deposit, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or eCard from $0.01, or a check from $25; "Most Cash Back payouts are sent on the next business day" (payments help). 5 + 3 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 9 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check, with no prompt. No network action or court case found. Its Chrome listing advertises "Automatic Cash Back Activation": "Our extension alerts you and activates Cash Back as you shop"; Chrome's affiliate policy requires a user action before any affiliate link. Signed out, we couldn't see whether it asks first. 10 − 1 |
| Privacy | 6 | Sent no page addresses in our check. Its privacy policy limits the extension's tracking to retailer sites ("On retailer websites... we track browsing"), with an opt-out in the extension, and says "We do not sell your Personally Identifiable Information". The same policy says third-party advertisers' cookies "gather information about your activities on this site and other sites to provide you with advertising based on your browsing activities and interests". Its Chrome listing declares "Web history". 10 − 2 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 6 | Applies codes in your cart "with just 1 click" (Chrome listing). No price comparison or tracking. Firefox add-on; Safari extension. 4 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 |
Rakuten: total 7.6
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 6 | Cash back at 40 of 50 stores; median headline rate 2%, the highest rate at four stores. 4.0 + 2.0. Many Rakuten rates are flat (Macy's 2% on "All Other Categories"); no cash back at Walmart or Home Depot that day |
| Payout | 9 | PayPal, check, Bilt Points, Samsung Cash or Amex Membership Rewards points, from $5, paid every three months (February, May, August and November 15); gift cards in minutes, also from $5 (when will I get paid). 5 + 3 + 1 |
| Affiliate conduct | 10 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check, with no prompt. Its Chrome listing says "It's one click to activate Cash Back". No network action or court case found. In May 2026 Rakuten published an open-source stand-down kit for extensions (PPC Land) |
| Privacy | 6 | Sent no non-shopping addresses in our check; store URLs went to api.rakuten.com. Its privacy policy (October 23, 2026) collects "URLs of the pages you visit, including those tracked by our browser extensions", "even without interaction", and says some disclosures to partners "may be considered 'selling', 'sharing'". It honors Global Privacy Control. 10 − 2 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 8 | "Coupon Magic" applies coupons; "Price Magic" looks for lower prices elsewhere (Chrome listing). No price tracking found. Firefox add-on; Safari extension. 4 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 1 |
ShopBack: total 7.0
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 4.8 | Cash back at 33 of 50 stores; median headline rate 1.5%. 3.3 + 1.5 |
| Payout | 9 | PayPal or ACH to a US bank once your confirmed balance reaches $10, credited within 10 calendar days (ShopBack US withdrawal guide). 5 + 2 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 10 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check, with no prompt. Its Chrome listing describes activating "with just one click". No network action or court case found. At install it called its own install-tracking link on the Impact network, which pays it for the install, not for a purchase |
| Privacy | 8 | Sent no page addresses in our check. Its Chrome listing declares "Web history" and 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 it sells or shares data for ads; no deduction was made for that part. 10 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 4 | Applies coupons automatically (Chrome listing); a watchlist of stores, not prices. No Firefox add-on or Safari extension found in Mozilla's or Apple's stores. 4 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
Capital One Shopping: total 6.9
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 5.3 | Rewards at 43 of 50 stores, the most here, but a median rate of 1%; 0.5% at Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, Apple and HP. 4.3 + 1.0 |
| Payout | 7 | Gift cards only, from $5; rewards "may never be redeemed for cash" (terms of service). Redeemed on request. 2 + 3 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 8 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check, with no prompt. Its Chrome listing doesn't say rewards activate automatically. A class action by creators alleged the extension replaced their affiliate cookies at checkout; Capital One agreed to a settlement of about $4 million, neither admitting nor denying wrongdoing, given preliminary approval in December 2025 (ABA Banking Journal) and final approval on September 22, 2026 (order, E.D. Va., case 1:25-cv-00060). 10 − 2 |
| Privacy | 6 | Sent no non-shopping addresses in our check; store URLs went to capitaloneshopping.com and New Relic. Its privacy policy (July 31, 2026) says it "may collect pages you view or have viewed (such as product pages, online articles, etc)"; Capital One's California disclosure, which covers it, gives a right to opt out of "sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising". 10 − 2 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 10 | Applies codes at checkout and searches for a better price at other stores (Chrome listing); price history, a watchlist and price-drop alerts (help center). Firefox add-on; Safari extension. 4 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 |
Swagbucks (SwagButton): total 5.9
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 4.3 | Cash back at 33 of 50 stores; median headline rate 1%. 3.3 + 1.0. Paid in SB points, 100 SB to $1 |
| Payout | 10 | PayPal from $5 for 530 SB, gift cards from $5 for 500 SB, on its rewards page, read in a browser; redeemed on request. Help pages on payout timing refused our automated requests. 5 + 3 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 10 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check, with no prompt. Its Chrome listing says you activate "with the click of a button". No network action or court case found |
| Privacy | 4 | Sent no page addresses in our check. Its privacy policy (September 1, 2025) says the extension will "automatically track certain websites you visit... to correlate your browser history", "We may Sell or Share your PI and/or use your PI for Targeted Advertising", and "We may disclose or sell aggregate or individualized information about you that may include... other websites you visit". The extension also asks for permission to manage your other extensions. 10 − 2 − 2 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 2 | Shows coupons for the site you're on; doesn't apply them (Chrome listing). No Firefox add-on or Safari extension from Prodege found. 2 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
RetailMeNot: total 5.3
RetailMeNot's site refused our automated requests. Its rates below are CashbackMonitor's for November 4, 2026; its payout terms and privacy policy come from Ziff Davis, which owns it.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 1.5 | Cash back at 15 of 50 stores on CashbackMonitor, median 0%, with a cap of $50 per order on its listed rates. 1.5 + 0. RetailMeNot's Chrome listing says it pays at more than 3,800 stores, so this may undercount it |
| Payout | 10 | PayPal or Venmo from $5.01, "Generally... issuing of payment within minutes" (Ziff Davis terms, September 2026). 5 + 3 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 9 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check, with no prompt. No network action or court case found. Its Chrome listing says it "finds, tests and applies promo codes and cash back offers automatically for you at checkout". 10 − 1 |
| Privacy | 3 | Sent the site name of every page we visited, shopping or not, to a merchant lookup at matte.ziffmedia.app, run by Ziff Davis, which owns RetailMeNot (for example hostname=medlineplus.gov, a government health site; only the site name, not the page). The shopping privacy policy says "we may sell or share the personal data you provide to us to provide ads to you" and shares data with other Ziff Davis companies for targeted advertising. Its Chrome listing declares "Web history". 10 − 3 − 2 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 6 | "finds, tests and applies promo codes" (Chrome listing). No price comparison or tracking. Firefox add-on; Safari extension. 4 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 |
PayPal Honey: total 4.9
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back at 50 big stores | 2.2 | PayPal Rewards at 22 of 50 stores, median 0%: nothing at Amazon, Walmart, Target or Best Buy. 2.2 + 0. Rates read from each store page in a browser |
| Payout | 6 | PayPal Rewards points, which Honey's help pages say you can use at PayPal checkout, as store gift cards ("for US members, you'll need 1,000 points for a gift card") or as a donation, on request (redeeming PayPal Rewards; what are PayPal Rewards, updated October 26, 2026). PayPal announced that cash redemption would end on August 1, 2026; Doctor of Credit added on October 12, 2026 that it didn't look enforced. PayPal's own pages refused our automated requests, so we scored on Honey's help pages, which list no cash option. 2 + 2 + 2 |
| Affiliate conduct | 2 | Left the publisher's link alone in our check. Rakuten Advertising removed Honey from its network on January 12, 2026 (Hello Partner); Impact suspended it on January 16 and Awin suspended its payments on January 21 (PPC Land). Honey was back on Rakuten Advertising after adopting Rakuten's stand-down kit in May 2026, according to TopCashback's group commercial director (PPC Land). On June 22, 2026, the court denied PayPal's motion to dismiss the creators' class action (Cohen Milstein; PPC Land). PayPal says Honey "follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution" (Fortune). Its US Chrome listing says "When rewards are available, Honey activates them at checkout". 10 − 4 − 3 − 1 |
| Privacy | 8 | Sent no non-shopping addresses in our check; at the store it sent the product URL, price, GTIN and SKU. Its Chrome listing declares "Web history". 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". 10 − 2 |
| Coupons and tools | 9 | Tests and applies coupons; compares sellers on Amazon; Droplist price tracking and price history (Chrome listing). Firefox add-on; Safari extension. 4 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 |
The 50-store table
Headline rate on November 4, 2026; 0 means no cash back shown. RetailMeNot's column is from CashbackMonitor.
| Store | TopCashback | BeFrugal | Rakuten | ShopBack | Capital One Shopping | Swagbucks | RetailMeNot | PayPal Honey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Walmart | 8% | 19.5% | 0 | 0 | 2% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| Target | 2% | 0.1% | 1% | 2% | 0.5% | 0 | 5% | 0 |
| eBay | 10% | 0 | 1% | 1% | 1% | 5% | 2% | 0.5% |
| Etsy | 0 | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | 3% | 0 | 0 |
| Macy's | 7% | 12% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 12% | 3% |
| Kohl's | 2% | 5% | 2% | 15% | 0.5% | 4% | 5% | 0 |
| Nordstrom | 2.4% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| JCPenney | 2% | 3% | 0 | 2% | 1% | 1% | 3% | 5% |
| Best Buy | 15% | 20% | 8% | 9% | 0.5% | 6% | 4% | 0 |
| Apple | 4% | 0 | 2% | 0 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dell | 0 | 0 | 2% | 0 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HP | 2% | 8% | 3% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 1% | 0 | 1.5% |
| Lenovo | 4% | 9% | 2% | 0 | 1.5% | 1% | 0 | 3% |
| Samsung | 2% | 7% | 2% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 1% | 0 | 1.5% |
| Newegg | 1% | 6% | 1% | 0.8% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5% |
| The Home Depot | 10% | 10.1% | 0 | 6% | 0.5% | 8% | 10% | 1% |
| Lowe's | 0 | 6% | 1% | 1.5% | 1% | 3% | 0 | 2% |
| Wayfair | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| IKEA | 4% | 0 | 2% | 0 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crate & Barrel | 0 | 0 | 2% | 0 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pottery Barn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | 1% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 0 |
| Nike | 8% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 4% | 4% | 1% |
| Adidas | 9% | 8% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 8% | 5% |
| Under Armour | 10% | 11% | 8% | 3% | 13% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| Dick's Sporting Goods | 2% | 6% | 2% | 1.5% | 1% | 0 | 0 | 3% |
| REI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Foot Locker | 10% | 9% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 0 | 5% |
| Zappos | 4% | 6% | 2% | 0 | 1.5% | 2% | 0 | 4% |
| Old Navy | 4% | 9% | 2% | 3% | 0 | 2% | 3% | 0 |
| Gap | 4% | 8% | 20% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 5% | 0 |
| Lululemon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Levi's | 2% | 7% | 2% | 1.5% | 2% | 1% | 3% | 0 |
| J.Crew | 3% | 8% | 2% | 1.5% | 1% | 1% | 0 | 0 |
| H&M | 2% | 0 | 2% | 0 | 0.5% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sephora | 7% | 5% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 0 | 2.5% |
| Ulta Beauty | 4% | 7% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 0 | 1.5% |
| Bath & Body Works | 4.84% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CVS | 8% | 15% | 3% | 9% | 4% | 1% | 10% | 0 |
| Walgreens | 4% | 8% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 0 | 4% |
| Chewy | 1% | 6% | 2% | 6% | 2% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Petco | 6% | 7% | 2% | 1.5% | 2% | 1% | 3% | 0 |
| Staples | 4% | 9% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 0 | 0.5% |
| Office Depot | 4% | 10% | 4% | 0 | 1% | 2% | 0 | 3% |
| Instacart | 0 | 0 | 1% | 2% | 3.5% | 0 | 0 | 6% |
| Expedia | 7% | 10% | 6% | 9% | 2% | 12% | 0 | 6% |
| Booking.com | 7% | 11% | 8% | 5% | 1% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| Hotels.com | 12% | 9% | 6% | 9% | 1% | 12% | 0 | 6% |
| Priceline | 8% | 11% | 10% | 4% | 2% | 4% | 0 | 0 |
Regular rates on CashbackMonitor
CashbackMonitor lists each portal's regular rate at a store, with the special or "up to" rate in brackets. These are its figures for the same 50 stores on November 4, 2026; a dash means it listed no cash back. It doesn't track PayPal Honey or Capital One Shopping, and RetailMeNot's column in the table above already comes from it.
| Store | TopCashback | BeFrugal | Rakuten | ShopBack | Swagbucks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | - | - | $0 | - | - |
| Walmart | 2% (8%) | 1% (19.5%) | $0 | $1 ($8) | up to 8% |
| Target | 2% | 0.01% (0.1%) | Up to 7.5% | 2% | - |
| eBay | Up to 10% | - | Up to 1% | 1% ($70) | up to 5% |
| Etsy | - | - | 1% | - | up to 3% |
| Macy's | 3% (7%) | 7% (12%) | Up to 2% | 2% | up to 4% |
| Kohl's | 2% | 2% (5%) | 2% | 2% | 4% |
| Nordstrom | 2.4% | - | - | - | - |
| JCPenney | 2% | 3% | - | 2% | 1% |
| Best Buy | 1.5% (15%) | 2% (20%) | Up to 8% | 1.5% (9%) | up to 6% |
| Apple | 1.01% (4.04%) | - | Up to 2% | - | - |
| Dell | - | - | 2% | 0.5% (4%) | - |
| HP | 2% | 1% (8%) | Up to 3% | 1.5% | 1% |
| Lenovo | 3% (4%) | 2.4% (9%) | 2% | - | 1% |
| Samsung | 2% | 2% (7%) | Up to 2% | 1.5% | 1% |
| Newegg | 1% | 1% (6%) | 1% | 0.8% | - |
| The Home Depot | 1% (10%) | 1% (10.1%) | - | 0.75% (6%) | up to 8% |
| Lowe's | - | 1% (6%) | 1% | 1.5% | up to 3% |
| Wayfair | - | - | - | - | - |
| IKEA | 2% (4%) | - | Up to 2% | - | - |
| Crate & Barrel | - | - | 2% | - | - |
| Pottery Barn | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | 1% | 1% (6%) | 2% | 0.8% (2%) | 1% |
| Nike | 8% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 4% |
| Adidas | 2% (9%) | 8% | Up to 8% | - | up to 2% |
| Under Armour | 10% | 8% (11%) | 8% | 3% | 2% |
| Dick's Sporting Goods | 2% | 2% (6%) | Up to 2% | 1.5% | - |
| REI | - | - | - | - | - |
| Foot Locker | 4% (10%) | 4% (9%) | 3% | - | 1% |
| Zappos | 4% | 4% (6%) | 2% | - | 2% |
| Old Navy | 4% | 4% (9%) | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Gap | 4% | 4% (8%) | 20% | 3% | 2% |
| Lululemon | - | - | - | - | - |
| Levi's | 2% | 2% (7%) | 2% | 1.5% | 1% |
| J.Crew | 3% | 3% (8%) | 2% | 1.5% | 1% |
| H&M | - | - | - | - | - |
| Sephora | 4% (7%) | 4% (5%) | 2% | - | 1% |
| Ulta Beauty | 4% | 2% (7%) | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Bath & Body Works | 4.84% | - | - | - | - |
| CVS | 7% (8%) | 6% (15%) | Up to 3% | 5% (9%) | - |
| Walgreens | 4.04% | 4% (8%) | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| Chewy | 1% | 1% (6%) | 2% | 3% | - |
| Petco | 6% | 2% (7%) | 2% | 1.5% | 1% |
| Staples | 4% | 4% (9%) | Up to 4% | 3% | 2% |
| Office Depot | 2% (4%) | 0.5% (10%) | Up to 4% | 0.5% (3.5%) | up to 2% |
| Instacart | - | $5 | 1% | 2% | - |
| Expedia | 2% (7%) | 2% (10%) | Up to 6% | Up to 9% | up to 12% |
| Booking.com | - | - | - | - | - |
| Hotels.com | - | - | - | - | - |
| Priceline | 5% (8%) | 3% (11%) | Up to 10% | 2% (4%) | up to 4% |
Medians of the regular rates, counting a dash or a fixed dollar amount as 0%: TopCashback 2%, Rakuten 2%, BeFrugal 1%, Swagbucks 1%, ShopBack 0.9%. If the rate part of the cash-back score used these medians instead of headline rates (keeping the store counts), the totals would be TopCashback 7.8, Rakuten 7.6, ShopBack 6.8, BeFrugal 6.8 (6.75 before rounding, against ShopBack's 6.81) and Swagbucks 5.9, with Capital One Shopping unchanged at 6.9. BeFrugal would fall from second to fifth.
Changes before publishing
- Honey's rates were first read from the description tag of each store page, which found 9 stores. A browser read of every page found 22; the scores use the browser read.
- After the review, two deductions were applied to every extension, not only the first one we noticed. The one point for a listing that advertises automatic activation now also comes off RetailMeNot and PayPal Honey, whose US listings say cash back is applied or activated automatically at checkout. The two points for sharing data for ads now also come off BeFrugal, whose policy lets third-party advertisers track your activity on other sites. BeFrugal went from 8.4 to 8.0, RetailMeNot from 5.5 to 5.3 and Honey from 5.1 to 4.9.
- Swagbucks' payout went from 9 to 10: its $5 PayPal minimum earns 3 under the rule, not 2. Its total went from 5.7 to 5.9.
- The page is labeled desk-researched rather than hands-on, because our checks ran signed out and bought nothing. TopCashback, whose extension does nothing signed out, is marked "not checked" rather than credited with a clean result.
- Capital One Shopping's settlement got final approval on September 22, 2026, after our first draft.
- PayPal's end to cash redemption of PayPal Rewards is reported as an announcement, because Doctor of Credit said in October that it didn't look enforced.
How close the scores are
TopCashback totals 8.4 and BeFrugal 8.0 (8.40 and 7.95 before rounding). BeFrugal's three deduction points decide it: without the activation point and the ad-sharing points, BeFrugal would total 8.6 and rank first. No change to cash back alone would put BeFrugal first, because its cash-back score at 10 would only tie TopCashback, and ties keep the listed order. BeFrugal's second place also rests on headline rates: on the regular rates above it would rank fifth, and Rakuten (7.6) would be second.
At the bottom, if PayPal Rewards points can still be taken as cash, Honey's payout would score up to 9 and its total up to 5.4, above RetailMeNot's 5.3, so Honey would rank seventh rather than last.