shouldiuse.io

Report

Should I Use Honey?

joinhoney.com·Analyzed 1 hour ago·Based on 11 sources

We search for coupons at 30,000+ sites to help you save money

Depends

Depends

Worth a free install only if you shop online often and don't mind sharing shopping data — some users do save money.

Free coupon tool that sometimes works — but privacy complaints and a collapsed trust score say try alternatives first.

Confidence: Medium

Free

Price

Browser extension

30,000+ sites

Coupon coverage

Per product homepage

10k+ one-star reviews

Trust hit

~3M users left after the Dec 2024 controversy (Reddit)

$4B

Acquired

PayPal acquisition, per WIRED

Value for money4

Free and occasionally saves real money.

Ease of use4

Fully automatic at checkout; zero effort.

Feature depth2

Single-purpose; reviews cite better alternatives.

Security posture2

Data-practice complaints; no public security page found.

Pros

  • Free; automatically searches coupons across 30,000+ sites¹
  • Some users confirm genuine, repeated savings⁷
  • Automatic savings at checkout with no manual work³

Cons

  • Accused of sketchy user data practices; uninstall wave reported⁹
  • Lost ~3M users and hit 10k+ one-star reviews after controversy⁵
  • Reviewers conclude better alternatives exist³
  • User reported breach alert for their Honey password post-deletion⁸
  • Critics call it useless and ad-data-driven⁶

Gotchas

  • highYour shopping data is the product; critics say it funds ad targeting, not just your discounts.⁶
  • highTrust collapsed after a widely covered controversy: 3M users gone, 10k+ one-star reviews.⁵
  • mediumOne user's Honey password appeared in a breach alert right after account deletion.⁸
  • mediumIt won't reliably find the best deal; even positive reviews point to stronger alternatives.³

Best for

  • Frequent online shoppers
  • Zero-effort coupon hunters
  • PayPal users already at checkout

Not for

  • Privacy-conscious shoppers — data-practice accusations are recent and credible
  • Deal hunters who want guaranteed best prices, not lottery-ticket coupons
  • Anyone spooked by the 2024 controversy and review collapse
  • Teams or businesses — this is a consumer tool, full stop

Pricing

Honey browser extension

Free

  • Auto-searches coupons at 30,000+ sites
  • Applies codes at checkout

Security

No CVEs found for the extension; data-practice complaints and one user-reported credential exposure, and no security page found in scan.

  • Sketchy data practices allegedNews coverage reports accusations of sketchy user data practices amid a wave of Chrome uninstalls.⁹
  • User-reported password exposureA Reddit user received a breach alert naming their Honey password immediately after deleting their account.⁸

What users say

Deeply split: some users report real savings, but a large recent wave calls it useless, data-hungry, or untrustworthy after the 2024 controversy.

“Honey (browser extension) does not scam its users; I have saved money using it.”
— Reddit, r/TrueUnpopularOpinion
“Honey is useless. It just gathers your data to sell ads.”
— Reddit, r/Frugal
“Deleted my Honey account and immediately got a data breach alert saying my honey password was exposed.”
— Reddit, r/privacy

Alternatives

Compare Honey with each alternative.

Full analysis

Based on ~12 relevant public sources; many search results were unrelated (food honey, HoneyBook, honeypot security tools) and excluded.

Sources

  1. Honey homepagejoinhoney.com
    official
  2. Honey Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  3. Honey Review: It's Good, but Better Alternatives Existthewaystowealth.com
    review
  4. Honey Review 2025: Pros, Cons & Tipsdollarsprout.com
    review
  5. Reddit: Honey extension loses 3M users, hits 10k+ one-star reviewsreddit.com
    review
  6. Reddit: Honey is useless, gathers your data to sell adsreddit.com
    review
  7. Reddit: Honey does not scam its usersreddit.com
    review
  8. Reddit: Deleted Honey account, got breach alertreddit.com
    security
  9. 9to5Google: Honey accused of sketchy user data practices9to5google.com
    news
  10. WIRED: Amazon takes a swipe at PayPal's $4B Honey acquisitionwired.com
    news
  11. joinhoney.com/security scanjoinhoney.com
    security

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