April 12, 2026

Why Honey Isn't Enough Anymore (And What Works Better)

Honey was acquired by PayPal in 2020 for $4 billion. Since the acquisition, the tool's core functionality has shifted: it now emphasizes PayPal rewards and PayPal checkout over pure price savings. The coupon-finding database has also reportedly degraded, with more expired and invalid codes appearing.

This isn't to say Honey is useless - it still finds valid coupon codes more often than not. But for serious savers, it's no longer sufficient on its own.

The Specific Gaps in Honey's Coverage

No proactive price drop alerts - Honey shows price history on Amazon product pages, but doesn't send you an email when a product you want drops in price. You have to visit the page to see the history.

Amazon-centric - Honey's price comparison is primarily Amazon-focused. It doesn't systematically compare Walmart or eBay prices for the same product.

Limited price history - Honey shows price history, but the data isn't as deep or reliable as dedicated price trackers.

Honey Alternative 1: CamelCamelCamel

For pure Amazon price tracking and alerts, CamelCamelCamel remains the gold standard. It's older than Honey's price tracking features, has deeper historical data, and hasn't been subject to acquisition-driven feature degradation.

Use it: search for any Amazon product by URL or name, set a price alert, get an email when the price drops.

Honey Alternative 2: BestPriceFinder

For multi-retailer comparison (Amazon + Walmart + eBay), BestPriceFinder fills the gap that CamelCamelCamel doesn't. Search once, see prices from all three retailers, track across all three, get a single alert when any of them hits your target price.

The free tier covers 5 product tracks with email alerts - enough for most shoppers.

Honey Alternative 3: Rakuten (for cashback)

Rakuten offers cashback on purchases from thousands of retailers. The rates vary (0.5% to 15% depending on the retailer and time), but cashback stacks on top of sale prices. If you make regular purchases from retailers Rakuten covers, the cashback adds up meaningfully over time.

The Combined Approach

The most effective setup:

1. BestPriceFinder for price comparison and drop alerts across Amazon/Walmart/eBay
2. Rakuten browser extension for cashback at checkout
3. Manual coupon search (30 seconds on Google: "[store name] coupon code [month/year]") - often more effective than Honey's automated search

This combination covers what Honey used to cover, plus adds multi-retailer comparison and better alert functionality.

What About Capital One Shopping?

Capital One Shopping (formerly Wikibuy) is a Honey alternative browser extension that compares prices and finds coupons. It's decent, particularly for users of Capital One credit cards (additional cashback available). Not as comprehensive as CamelCamelCamel for Amazon-specific tracking, but a reasonable all-around tool.