Do you like ordering pizza and clothes online? Are you one of the many individuals who love to save money while shopping on your couch? I am definitely one of those people. The Honey app promises to help people save money by automatically finding coupon codes. If it works, it would be a huge time saver. Because I frequently use and apply coupon codes when ordering online, I wanted to detail our experience with the Honey app in this Honey Review.
I wanted to give Honey a chance because searching for coupons and promo codes during checkout is a pain. Multiple times I have realized that I missed a great coupon after the purchase was complete. This failure to save money can become frustrating. I began to look through popular browser extension apps to find one that would automatically enter coupon code for my purchases.
I found the free browser extension from Honey. Honey’s primary goal is to save you money while shopping online. I wondered if this free browser extension was worth my time. I decided it was worth the effort to at least try the app. The following article answers some of the fundamental questions that I wanted to solve.
What Is Honey?
For most of us, it’s difficult to turn down a great deal. I realize the retail world is becoming more competitive, and I know shopping online will continue to offer more ways for us to save money. Honey is one of those apps focused on trying to save customers money by doing the hard work for them.
The Founders Of Honey
Honey was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 2012 by Ryan Hudson and George Ruan.
The idea for Honey was sparked when co-founder Ryan Hudson was trying to find an online coupon for a pizza order he was making for his kids. After he struggled to find an online coupon, he started designing his own browser extension that would do the hard work for him.
Ryan later partnered with George Ruan to make his dream a reality. Five years after starting the business, the company boasted over 5 million downloads and $40 million in revenue.
Understanding The Honey Browser Extension
Honey is a browser extension. The term browser extension may be somewhat new to people – so let me explain. A browser extension is similar to an app on a cellphone. However, instead of attaching to your phone, this app connects to your internet browser. The Honey browser extension is compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera browsers.
For this Honey review, I used the Chrome add-on browser extension. With this extension, Honey automatically searches for and then applies coupon codes at the checkout when I make purchases from my favorite online stores. These codes are useful in thousands of online stores. Honey has been around since 2013 and continues to grow its base.
After a thorough review, this free extension is one of the top ways I discovered to save money. I always tend to forget about coupon codes until after I have placed my order. The Honey app automatically applies the most valuable coupon without me having to do anything.
This app also notified me of a price drop on one of my items from a different online store. It also compared my basket items from one seller on Amazon to all of the other sellers who offered the same item.
The Honey app also offers a rewards program called Honey Gold. This program rewarded me with “gold” with every online purchase I made. This Gold can be used later to get gift cards from online stores. I will explain this process in detail later in this article.
How To Use Honey [My Experience]
The overall process of signing up and using Honey on my laptop was much easier than I anticipated. With just a couple of clicks, I was able to sign up with my Google account and add the extension to my Google Chrome search bar.
Step 1: Head Over To JoinHoney.com
From this point, I quickly found the call to action button in the middle of my browser. From there, after clicking the link to start the signup process, I was given the choice to join honey with several convenient account options.
- Join with Google
- Join with Facebook
- Join with PayPal
- Join with Apple
I personally use Google for all my accounts due to the easy signup and login process.
After clicking the Google account button, my account with Honey was created. No adding my address, phone number, mother’s maiden name, or any other annoying questions!
Step 2: Download The Browser Extension
After signing in with my Google account, I was redirected to the download page to add the Chrome extension to my web browser.
From the above image, you can see I already installed the extension on my computer. Something else to pay attention to is the amount of users and the reviews it has.
Over 10 million users and 156,133 reviews! The extension also averages a five-star review rating. I don’t know that I’ve seen any other app with that type of positive rating.
Using The Honey App
I stated that the browser extension Honey will save you money, especially if you are on a tight budget. This Honey review will show you how it works and how much it actually saved me. When you use Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, or any other browser, you install this extension, and it is supposed to find savings automatically.
As stated before, a browser extension is an app for your browser. I prefer to use Google Chrome when deciding on a browser extension because it has a massive marketplace full of a wide variety of attachments.
Each of these extensions has a rating associated with how well other users liked or disliked the app. Honey was an extension that had a higher rating than most of the others. So, my first step was downloading the Honey extension.
When I researched the app, I found that the average savings was $32 a month for those customers who frequently shop online. I wanted to save this amount each month. I started by using it with my Amazon account. I will explain how to do this later in the article.
Using Honey With My Amazon Account
While shopping on Amazon, I realized Honey was saving me money, but I was not convinced that it was $32 a month, even though I made multiple purchases. I decided that this average saving was probably not the best place to focus on.
Shopping Through The Honey Account
I changed my mind and decided to pick one product and see if Honey could find the product at a reduced price or use coupon codes to get the best deal. I started this process by opening my Honey account and searching for the product.
As a starting place, I found a frame I wanted to purchase which was listed at Walmart for $34.99. When I searched the Honey app, it found the same frame from Target for $29.99. Honey found me a lower price, but could I do better with coupon codes?
I left the Honey app to see if Honey working in the background could find a coupon code for my frame. I used my Google Chrome browser and typed in the name and size of the frame I wanted to purchase. I found it at Kmart and Sears for the $29.99.
Unfortunately, Honey could not find any coupon codes to save me any more money. When I went through the checkout process for Kmart, the Honey app’s only suggestion was to use Chase reward points for the frame’s purchase. I found the frame at a discounted price, but I was a little disappointed about the lack of coupon codes.
While Honey didn’t deliver on the coupon code for this purchase, it did initially show me where I could find the item cheaper.
What I Liked About Honey
After experimenting with the Honey app, I still had a variety of questions I wanted to be answered. The thing that I liked most about Honey was the iPhone app. I downloaded this app after using my Google Chrome extension.
The average discount using the app was also one of my favorite features. The extension featured over 40,000 websites where I could save money. With the app, I was able to shop over 100 stores that contained exclusive bonuses and coupons. The Honey app was eerily similar to the Rakuten app. I wrote a detailed review of my experience with the Rauten extension over here.
Powerful In-App Platform
The search bar at the top of the app is extremely convenient when searching for a particular item. I love to purchase books for my family members. On the Honey app, I appreciated that I could click on Barnes and Noble and see all of the available coupons and discounts.
Honey And Coupon Codes
I hate finding coupon codes online by using a search engine, so I like that Honey automatically finds the best deals for me. It not only saved me money, but it also saved me time and effort.
Monitoring Price Drops
I also really liked the price drop feature of the app. I was able to put a few of my favorite items in my watch list area, and the price drop would send me a notification when the price of these items dropped. The Honey Gold notifications were also beneficial when trying to earn gift cards.
Routine Monthly Purchases
On the app, I was able to view my order history. I purchase a few medical and hygiene items every month when I get paid. My order history makes it easy to find these items and then find better deals than anywhere else.
I can also store emails in the app, making it easy to contact the previous retailers I have used. I can even personalize the Honey app to match my preferences. I can change notifications and add payment methods without issues.
What Do I Dislike About Honey?
As I was using the Honey app, I decided that overall I liked the user-friendly aspects of the program. However, I did find items that I did not like as well. I usually use my phone for all personal shopping and other confidential communication.
I use my laptop primarily for work. I registered for Honey utilizing the app. When I finally made it to a desktop to use Honey, I realized that the app only allows you to access a small percentage of the stores that are part of their team.
This fact was frustrating because when I searched for a particular item on a desktop, I found more results than in my app. When I explored on the desktop, it gave me stores I typically do not shop. I do not know if I used the desktop more often if this would change.
I know that I would prefer the stores I frequently shop to be at the top of the list. I can save particular stores in my droplist, but until I have them saved, it takes me a minute to find them while using a desktop.
App Availability
I started using Honey on my iPhone (Apple). When I explained to another friend about Honey, we decided to download the app onto her phone. She does not have an iPhone. Unfortunately, she was unable to download it because she has an Android and the app is still in development.
I was disappointed with this issue, so I researched why it would not work with her phone. It turns out that the app is relatively new, and it is only available for Apple users. According to the Google Play Store, the Android-based app will be released soon. However, it was not available when I published this article.
What Are The Advantages Of Using Honey?
I believe that everyone can benefit from downloading this particular app. It can provide you with the best possible deal available while shopping online. However, as with all things, the Honey app has a variety of advantages as well as a wide array of disadvantages.
One of the best features of the Honey app is it is easy to download. I have tried similar apps in the past, and you have to create a login. It can take a while to go through all of the steps. With the Honey app, I was able to use my Google email account to log in. It took me a few seconds to start scrolling through the app.
Honey Is Free. Completely.
Another advantage of the Honey browser extension is that it is entirely free. You never have to pay for anything associated with using the benefits of the app or browser extension. My new Honey account immediately started saving me time.
Honey automatically searches every store I visit, so this process saves me a ton of time. I use to search for applicable and working coupon codes before I started shopping. I sometimes forgot that I had a coupon code for an item until after it was already purchased.
Honey makes sure I use the available discount codes automatically. Another advantage to Honey is you can access a large variety of online stores and products. Honey continues to add travel, shopping, and other outlets daily.
The best feature of the Honey extension is you save money without doing anything – like literally nothing. No extra steps – nada. I was able to start saving on my very first purchase using the app. The promo codes for my first purchase saved me around $1.03 off the lowest price available.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Using Honey?
I did some online research to reveal the common complaints users have. The first area of concern for most individuals is the inconsistency of Honey’s customer service department. Some people have experienced some frustration when trying to find an answer to a quick question. Since the beginning, I have not needed customer service, so I do not have any personal experience with this department.
Even though Honey’s primary goal is to find the best deal available, sometimes, the suggested coupon codes are expired. This fact can be annoying when you are trying to find an item quickly. Some of the discount codes do not provide details.
The lack of details means you have to apply the code before you know what it entails. This process can be time-consuming if you have to apply and remove multiple codes. Working coupon codes are great. However, Honey cannot always find coupons for every product.
App Crashes While Shopping
As I was using the app on my iPhone, the system crashed. I was concerned, so I followed this issue up with some research. I found that many users believe that the app is prone to crashing. Sometimes it will even boot you out of a shopping site.
When you are booted out of the shopping website, sometimes your cart is also emptied. After finding a few items, an empty shopping cart can be frustrating, but it can cause you to walk away from a purchase. I guess that saves you money – in a weird, frustrating, irritating kind of way.
As with everything, Honey has disadvantages as well as the above advantages. Despite the above difficulties, most of the Honey browser extension reviews state the benefits greatly outweigh the cons. I agree with these reviews.
I probably will not continue to use the Honey phone app but I totally love the browser extension on my computer. It has continued to work flawless for me.
Is Honey A Safe App?
In general, most browser extensions similar to Honey are safe. However, every one of these extensions has the potential for abuse. When downloading the extension, it is possible also to download hidden malware. Sometimes, these extensions also collect your private information for a variety of purposes.
Be sure to download any apps from the official website of the company. Third-party websites are much more likely to have malware or viruses attached to their downloads.
Honey Tracks Your Shopping And Spending Habits
When investigating the safety of the Honey app, overall, it seems to be simillar to other well-known companies. When you shop online using Honey, it is collecting data about your spending habits. This information is sent back to the servers at Honey. Even though this information may contain sensitive data, Honey guarantees they do not sell or give this data to third parties.
According to their privacy policy, Honey states they gather these shopping habits and web browsing data to ensure it appears only on particular pages. The company says this information is only sent back to the services as a way to verify purchases. They confirm the purchases to allow you to benefit from the Honey Gold program.
The best advice I can give you about using any website, app, extension that collects and uses private information is to read the security and privacy policy. You should always read these two documents before using the app.
Honey is free money in your wallet, so it is natural to question the app’s safety. The same risks that apply to everything you download apply to Honey. However, Honey seems to do an excellent job of protecting you from malware attached to its program.
Nothing in life is free, so how do they make money? Hint: I answer this down below.
How I Saved The Most With Honey
I get free money every time I use the Honey app. This money comes in a variety of forms. The Honey app automatically finds me the best deal available, but I have found three excellent tips to save even more money.
Tip #1: Use the Honey App
Most of the time, I usually go to my favorite store and find whatever I need. When I do this, I am hoping that the store will offer a working coupon code. However, I have found it is more useful to go to the Honey app before shopping.
With the Honey app, I can see if there are any available coupons for my favorite store. This process gives me a chance to decide if I want to shop at that particular store or look for an alternative store with a better deal.
Tip #2: Discount Codes
Sometimes I already have coupon codes that I did not get from Honey. These codes can be used with Honey’s discounts to give me an even more significant discount. I did this by going to the Honey extension and using the ‘share a code‘ box to submit the discount code.
Tip #3: Check Prices
When I shop on Amazon, a badge next to a particular item tells me if I see the best price possible. I also check this badge before adding any product to my order. This badge has helped prevent me from paying too much for a variety of items.
What Is Honey Gold?
As I use the extension, Honey allows me to earn rewards. These rewards are offered through the Honey Gold program. This rewards program is completely free when you shop over 4000 sites while using the Honey app or extension. While shopping using Honey, you are earning a specific percentage back in Gold.
Earning Honey Gold
The reward points are based on the subtotal of my purchases. It does not allow me to include shipping, taxes, or any other additional fees. The one annoying thing about Honey Gold is the reward amount is random and varies from one site to the next. The reward amount seems to be pure luck.
While Honey Gold is offered at a wide array of the available sites, it is not provided at all of them. Amazon is one of my favorite websites to shop. Honey offers a variety of coupons at Amazon but does not provide Honey Gold rewards – insert angry face.
Using Honey Gold For Gift Cards
An icon next to the name of the website lets me know if Honey Gold is offered. I have to click apply coupons when I am checking out to make Honey Gold automatically. After my purchase is complete, Honey Gold shows as pending in the Account Overview section between two to 14 days.
The merchant must confirm my purchase, so it stayed pending for around 60 days. If I return a product or ask for a refund, I do not receive Honey Gold. When I reached 1,000 Gold, I was able to ask for a $10 gift card at a variety of different shopping sites, which included Amazon, Target, eBay, and Walmart.
I was able to earn Honey Gold as soon as I joined the Honey program. The program offers a welcome bonus to United States members. This offer is time-sensitive, so I had to purchase within a designate time. The amount of the prize is tied directly to the shopping site.
After this initial welcome bonus, other bonuses can be earned as I shop. An orange box appears if the shopping site gives a Honey Gold Bonus. This box can be found on the right side of the window. When I clicked it, a pop-up explained the bonus requirements.
How Does Honey Make Money?
After using the Honey app for a while, I realized it is entirely free. I was waiting for the popup or the “subscribe for more discounts” section, but it never came. This fact made me start to wonder how does Honey make money to stay in business. I was curious if there were hidden charges that I did not notice. I also wondered if they added fees when I checked out.
My retirement account is full of hidden fees so I’m always skeptical about deals that seem too good to be true.
Neither of these two ideas was correct. After reading more of their disclosure pages, I found Honey makes money from commissions. I know it sounds crazy, but Honey’s merchant partners pay the company a commission while providing you additional savings. This commission is activated when a Honey member uses the app or extension to find the best deal using available coupons.
I love win-win scenarios!
It is also activated when I use the Honey Gold rewards program. They use a system similar to the Honey Gold program confirmation of the purchase process. This system verifies your purchases, so the merchants know how much to give Honey as a kick-back. Once your purchase is confirmed, the company pays Honey an unknown agreed-upon amount of commission.
These commissions are typically a percentage of the amount of the Honey member’s transaction. The rate is sometimes between 5% and 10%. However, the actual commission varies according to the merchant.
One of the best benefits associated with Honey is passing some of these earnings back to the customer. The Honey Gold program is used to take some of this commission and give it back to Honey’s members. I like this win-win situation when using the Honey extension or app.
Does Honey Steal My Information?
One of my most significant concerns when downloading the Honey extension was were they going to steal my information or just plain sell it to other people. This fear led me to read the privacy and security policy associated with the Honey program.
I also read a few letters written by the founders of the app and extension. It was stated in both places that Honey does not sell or steal personal data for any reason. The primary goal of the Honey program is to find its members the best deals.
Everything I read inferred that Honey receives money from the website when a member makes a purchase using a Honey coupon, offer, or promo code. Honey earns enough money from these fees, so they do not need to sell your data to third parties.
“Steal” Is A Strong Word
However, all of this does not mean that Honey does not collect information. They collect some data from the online shop to find the best coupon codes or promo codes for the product. Honey also admits that they do take a limited amount of shopping data. Of course, you have to read the fine print to find out what exactly they collect.
This data is used to support what the company calls the Honey Community. The Honey community can benefit from this real-time information which is the reason it is collected. This information includes deals, products, and prices, which other members may need to save money and time.
This information can alert me to which promo codes work. It also helps to inform me when a product is on sale. When other community members use the app or extension, it sends updates to them about the best possible deals.
Honey seems to be pretty transparent about the exact information they collect. They also explain the purpose of gathering that particular information. I do not believe that they steal data, so my suggestion would be to decide for yourself if you believe it.
Is Honey Really Free To Use?
As stated earlier, there isn’t a blaring area asking for money but perhaps I am unknowingly paying for the service some other way?
Honey Savings Finder
I realized that Honey has various tools to use. One of these tools is the savings finder, which is the main feature of the extension. This tool is what automatically finds me the best deal on a particular product. It searches thousands of shops.
Honey Gold Program
Another tool or feature is the Honey Gold program, which pays me money to use it. I can earn Gold by shopping at particular online stores. Once I have accumulated 1,000 Honey Gold, I can then trade it in for a $10 gift card.
Honey Price History Tool And Droplist
The price history tool allows me to track a product’s price. This tool shows me past trends to help me decide when to purchase. Another excellent tool associated with Honey is the droplist. When I add items to the droplist, Honey will send me a notification when the price drops.
When shopping on Amazon, Amazon’s best price tool helps me compare my product’s price to the cost of others selling the same product. The price finder also works well when I shop on Amazon. All of the above tools were designed to save me time and money.
What’s The Catch?
After learning about these fantastic tools, I wondered when I would figure out the catch. I was incredibly cautious about the cost of this browser extension with all of these tremendous benefits. However, I have completed extensive research and can say with certainty that Honey is 100% free.
In fact, when I signed up for Honey Gold, I begin to make money. Honey definitely saves me money, but with Honey Gold, I can make money from multiple purchases.
Does Honey Work With Amazon?
For the most part, Amazon does not offer site-wide coupons. This fact may make you think Honey cannot work with Amazon. However, Honey has a variety of tools I discussed previously. These tools helped me find savings while shopping on the Amazon website.
Honey Best-Price Detection With Amazon
I know that various options are available in the marketplace when I find a specific product on Amazon. However, the lowest price is not always the default setting when using Amazon. With the Amazon best price feature activated, Honey searches for a better price automatically.
The tool only finds the same size, features, and color item that I want. When Honey does this search, they take shipping delays, Amazon Prime benefits, and shipping costs when determining the best price. This feature also lets me know when I have already found the most affordable product.
Honey Price History With Amazon
The price history feature allows me to see the changes in prices for a variety of items. This history can be in the last 30, 60, 90, or 120 days. I can use this tool to see a detailed page about the item’s price history, even when using Amazon.
Honey Droplist With Amazon
I love this feature. I can place an item in the droplist, and it will let me know when the price drops. I can use this feature with Amazon to ensure I get Amazon’s best price available. I can even use all of these features on Amazon Smile to benefit a charity.
How To Uninstall Honey
If you decide that Honey is not right for you or do not see the benefit of the app, you can easily uninstall it. The first step to uninstall Honey is to delete your account. To delete an account, you must follow two steps:
Step 1:
When removing your account, you must first go to the account setting page. While on this page, you will find a delete account link. This link is located towards the bottom of the page.
Step 2:
When you click this link, a unique code will be displayed. You must enter this code when prompted. After the code is entered, you will click delete forever. Once you click this link, your account is entirely removed from the Honey system. It also removes all of your data from their system.
Remove The Honey App From Your Device And Browser
Once you have deleted your account, you can remove the app from your phone the same way you would delete any other app. However, if you are using the browser extension, you will need to follow a few steps.
These steps are different depending on the browser you are using. You can find the individual steps for each of the browsers by visiting the Honey website. The website provides detailed instructions on how to remove the extension.
I would suggest providing Honey with feedback about why you are uninstalling the app or extension. This information will make their product better.
Is Honey Worth Using?
Overall, I would say that the Honey app is worth using. However, before using the app, you should read the privacy policy. If anything in the privacy policy bothers you, you should not use the app.
Honey is an easy app to start using and making money. Honey is one of the best programs with the ability to find you the best deals available online. In exchange for these fantastic deals, you share access to your web browsing data and online shopping information.
Some people are uncomfortable with this exchange of information. I find the rewards are well worth sharing my information. I particularly like the Honey Gold program and have already earned multiple gift cards utilizing this free service.
Refer Friends For Even More Honey Gold
Referring friends is one way to get the most out of the Honey Gold program. When I looked at the monetary benefits of using the Honey extension, it is definitely worth it. I began this process with some reluctance because it sounds too good to be true.
Sometimes when I am shopping, Honey cannot offer me a working coupon code, which is disappointing. However, the app and extension are entirely free, so I do not lose anything when the program cannot find a lower price.
However, when the program does find a lower price or promo code, I am not only saving money, but sometimes I am earning it. I only see a financial gain and no financial harm from using Honey.
Would I Recommend Using Honey?
Absolutely. Honey was easy to set up and sometimes I forget I installed it on my browser. To this day it is still located in my browser bar and when I go to make a purchase online, Honey alerts me if there are any coupon codes or cheaper prices elsewhere during the checkout process.
It runs in the background and doesn’t require any additional work. It really is worth it in my opinion.
Did you enjoy the Honey extension? Let me know in the comments below!
General FAQ
What Are The Cons Of Using Honey?
Common complaints include: frustrating and inconsistent customer service, Honey cannot always find coupons for every product, and the Honey App crashes while shopping.
Who Founded Honey?
Ryan Hudson and George Ruan of Los Angeles, California, founded Honey
What Are The Pros Of Using Honey?
Some of the pros include: Honey is completely free and requires very little effort to save money and find coupons.
What Is Honey Gold?
When you use Honey, you earn rewards known as Honey Gold. Honey gold is completely free and may be exchanged for gift cards.
How Does Honey Make Money?
Honey makes money by earning commission on every purchase made through their app or extension.
Does Honey Work With Amazon?
While Amazon does not offer site-wide coupons, Honey uses a “Best Price Feature” to search for the best price on all Amazon products. Honey also tracks product price histories up to the last 120 days.