Honey was great — in 2019. After PayPal acquired it, things changed. Expired codes, data harvesting, slower auto-apply. Here's an honest look at how PromoIQ compares in 2026.
| Feature | PromoIQ | Honey |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Apply Accuracy | ✓ Confidence-scored codes — skips expired ones | △ Tries everything, including expired codes |
| Price Comparison | ✓ Real-time across 20+ retailers with direct links | ✗ Droplist price tracking only (same retailer) |
| Privacy | ✓ No background tracking. Runs only when you click. | ✗ Collects browsing data for PayPal's ad network |
| Speed | ✓ Tests top codes first using confidence scoring | △ Tests all codes sequentially — can take 60s+ |
| Code Freshness | ✓ Community-validated with real-time voting | ✗ Stale database — many codes expired for months |
| Retailer Coverage | ✓ 50+ top retailers with custom adapters | ✓ 30,000+ stores (broader but shallower) |
| Data Selling | ✓ Never. Zero data monetization. | ✗ Shares purchase data with PayPal ecosystem |
| Manifest Version | ✓ Manifest V3 (modern, secure) | ✓ Manifest V3 |
| Free Tier | ✓ Full features, 5 auto-applies/day | ✓ Free with data collection trade-off |
| Savings Dashboard | ✓ Personal analytics + export | △ Basic savings counter |
Honey's auto-apply tries every code in its database — including ones that expired months ago. The result? You wait 60+ seconds while it cycles through dead codes, and often end up with nothing.
PromoIQ uses confidence scoring. Every code gets a score based on community votes, recency, and historical success rate. We test high-confidence codes first and skip the junk. Most checkouts complete in under 15 seconds.
After PayPal acquired Honey for $4 billion, they needed to justify the price. The result: Honey now feeds your browsing and purchase data into PayPal's advertising ecosystem. Their privacy policy explicitly allows sharing data with "PayPal entities."
PromoIQ takes the opposite approach. We don't run in the background. Period. The extension activates only when you click it or reach checkout. No browsing history collection, no purchase tracking, no data selling. We make money through affiliate commissions when you buy through our price comparison — you save money, we earn a small cut. Aligned incentives.
Honey's "Droplist" tracks price changes at a single retailer. Useful, but limited. It won't tell you that the same product is $30 cheaper at a different store.
PromoIQ compares prices across 20+ retailers in real-time. Looking at running shoes on Nike? We'll show you the same pair on Amazon, Foot Locker, and Dick's — with direct product links and exact savings amounts.
PromoIQ's code database is community-powered. Users vote on whether codes worked, and confidence scores update in real-time. No more trying "SAVE20" that expired in 2024.
Choose Honey if you want the broadest store coverage and don't mind sharing data with PayPal.
Choose PromoIQ if you want codes that actually work, cross-retailer price comparison, and an extension that respects your privacy. We built PromoIQ because Honey stopped innovating after the acquisition — and smart shoppers deserve better.
Free forever. No sign-up required. No data collected.