Is Honey legit? All you need to know about PayPal Honey

What is PayPal Honey?

PayPal Honey is a free web browser extension and mobile app that allows users to save money by finding discount coupon codes and gain PayPal rewards while shopping online. With 17,000,000 current users, Honey is the most popular online shopping extension by a huge margin. 

How does PayPal Honey work?

PayPal Honey allows users to automatically find coupons and lower prices when shopping online, compare prices between retailers, track price history, and get price alerts when deals are available. People can also use the price comparison tool to gain rewards points. 

The Honey mobile app additionally allows users to shop within the app. As with the browser extension, the Honey app also allows users to find and apply discount codes, collect rewards points, and track price drops. 

Is PayPal Honey safe to use?

With the recent Honey controversy, many users are now wondering if PayPal Honey is safe to use. Below, we’ll outline the safety of using the Honey browser extension and app. 

Is the Honey extension safe?

Yes, the PayPal Honey browser extension is safe to use, although using the tool comes with some privacy implications. Numerous commentators have criticized PayPal’s business practices regarding Honey, but these concerns do not relate to the basic security of using the extension for online purchases. Therefore, you can confidently use the extension for secure online shopping. 

The Honey browser extension uses trackers to monitor your online activity and shopping data, such as the websites you visit, your purchase history, and other related information. PayPal explains in the Honey Privacy Statement that it performs this data collection for the purpose of operating Honey and providing the service to you. Additionally, PayPal states it does not sell users’ data to third parties or share it for “cross content behavioural advertising.” 

Is the Honey app safe?

Yes, the Honey app is safe. Like the browser extension, you can use the Honey mobile app for online shopping without being worried about the basic security of the app. 

As with the browser extension, the Honey app monitors your online activity and shopping data. While tracking may concern some users, it’s not unusual for shopping-related extensions and apps to conduct such monitoring. 

What is the PayPal Honey controversy?

YouTuber MegaLag ignited the Honey app controversy on December 22, 2024, when he uploaded a video called “Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam.” What is the alleged Honey scam, and is it truly a cause for concern?

Is Honey a scam? 

High-profile YouTubers have accused Honey of being a scam and of deceiving its influencer affiliates and users. Numerous prominent influencers have filed a class action lawsuit in relation to Honey’s affiliate commission practices, although the courts are yet to issue a verdict on the case. Honey has denied the allegations made by the class action plaintiffs. At this point it’s really up to the individual to weigh the allegations against Honey, the accusers’ evidence, and Honey’s response, to determine if they believe Honey is a scam. 

What are the allegations made against Honey?

MegaLag makes two key allegations in the 23-minute video in which he outlined the alleged Honey extension scam. First, MegaLag alleges that Honey has been skimming “money from influencers, including the very ones it paid to promote their product.” Secondly, MegaLag alleges that Honey is “intentionally withholding” the best deals from users due to its paid partnerships with retailers. 

The controversy's background is that Honey partnered with numerous high-profile creators, such as MrBeast, PewDiePie, Pokimane, and Linus Tech Tips, to promote the product through affiliate links.

Viewers have watched MegaLag’s video more than 17 million times, and it set off numerous responses, reaction videos, and international media coverage. YouTubers such as Marques Brownlee, Hank Green, and Charles White Jr. (Penguinz0) subsequently made popular videos in which they criticized Honey, with all three referring to it as the “Honey scam.” Brownlee and White previously posted videos promoting Honey but later distanced themselves from the company. 

Honey’s user base took a major hit following the allegations, with Honey’s Chrome Web Store user count falling from 20,000,000 in November 2024 to 17,000,000 in January 2025. 

What exactly did MegaLag say about Honey?

MegaLag alleged that Honey “poaches” the affiliate commission money that should go to its influencer partners and instead “discretely” funnels the commission to Honey. MegaLag claimed that Honey does this by overriding the commission cookie data at the last moment before the user makes a purchase, using a technique called last-click attribution. 

MegaLag’s other key allegation is that Honey offers its retailer partners the ability to hide the best coupon codes from shoppers, thereby reducing the potential savings users can gain by using the tool. 

MegaLag claims that Honey allows retailers to control the coupon codes users see because Honey earns money through its retailer partnerships. In evidence for this, MegaLag cited the official FAQ for Partners from the Honey website, which states, “As a partner, you have control over the content hosted on the Honey platform. Simply reach out to your Honey Partnerships Team to update the codes and promotions being currently hosted.”

The class action lawsuit and Honey’s response

On December 29, 2024, numerous content creators filed a class action lawsuit against PayPal Honey, alleging that the company was taking creators’ affiliate commissions. Some of the best-known plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit include Sam Denby (Wendover Productions), Ali Spagnola, and Devin Stone (LegalEagle). 

In the wake of the Honey lawsuit, the company denied the allegations, with PayPal’s vice president of corporate communications stating to The Verge that:

We dispute the allegations in the lawsuits and will defend against them vigorously. Honey is free to use and provides millions of shoppers with additional savings on their purchases whenever possible. Honey helps merchants reduce cart abandonment and comparison shopping while increasing sales conversion. Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution, which is widely used across major brands.

How to stay safe while using PayPal Honey 

If you choose to use Honey, the company will gain access to an enormous amount of your personal information, including your name, email address, IP address, location, web history, web content, unique device ID, “basic” PayPal profile information, any linked social media accounts, and payment information. 

For better or worse, it’s not unusual for a shopping app to have access to that kind of information. However, due to the recent controversy about whether Honey is legit, many users would like to know how they can stay safe while using the tool. 

If you’re using Honey and want to keep your information secure, follow these steps to protect yourself:

• Read the PayPal Honey privacy statement to understand exactly what data the app is collecting.
• Be cautious when reading any email or communication that claims to be from Honey and verify the authenticity of any suspicious communication through Honey’s official contact channels. Criminals frequently impersonate employees or users from popular apps such as PayPal or Honey to conduct phishing scams.
• Use two-factor authentication for your accounts as an extra layer of security against fraudulent transactions. This feature makes it harder for bad actors to gain access to your accounts. 
• Use a well-regarded browser ad blocker when shopping online to reduce the chance of clicking on dangerous links. Be discerning when selecting your ad blocker because malicious browser extensions can pose as useful tools. However, keep in mind that some ad blockers can interfere with Honey’s ability to find promo codes. If you suspect this is happening, you may wish to briefly turn the ad blocker on and off again while you apply the promo codes. 

How to remove PayPal Honey

While millions of users still use PayPal Honey, some have decided to abandon the tool after the recent controversy. Below, we’ve outlined how to remove the Honey extension and app from your device.

How to remove the Paypal Honey extension

Let’s take a look at how to remove the Honey extension from four of the most popular web browsers: Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. 

How to remove Honey from Chrome:

1. 1.Open Chrome. 
2. 2.Click the ⋮ menu at the top right.
3. 3.Click on “Extensions” > “Manage extensions.”
4. 4.Navigate to Honey, click “Remove,” and confirm the removal.

How to remove Honey from Safari:

1. 1.Open Safari.
2. 2.Click on the Safari menu. 
3. 3.Click on “Settings” > “Extensions.”
4. 4.Find Honey in the list, click “Uninstall,” and confirm the uninstallation. 

How to remove Honey from Microsoft Edge:

1. 1.Open Microsoft Edge. 
2. 2.Click the ⋮ menu at the top right.
3. 3.Click on “Extensions.”
4. 4.Find Honey in the list, click “Remove,” and confirm the removal. 

How to remove Honey from Mozilla Firefox:

1. 1.Open Mozilla Firefox.
2. 2.Select the ☰ menu at the top right.
3. 3.Click on “Add-ons and themes.”
4. 4.Find Honey on the list and click “Manage” at the top right.
5. 5.Click the ⋯ menu for the Honey extension at the top right.
6. 6.Click “Remove” and confirm the removal. 

How to remove the PayPal Honey app

Below, we’ll outline how to remove the Honey app from iOS and Android devices.

How to remove the Honey app on iOS devices (iPhone/iPad):

1. 1.Press and hold the Honey app icon on your home screen.
2. 2.Tap “Remove app” on the menu that appears.
3. 3.Tap “Delete app” to confirm.

How to remove the Honey app on Android devices:

1. 1.Press and hold the Honey app on your home screen.
2. 2.Tap “Uninstall.”
3. 3.Tap “Ok” to confirm the uninstallation.