In the world of money-saving browser extensions, two platforms reign supreme: Capital One Shopping and Honey.
But each platform has upsides and downsides, depending on how you shop. If you want to maximize your savings, it’s essential to understand the ins and outs of each platform to ensure your next online shopping trip is rife with discounts and rewards.
Key Features of Capital One Shopping vs Honey
Capital One Shopping and Honey are incredibly similar shopping extensions. You can use both to find coupon codes, earn rewards, and comparison-shop.
But several subtle differences can make one superior to the other based on how you shop. And since you can’t stack rewards between the two platforms, it pays to know which extension can best maximize savings and cash-back rewards.
Availability and Ease of Use
Shopping extensions are only useful if they support a variety of retail partners and are easy to use. Thankfully, both Capital One Shopping and Honey are very user-friendly. However, there are some differences in availability shoppers should know about.
Capital One Shopping Availability and Ease of Use
In 2018, the popular American bank Capital One purchased Wikibuy and changed the name to Capital One Shopping, which is only available in the U.S.
To get started, create a Capital One Shopping account using your email, Capital One account, or Facebook account. Then download Capital One Shopping’s free browser extension, which is available on Google Chrome, Microsoft Store, and the Apple App Store.
Honey Availability and Ease of Use
To join Honey, you can create an account with your email address or through Facebook or Google. Or you can use your PayPal account since the payment system company owns Honey.
Afterward, download Honey’s browser extension to let it get to work. It’s available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Microsoft Edge.
Currently, Honey works at more than 40,000 online stores, including names like:
- Adidas
- Lowe’s
- Macy’s
- Pizza Hut
- Sephora
- Target
Overall, retailer support is fairly similar between Capital One Shopping and Honey. The primary difference is that Honey supports websites in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. and continues to add international support.
Automatic Coupons and Shopping Promo Codes
Capital One Shopping and Honey automatically apply online coupons and promo codes when you shop at an eligible store. This automation is the foundation of both platforms, and either option makes finding deals much faster than manually searching for them.
Capital One Shopping Coupon and Promo Codes
Using Capital One Shopping to apply coupon codes is incredibly simple.
It automatically checks for eligible coupons and promo codes as you shop online. If it finds any, the extension notifies you. Clicking “Try Codes” automatically enters each code to your checkout, and the process usually takes under 30 seconds. If a code works, you get a discount or deal, such as free shipping, without having to search yourself.
Capital One Shopping uses crowdsourcing to find coupon codes. Essentially, if someone with their extension turned on successfully applies a coupon code when shopping, Capital One Shopping adds the code to its database so it can apply it to other people’s shopping carts.
Capital One Shopping doesn’t always find savings. But when that happens, you can search manually for deals, which helps other users save later.
Honey Shopping Coupon and Promo Codes
Honey uses the same crowdsourcing process Capital One Shopping does to continually expand its coupon database and keep codes up to date.
The extension turns orange if you’re shopping on a website that has potential coupons or promo codes. A number also appears on the extension to indicate how many codes it can test. If you click the extension, you also see the code success rate from other users and the average savings.
At checkout, Honey quickly applies codes automatically. You don’t always find savings or promotions, but the process takes around 30 seconds.
Rewards for Capital One Shopping Vs. Honey
When discount codes fail, you’re not out of luck. Both Capital One Shopping and Honey have a strong rewards program that lets you earn free gift cards for shopping.
Capital One Shopping Rewards
If you shop at Capital One Shopping partners, you earn Capital One Shopping credits. Credits are redeemable for gift cards at various partners, such as:
- American Eagle
- eBay
- Hulu
- Lowe’s
- Macy’s
- Nordstrom
- Sephora
- Staples
- Walmart
(Note: Partners are active as of the original time of publishing, but can change at any time.)
Capital One Shopping’s reward system is simple to use and quite lucrative. The extension notifies you if your purchase is eligible for credits as you shop. You can also use Capital One Shopping’s website, which displays daily and trending deals alongside a shopping reward amount. Typically, offers pay between 1% and 4% shopping rewards, but you can find offers that pay 5% to 20% or more.
You can redeem many gift cards at just $5, which is often possible after a single purchase or two, depending on the shopping reward offer. Some gift cards begin at $10 or $25, and available gift cards and rates are subject to change. But with dozens of options, it’s not difficult to find a gift card you can use.
Capital One Shopping also has a local offers section that highlights retailers in your zip code where you can earn credits. To use local deals, link a credit or debit card to your Capital One Shopping account and pay with that to earn Capital One Shopping credits.
There’s an option to invite friends to use Capital One Shopping, but it doesn’t pay referral bonuses, which is a downside.
Honey Rewards
Honey also lets you earn rewards for shopping at partner retailers. The extension indicates whether you can activate one of its Honey Gold offers as you shop. You can also search the Honey Gold page for current offers. If you complete your purchase, you earn up to 20% back.
You can earn Honey Gold at more than 5,500 stores, which is significantly more than Capital One Shopping. But when you activate a Honey Gold offer, the extension displays a potential cash-back range, so it’s the luck of the draw. In contrast, Capital One Shopping stores have a fixed reward amount.
You can redeem Honey Gold for free gift cards for retailers like:
- Amazon
- eBay
- DoorDash
- Lowe’s
- Nike
- Sephora
- Target
- Uber
- Walmart
You need $10 worth of Gold to redeem a gift card, which is twice Capital One Shopping’s minimum. However, Honey has gift cards that work in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, the U.K., and the European Union.
Honey also has more gift card variety than Capital One Shopping, and the inclusion of Amazon is fantastic news for Amazon Prime members and frequent Amazon shoppers.
Another difference between Capital One Shopping and Honey is Honey’s bonus system. Occasionally, Honey partners offer time-sensitive Gold bonuses.
For example, Honey might award $10 worth of Gold for shopping online at Walmart. The Honey extension notifies you if you’re on a website that offers a bonus. Once you activate a Honey Gold bonus, you have 24 hours to complete the eligible purchase to earn your Gold.
Finally, Honey pays you 500 Gold if you invite someone to the platform and they make a qualifying purchase. Your referral also earns 500 Gold.
Product Search and History
Capital One Shopping and Honey notify you when you can save money with coupon codes. But both websites also let you manually search for products to find deals and research price history to ensure you’re buying at the right time.
Capital One Shopping Product Search
When you search on Capital One Shopping’s website, you can see stores with coupons and popular products. You can also sort products by price, popularity, and average customer rating.
What makes Capital One Shopping’s search feature powerful is the extra information you get if you click on a product. It lists retailers that sell the product you’re looking for, including:
- Price, which includes potential shipping costs and membership fees
- Condition
- Delivery time estimate
- Available shopping rewards
Capital One Shopping often includes YouTube reviews, blog reviews, and a list of related products to help you make an informed decision as well. It’s particularly useful if you’re buying something expensive, like a new digital camera or computer.
For large purchases, this data can also help you save money since Capital One Shopping sometimes finds significant price differences between competing stores.
It even includes a price history graph for some products, making it easy to buy products when they’re at historically low prices. That could mean massive savings if you’re buying an expensive product like a new TV.
Honey Product Search
When you search for a product, Honey displays stores with coupons or Honey Gold eligibility alongside a list of products.
Clicking on a product displays price history data, the shipping policy, and a list of related products. Honey usually includes more price history data than Capital One Shopping. However, Honey doesn’t include multiple stores, YouTube videos, or blog reviews as extra information.
Price Drop Alerts
Capital One Shopping and Honey are valuable tools to begin your shopping trip since you can find coupon codes and reward opportunities and compare prices. But if you can’t find a deal, both platforms let you set up price drop alerts to ensure you shop when there’s a sale.
Capital One Shopping Watchlist
If you can’t find a good enough deal, Capital One Shopping lets you add a product to your watchlist.
The watchlist monitors the product’s prices for 60 days. If there’s a price drop, Capital One Shopping sends you an email notification to help you buy at the right time. You can also manually check your watchlist, and it’s easy to add and remove products as needed.
Unfortunately, Capital One Shopping doesn’t state how much prices have to drop for you to receive a notification. You can’t set a threshold either, which is a slight downside.
Honey Droplist
Honey also lets users add products to a watchlist, called a Droplist. But Honey gives you slightly more control. For starters, you can edit the amount of time Honey monitors a product. Plus, you can edit the discount percentage required for Honey to email you a price drop alert, with 5% being the minimum.
Amazon Savings
If you’re a frequent Amazon shopper, both Capital One Shopping and Honey can help you save money at Amazon by comparing prices between sellers.
Capital One Shopping and Amazon
Amazon is generally cost-effective. It’s hard to beat free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime or on orders of $25 or more, Amazon Prime Day, and Amazon Subscribe & Save. However, Amazon doesn’t always have the lowest price, and not all products are eligible for free shipping.
Capital One Shopping works in the background when you shop on Amazon, comparing seller prices to other online retailers. It displays the Amazon total and the Capital One Shopping total directly on a product’s page to help you make an informed decision. It also includes tax and shipping information.
Honey and Amazon
Honey also has several Amazon integrations that help you find the lowest price. However, Honey focuses on comparing Amazon sellers and using price history data to buy at the right time rather than suggesting other online retailers.
When you view an Amazon product page, Honey displays a notification under the product name if you’ve found the best price on Amazon. If there’s a better price, Honey displays a button so you can compare each listing.
Honey also incorporates price history data directly on Amazon. If a product’s price fluctuates regularly, Honey displays the total number of price changes within the last 30 days. If you want to learn more, clicking the button redirects you to Honey’s website, where you can view up to 120 days of price history.
Mobile Apps
You can use Capital One Shopping and Honey on your Web browser. But for online shoppers who prefer shopping through their smartphone, you can use the app instead.
The Capital One Shopping App
Capital One Shopping is available for free on Android and iOS. The app has all the features of the Web version, including:
- Automatic coupon codes
- A discover tab where you can search for deals at specific stores
- Shopping offers that pay you with credits in the form of shopping rewards
- A price-comparison tool
Additionally, the app lets you scan product bar codes in-store to compare prices between popular retailers.
The Honey Mobile App
Honey’s mobile app is the Honey Smart Shopping Assistant. It’s free for Android and iOS, and you can use the app to find available coupon codes, add products to your Droplist, and earn Honey Gold.
But the app is also a centralized shopping portal that lets you shop at hundreds of Honey’s most popular stores. It highlights the latest deals and trending products, and you can add and check out with a single cart, even if you’re buying products from multiple retailers.
The Verdict: Is Capital One Shopping Better Than Honey?
In a perfect world, you could use mobile coupon apps with Capital One Shopping and Honey to stack savings whenever you shop online.
Unfortunately, most browser extensions conflict with one another. Additionally, while Capital One Shopping and Honey are both worth trying, one platform might be superior based on your shopping habits.
Choose Capital One Shopping If…
With a robust database of coupons and extensive list of partners, Capital One Shopping is a great tool for U.S. shoppers to save money. It’s the right shopping platform to use if you:
- Want In-Depth Product Data. Capital One Shopping’s robust product search tool lets you compare online prices, find YouTube and blog reviews, and track historical price data. It’s particularly useful for buying expensive products or products that can require extensive research, like appliances or electronics.
- Shop Local. Capital One Shopping’s local offers let you earn credits for buying from partners in your area when you shop with a linked card. This versatility lets you earn rewards both online and in-store, provided you take the time to search for local offers.
- Want Predictable Shopping Rewards. Capital One Shopping clearly states how much in rewards you earn on eligible purchases.
- Want Fast Rewards. You can redeem shopping credits for $5 rewards with Capital One Shopping, whereas Honey rewards start at $10.
- Want to Compare Amazon Prices to Other Retailers. Capital One Shopping is useful if you want to find a great deal and aren’t set on Amazon for Prime benefits or potential credit card rewards.
Choose Honey If…
With international support and a larger database of stores, Honey has some distinct advantages over Capital One Shopping, which only works in the U.S. Honey is superior to Capital One Shopping if you:
- Live & Shop Outside the United States. Honey’s international database makes it one of the most internationally friendly rewards platforms.
- Want More Gift Card Variety or Amazon Gift Cards. If you want more gift card variety or Amazon gift cards in particular, Honey is better than Capital One Shopping.
- Prefer Shopping on Amazon. Honey’s powerful Amazon integrations let you access historical prices and easily compare seller prices when shopping.
- Want Credit for Referring Friends. If you refer a friend to Honey, you both get 500 Gold, worth $5, when they make a purchase that earns Honey Gold.
Choose Both If…
You can’t use both shopping extensions to double-dip on coupons and rewards.
However, that doesn’t mean you can only pick one shopping extension. You can try both and simply toggle extensions on or off depending on which feature you want to take advantage of.
Using both extensions is a smart move if you:
- Want Incredible Deals. More data means you can make more informed decisions. It takes time since you have to toggle each extension on and off, but this is how you find the most savings.
- Want to Know Everything About Amazon Purchases. Honey provides in-depth Amazon data, but Capital One Shopping does a better job comparing Amazon to other retailers.
- Regularly Shop Online. This might sound obvious, but if you do most of your shopping online, having more options in your money-saving toolkit is worth the extra effort. In contrast, if you mostly shop in-store, try out money-saving apps like Ibotta and Fetch Rewards instead since these help you save on in-store purchases.
Final Word
Capital One Shopping and Honey are two of the most popular price-comparison platforms. With millions of users, backing from massive corporations, and numerous features that help people save money, it’s hardly surprising.
Ultimately, as long as you use a shopping extension and other tricks like shopping with a cash-back credit card, there’s no reason to keep paying full price. Hopefully, either Capital One Shopping or Honey can make your next online shopping trip even more convenient and affordable.
If you’re still having trouble deciding which one’s right for you, read our reviews of Capital One Shopping and Honey.
