Remember the old days when savvy savers had to physically clip off discount coupons out of newspapers and magazines just to shave a few cents off an item? A time-consuming hassle, no doubt, but even with the advent of digital coupons and discount codes, having to sign up for email lists, follow brands on social media, and scour random websites in hopes that a coupon code will help you score a discount before you check out your item is no less a nuisance.

Fortunately, technology always finds a way to make these things easier. With coupon browser extensions that are designed to automatically find applicable coupons that you can use before checking out, you can potentially save hundreds of dollars when you shop online — and in some cases even in-store.

Popular browser extensions include those from Honey, Rakuten, Ibotta, Capital One Shopping, Amazon Assistant, Invisible Hand, The Camelizer, and many more. You can download most extensions for free and add them to your web browser, such as Chrome or Firefox, or use their mobile apps after which they automatically search the web for coupon codes then apply them at checkout. Some of the better coupon browser extensions even perform price comparisons, so you can ensure you're getting the best price from your chosen seller.

Shopaholics and smart online shoppers alike tend to download and install one or more of these money-saving coupon browser extensions to help them save on their purchases, and while, in general, they provide a positive experience to their users, coupon extensions do have several downsides. This article will discuss how coupon plugins and browser extensions both benefit and disadvantage you as a consumer.

How Coupon Browser Extensions/Plugins Work

How Coupon Extensions Help You Save

The best-rated coupon browser plugins, such as Honey, Amazon assist, Rakuten, Invisible Hand, Capital One Shopping, The Camelizer, and Ibotta, are mostly free to download and can scrape for deals from thousands of websites in an easy, user-friendly way. They also tend to offer automatic coupons, cash back, money-saving features, price alerts, price history tracking, and price comparisons.

Drawbacks of Using Coupon Extensions

Hidden Terms and Conditions. Coupon extensions can create a poor or confusing user experience while shopping online on an e-commerce site. It's not always immediately clear what coupon extensions have changed or inserted in your shopping cart at checkout, and the extensions often use intrusive pop-up notifications. Some coupon extensions offer cash rebates for buyers but don't make it very clear that there are withdrawal minimums and time windows.
In fact, even the more popular coupon extensions with millions of users have been cited for alleged privacy and security issues. This is often less about identifiable cyber breaches and more about nebulous or dense policies that are hard for users to understand.

Browser Malware. Malware and adware of all types poses serious threats to both privacy and security. Many browser extensions—including some coupon-related plugins—are malicious in nature and bring malware with them. These extensions steal usernames, passwords and personal data.

Those are just a couple of reasons why many e-commerce platforms choose to actively block coupon extensions.

Nevertheless, despite the notable data and privacy risks, the more popular coupon browser extensions still have millions of regular, satisfied users who take advantage of the combined millions of dollars in savings that these plugins help them achieve. As long as you, the customer, shop responsibly and practice common sense measures to secure your personal and financial data while using them, coupon browser extensions can seriously change the way you shop for the better.