5 best browser extensions that automatically find coupons at checkout

Searching for coupons before checking out online can be a hassle. Signing up for email lists, following brands on social media and scouring random websites in hopes that a coupon code will help you score a discount can help, but you have to check back consistently. But thanks to technology, there’s an easier way.

Coupon browser extensions can save you hundreds of dollars when you shop online — and in some cases even in-store. You can download most extensions for free and add them to your web browser, like Chrome, Safari or Firefox, or use the mobile app. Some even have a mobile app, allowing you to shop however you want and save.

To help you out, CNBC Select narrowed down the best browser extensions. Our top picks must be free, create a positive user experience and provide users with money-saving features. (See our methodology for more information on how we chose the best browser extensions.)

Who’s this for? Capital One Shopping is great if you’re looking to redeem your rewards for gift cards. While this site only offers cash back in the form of gift cards, it has dozens of retailers to choose from.

Standout benefits: You don’t need a Capital One credit card to use Capital One Shopping. The extension also offers a unique referral program that doesn’t require a purchase. If you refer a friend and they have regularly used the app for 90 days you will both earn a bonus even if no purchases were made.

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Who’s this for? Ibotta allows you to earn cash back when you shop and is especially helpful if you’re trying to save on groceries. With the app, you can add offers for products you intend to buy at the store, do your shopping and then submit a photo of your receipt to earn your credits.

Standout benefits: Ibotta offers bonuses that allow users to earn extra cashback by completing specific redemption offers. Bonuses are sorted into 5 different categories and often have expiration dates.

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Who’s this for? PayPal Honey offers some advanced price-tracking features, ideal if you prefer to wait for the best deal possible. The Droplist feature tracks products at select stores and has some in-depth customization that other sites don’t.

Standout benefits: Honey’s Droplist is the most in-depth price-tracking tool on this list and works on major retailers like Amazon and Walmart. You can add specific items to your list down to the color and size and even the percentage of the price drop before you receive notifications.

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Who’s this for? CouponCabin is the best option if you want the most flexibility when redeeming your rewards. This app offers the most ways to redeem your savings on this list totaling 6 different methods.

Standout benefits: With the CouponCabin Guarantee, you can earn a $25 credit for Restaurant.com if you find a coupon that doesn’t work.

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Capital One Shopping doesn’t require you to be a Capital One cardholder and you can access it on both desktop and mobile. Both versions will auto-apply coupons and search for a product’s lowest price across other retailers.

While Capital One Shopping is a bit limited with gift cards as the only reward option, the extension works at over 30,000 online retailers giving you a wide range of options for earning rewards.

Redemption methods

Gift cards

Browser availability

Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari

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Ibotta may be best known for its utility in grocery stores but it can also work online as well, including many grocery pickup and delivery services. Having earned its users over $1.8 billion since 2012, Ibotta offers you extra opportunities to earn additional cash back through its bonuses feature by completing specific timely offers.

Its browser extension is only computable with Google Chrome and you’ll want to ensure you don’t leave your account inactive for more than 180 days or you’ll get hit with a maintenance fee. You can withdraw your rewards once you reach a minimum of $20 in rewards.

Redemption methods

Withdraw to a bank account, PayPal or gift card

Browser availability

Chrome

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Rakuten is a popular shopping rewards program boasting over 20 million users who have earned over $3.2B in cash back since its inception. Available on mobile and desktop, it also has a browser extension, sometimes referred to as the Cash Back Button, allowing you to earn cash back on more than 3,500 stores. Rakuten pays out slightly differently than its competitors with four set dates each year, 1 per quarter, provided you have a minimum confirmed earnings of $5.01.

For in-store offers, link your desired credit card to your Rakuten account and then add the offers to your card. From there you can shop normally as long as you are paying with your linked card which earns you your selected cashback deals. Unfortunately, Rakuten is not available on Amazon.

Redemption methods

Receive a check in the mail, a PayPal payment, a gift card, or you can donate your change to a nonprofit

Browser availability

Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari

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PayPal Honey is available on five different browsers and can compare prices between Amazon sellers even down to the shipping and handling costs. Since this program is through PayPal, you can earn rewards on items even if there isn’t a direct coupon through Honey. You can also earn Exclusive Offers through the app which is another way to earn more PayPal Rewards points for items that may go on sale less often.

PayPal Honey can automatically apply coupons for you during checkout to help you earn the most rewards possible, but it’s important to note that your rewards will expire if you don’t earn at least 10 points within a consecutive 365-day period. If you’re looking to redeem your rewards for a gift card, you’ll need at least 1,000 points, typically worth $10.

Redemption methods

PayPal, gift card, PayPal shopping credit or a charitable donation

Browser availability

Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari and Opera

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CouponCabin provides you with the most redemption offers of extensions on this list and also allows you to redeem your rewards anytime as you meet the $10 minimum to withdraw. CouponCabin also offers valuable limited-time member-only deals.

For those with expired manufacturers’ coupons, you can donate them to CouponCabin which will send them to overseas military bases where they can be used for up to 6 months after their expiration date.

Redemption methods

Check, PayPal, Venmo, Chase Payments, gift card or a charitable donation

Browser availability

Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari

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The best coupon browser extensions can save you money and allow you to compare prices across multiple websites. Here’s more detail on what they can do:

1. Scan the web for promo codes, then automatically apply any found when you checkout to see if you qualify for discounts.
2. Award you cash back for eligible purchases.
3. Tell you if an item you want to buy can be found for less on another site.
4. Aggregate product reviews and weed out those that seem fake so you can make an educated purchase.
5. Provide you with a combination of coupons, cash back, price comparisons and reviews to make you a more savvy shopper.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every browser extension review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best browser extensions that automatically find coupons at checkout.

To determine which coupon browser extensions offer the best discounts, CNBC Select analyzed 10 programs. We compared each program on a range of features, including:

• Cost
• User experience
• Money-saving features
• Customer reviews, when available

Cost was the first feature we reviewed. The coupon browser extension had to be free to make it on our best-of list.

All of the coupon browser extensions offer digital or physical coupons or a form of cashback, but those with even more money-saving features, link price comparisons, ranked higher.

Next, the extensions had to be user-friendly and require minimal work from consumers. After all, a coupon browser extension should save you both time and money.

Customer reviews were also taken into consideration.