How to block Honey on your Shopify store

Honey tries codes and shows its pop-up on Shopify stores. What it does, what you can stop on the storefront and in checkout, and how to set it up.

Author:Benson
Merchant controlsUpdated 17 October 202612 min read
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In short

You can't remove Honey from your shoppers' browsers, but you can limit what it does on your store. On your theme pages, a script can hide its panel. Shopify's checkout is closed to scripts, so there the control is the codes: a discount function that accepts only allowlisted codes in coupon-extension sessions. Run the change against a holdout to measure it.

A customer forwards you a screenshot. They were checking out on your store, a Honey pop-up said it had found codes, and one of them was the code you made for your VIP list. They'd like to know why a VIP code is public.

You open the weekend's orders. The VIP code is on more of them than you have VIPs, from shoppers who were never on the list. Your welcome code is on more again. Most of those orders came from Google or your own emails, and nothing on the order says how the code got there.

Honey is a browser extension, so you can't take it off your shoppers' computers. You can decide what it gets to do on your store. This guide covers what Honey does on a Shopify store, which parts of that you can stop and where, and how to set it up.

What does Honey do on a Shopify store?#

It waits for your checkout, tries the codes it holds for your store, applies one that works, and, where it's part of your affiliate program, can claim the sale.

Honey's Chrome Web Store listing says it finds promo codes and applies them to the cart in one click, with rewards and price tracking alongside [Chrome Web Store, Oct 2026] (opens the source). It runs in the shopper's browser, not on your store. Nothing in your theme or your apps switched it on, and no app you install can uninstall it.

13M

Chrome users run Honey, according to its Chrome Web Store listing in October 2026.

Chrome Web Store, Oct 2026(opens the source)

Three things reach your store with it:

  • The codes it has collected. Honey's list for your store isn't limited to the codes you publish: its members can add codes to it themselves [Honey Help Center, Oct 2026] (opens the source). MegaLag's December 2025 investigation, as reported by PPC Land, alleges that Honey uploaded codes shoppers typed at checkout before they answered its consent prompt, including a friends-and-family code one brand had never published [PPC Land, Dec 2025] (opens the source).
  • Its pop-up. Honey says it pops up at checkout to test the codes it found, and applies a working one to the order [Honey Help Center, Oct 2026] (opens the source).
  • Its affiliate cookie. Honey earns commission from merchants' affiliate programs and passes part of it to shoppers as rewards [Chrome Web Store, Oct 2026] (opens the source). If Honey is in your program, an order where it applied a code can be credited to Honey under last-click attribution, whoever actually sent the shopper. LegalEagle's January 2025 lawsuit alleged that Honey diverts creators' affiliate commissions; PayPal said Honey "follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution" [TechCrunch, Jan 2025] (opens the source).

The affiliate side has moved since then. Google's Chrome Web Store rules, enforced from June 2025, let an extension add an affiliate link or cookie only after the shopper acts and only when they get a direct benefit [Chrome for Developers, Mar 2025] (opens the source). In January 2026 Rakuten Advertising cut Honey off from its network [PPC Land, Jan 2026] (opens the source), impact.com suspended it, and Awin suspended its payments [PPC Land, Jan 2026] (opens the source). The economist Benjamin Edelman documented Honey code that behaved differently when it suspected an affiliate tester was watching [Benjamin Edelman, Dec 2025] (opens the source). PayPal said that code predates its ownership and appears to affect under 0.1% of Honey's traffic, and Hello Partner reported it has been deactivated [Hello Partner, Jan 2026] (opens the source).

The creators' proposed class action over Honey is still open: in June 2026 the court refused to dismiss the second amended complaint [US District Court, N.D. California, Jun 2026] (opens the source). No court has found Honey liable, and none of those network decisions is a ruling.

What does Honey cost a Shopify store?#

Two things, often on the same order: the discount, and the commission.

The discount goes to a shopper who was already at your checkout with a full basket. The commission goes to Honey's network if Honey is in your affiliate program and took the last click. Neither appears as "Honey" in Shopify's reports. You see a discount code on the order and, if you pay affiliates, a line on the network's invoice.

The costs outside that sum are harder to see. A VIP or staff code stops meaning anything once it's public. Creators lose commission when a stranger's extension applies their code, or gain it on sales they never drove, depending on your creator code and link settings. Support answers tickets about codes you never offered.

That reply is the useful starting point. Every code Honey applies on your store is one you made. The free code check shows which of your codes coupon extensions already hold.

Can you ask Honey to remove your store?#

Not as a store opt-out, but Honey does publish routes for removing codes. Its merchant FAQ tells brands without a Honey partnerships team to email [email protected], and invites requests to remove codes not meant for public distribution. [Honey (PayPal), Oct 2026] (opens the source) The FAQ for its Shopify app sends requests to remove codes shoppers submitted to [email protected]. [Honey (PayPal), Oct 2026] (opens the source) The guide to what the Honey scandal cost merchants sets out those routes with the other checks to run before peak.

PPC Land reported in December 2025 that Honey told merchants removal needed a partnership and that it couldn't switch Honey off for individual stores, though it had already removed one store [PPC Land, Dec 2025] (opens the source). In January 2026 Honey agreed with Awin to add policies that let advertisers manage their coupon codes, including removing unauthorised or invalid ones [PPC Land, Jan 2026] (opens the source).

Takedowns usually cover specific codes. A code removed from Honey's list still works for anyone who already has it, and the next private code you send out can be collected the same way.

What can you stop on the storefront, and what in checkout?#

On the storefront, you can hide Honey's panel wherever it shows on your theme pages. In checkout, where Honey says it pops up to test codes, you can't touch Honey at all, only the codes it tries.

Your storefront is your theme: the home, collection, product, search and cart pages, and the cart drawer. Apps add code there through theme app extensions, so a script on those pages can recognise Honey's panel and hide it.

Checkout is closed to that kind of code. Shopify deprecated checkout.liquid in February 2023, and from 13 August 2024 its customisations stopped working on the information, shipping and payment pages. Apps now add approved blocks that can't reach the checkout page itself. Honey isn't an app. It runs in the shopper's browser, so it still opens in checkout and types codes into the discount box.

Express checkout is narrower again. In a September 2025 thread on Shopify's developer forum, Shopify staff said that checkout UI extensions don't run in accelerated checkout, and that discount codes weren't exposed to checkout validation functions.

What changed is the code itself. Since December 2025, the function behind an automatic discount can reject an entered code with a message, which is the supported way to say no in checkout. A function sees the cart and the codes, though, not the browser. On its own it can't tell Honey trying a code from a customer typing the one you emailed them. It needs a signal from the storefront, where a script can see the extension.

What can you do about Honey without an app?#

Several things, and each has a catch.

  • Unique, single-use codes for private audiences. A code that works once is worth little to Honey's list. The catch: a creator can't read a unique code out in a video, so match the code type to the channel.
  • Usage limits, one use per customer, and eligibility. Shopify lets you cap a code's total uses, limit it to one per customer, or restrict it to customers you choose. The catch: the first strangers to find a code can still use it, and eligibility only works for customers you already know.
  • Expiry dates and rotation. Short windows limit how long a leak lasts. The catch: rotating a code breaks it for the people you sent it to, and the replacement can be collected the same way.
  • Check Honey's place in your affiliate program. Ask whoever runs your program whether Honey is a publisher in it, and what it earned last quarter. If you're on Rakuten Advertising, impact.com or Awin, check Honey's status there first, since all three acted against it in January 2026 [PPC Land, Jan 2026] (opens the source). The catch: removing Honey from your program stops the commission, not the code test.
  • Ask for takedowns. You can ask Honey to remove specific codes through the contacts in its merchant FAQs. The catch: the routes cover codes, not your store, and a removed code keeps working for anyone who already has it.
  • Your own theme script. A developer can write JavaScript that finds Honey's panel and hides it on your theme pages. The catch: Honey keeps updating its extension, most recently on 2 October 2026 [Chrome Web Store, Oct 2026] (opens the source), so the script needs maintaining, and it stops at checkout.
  • Your own discount function. A developer can build a function that rejects codes. The catch: only Plus stores can run custom apps that contain functions, and the function still can't see which sessions have Honey in them.

Each of these narrows the problem, and the guide to stopping discount code leaks covers every Shopify setting in detail. None of them tells you which sessions Honey is in, and the checkout control depends on knowing that. The guide to coupon extensions in Shopify checkout covers the same limits for every extension, not only Honey.

How to block Honey with Benson#

Benson splits the job the way Shopify splits your store: the pop-up on the storefront, the codes in checkout.

  1. Install Benson from the Shopify App Store. The Free plan includes detection and observe mode, and Home opens your theme editor with Benson's app embed already switched on, so you only save. The Shopify install guide has the steps. If you're comparing apps first, the comparison page sets Benson beside Veeper, KeepCart and cleanCART.
  2. Watch before you change anything. Observe mode records which sessions have Honey in them and what Benson would hide, without hiding anything. A week or two shows how much of your traffic and how many of your orders Honey touches, and lets you check a rule catches Honey and never your own offer.
  3. Hide Honey's pop-up on the storefront. Switch to Block on the Stop plan. Benson hides Honey's panel wherever it shows on your theme pages, by rule: schedule, country, source, device and page.
Sample store
A coupon extension's pop-up hidden on a product page. Sample data.
  1. Turn on the strict code policy. Shopify doesn't let any app change what Honey shows inside checkout, so Benson's protection there works on the codes. When its storefront script sees a coupon extension, it notes that on the cart, and Benson's Shopify discount function reads the note. With the strict policy on, only codes on your allowlist work in coupon-extension sessions, and anything else gets a short message instead of a discount. Put your public welcome and loyalty codes on the allowlist, and keep staff, VIP and apology codes off it. Checkout policies are on the Stop plan, and because the function ships inside a public app, they work on every Shopify plan.
Sample store
Codes tried in coupon-extension sessions, and which ones the policy allows. Sample data.
  1. Keep a holdout and read it. Every control can run against a holdout: a small share of extension sessions, picked at random, that keep the old experience. The difference between the two groups is what blocking Honey does for your own shoppers. The holdout guide explains how long to run it and how to read the range.
  2. Offer your own code instead. On the Own plan, Benson can show your own discount widget in place of the extension's pop-up, so a shopper looking for a deal gets one you chose.

Because the policy only acts in coupon-extension sessions, customers without an extension who type the code you sent them still get their discount. A code that has spread to coupon sites can still be copied by hand, so retire or limit those once you've seen how far they went.

Observe, hide pop-ups, switch on the strict code policy, then measure it with a holdout.

To start, add Benson from the Shopify App Store and leave it in observe mode for a week.

Questions merchants ask

Can I stop Honey from working on my Shopify store?
Not in the shopper's browser, because Honey is their extension and not an app on your store. You can hide its panel wherever it shows on your theme pages. In checkout, a discount function can make its codes fail in coupon-extension sessions by accepting only the codes on your allowlist.
Can Honey apply discount codes I never published?
Yes, if they exist in your Shopify admin. Shopify only accepts codes you created, but Honey's list can include codes shoppers submit or type, so staff, VIP and creator codes can end up on it. MegaLag's December 2025 investigation, reported by PPC Land, alleges Honey uploaded codes shoppers typed before they answered its consent prompt.
Will blocking Honey hurt my conversion rate?
It depends on your store, so run the change against a holdout. Some Honey shoppers would have bought without a code, and some may leave without one. Comparing randomly held-out sessions with protected ones shows which effect is bigger for you.
Do I need Shopify Plus to block Honey?
No. Hiding the pop-up works on your theme pages, and Benson's checkout policy runs as a function inside a public app, which Shopify lets stores on any plan use. Building your own code-rejecting function as a custom app does need Plus.
Can I ask Honey to remove my store?
There's no published store opt-out. Honey's merchant FAQs list contacts for removing codes: [email protected], and [email protected] for its Shopify app. A removed code keeps working for anyone who already has it.

Sources#

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