Honest comparison

HonestyJar alternatives

As of 10 August 2026, honestyjar.app is no longer loading and its signup is unavailable, which means QR codes printed for it have stopped taking payments. If that is you, the first thing to do is not choose a replacement — it is to log in to Stripe directly and check your balance and payouts, because HonestyJar was built on Stripe Connect and your money should be sitting in an account in your own name. Once that is confirmed, this page covers how to replace a dead code, including options that are not us.

Check on your money first

Before anything else, before you think about replacements: log in to Stripe directly at stripe.com, not through HonestyJar.

From what was published about how HonestyJar was built, it used Stripe Connect — which means each stall owner had their own Stripe account, in their own name, holding their own money. If that is how yours was set up, your funds and your payout details sit with Stripe and are not affected by a website going down. Log in and check your balance and your payout schedule.

If you cannot get into Stripe, or you find a balance that has not paid out, contact Stripe support directly. They are the ones holding the money.

We are not connected to HonestyJar in any way and cannot see your account or act on your behalf. But this is the first thing we would do in your position, and it is worth doing today whether or not you ever use us.

What has actually happened

As of 10 August 2026, honestyjar.app returns a page-not-found error. The homepage, the blog and the individual guides are all gone, and there is no working signup.

We do not know why, and we are not going to speculate about a business we have no visibility into. What we can tell you is what it means practically: if you had a HonestyJar QR code on a stall, it has stopped taking payments.

Your printed codes have stopped working

This is the bit that stings, and it is worth understanding properly before you buy anything else.

A QR code is just a link. If the link points at a service that has gone, the code is dead — laminated card, engraved sign, vinyl sticker, it makes no difference. Anyone scanning it today gets an error page rather than a payment screen.

Two things follow. First, take the dead code off the stall now rather than at the weekend, because a customer who scans a broken code usually does not try again — they assume the stall is not really working and drive on. Second, if you paid for permanent signage, that is a real loss and we are sorry; it is not recoverable, whoever you go with next.

What to look for in a replacement

Whatever you choose, and it does not have to be us, these are the questions worth asking this time:

  • Whose Stripe account does the money land in? If it is yours, your takings are insulated from whatever happens to the company in the middle. If the platform pools payments and pays you out, you are exposed to them.
  • Can you change where the QR code points? A code that resolves through a link you control means a future move costs you nothing. A code hard-wired to one provider means reprinting everything.
  • Is there a monthly fee? A service you pay for monthly needs enough customers to survive. Pay-per-transaction means quiet months cost the provider nothing to carry.
  • Who actually runs it? Worth knowing whether there is someone whose living depends on it, or whether it is a side project.

Moving to HonestyBox

If you decide on us, the practical steps are short. Connect your existing Stripe account — the same one HonestyJar used, if you want; it is yours and it carries on working. Set up your box and print the new code free. If you want something permanent, we engrave slate plaques in Cardigan, though a printed code in a plastic wallet works exactly as well and costs nothing.

Given what you have just been through, one thing worth saying plainly: HonestyBox is run by one person in West Wales, and the money goes to your own Stripe account rather than through ours. That does not make us immortal. It does mean that if we ever went the same way, your Stripe account and your balance would still be yours.

Common questions

Is my HonestyJar money safe?

If your setup used Stripe Connect as described in their build write-up, your money is in your own Stripe account and you should be able to log in at stripe.com and see it. Check today. If something looks wrong, Stripe support is the right place to ask, not us.

Can I reuse my HonestyJar QR code?

No. The code encodes a web address that no longer works. You will need a new code from whichever service you choose.

Can I keep the same Stripe account?

Yes. Your Stripe account is yours and is not tied to any one platform.

Do I have to switch to HonestyBox?

No, and we would rather you picked properly than picked fast. The section above lists other options. If you sell attended, a card reader may suit you better than any QR service.

What if HonestyJar comes back?

Then this page is out of date and we will update it. We have written only what we can verify: as of the date above, the site does not load.

Other options worth looking at

We would rather you chose properly than quickly. Depending on how you sell, these may suit you better than we do:

  • A card reader — SumUp or PayPal Point of Sale, if you are actually standing at your stall most of the time. Both cost less per transaction than we do. See our SumUp comparison.
  • Honesty Box Payments (honestybox.org) — a separate UK service with a similar QR model, unrelated to us despite the similar name. Worth a look if you want to compare.
  • A Stripe payment link of your own — if you are technical and sell one fixed-price item, you can generate a link and QR code straight from Stripe and pay only Stripe's fee. It is more fiddly and does not let buyers enter their own amount, but it is the cheapest route there is.
  • Cash, still — plenty of boxes run happily on a bolted tin. If your takings are small and your regulars carry change, you may not need any of this.
Figures checked against the source below. Prices change — tell us if we have something out of date.