How we get paid

This disclosure is made in accordance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s guidance on endorsements and testimonials (16 CFR Part 255). It applies across the whole site: reviews, comparisons, category rankings, buying guides, and any coupon or deal listing.

• They do not buy a score. Scores are produced from our published methodology, using weights that are fixed across the entire site.
• They do not buy ranking position. Commission rates differ substantially between vendors. We do not order rankings by what pays best. The one exception to score order is an editorial placement, described below — and it is always labelled.
• They do not buy coverage or copy. We do not accept payment to write about a product, to write about it favourably, or to remove criticism. No vendor reviews or approves a page before publication.
• They do not buy silence. Products we earn commission on are still criticised where criticism is warranted, and products we earn nothing from are still recommended where they deserve it.

Rankings are ordered by score. In a small number of cases a listing is instead placed at a fixed position in a category ranking — for example where ReviewCost has a business relationship with the company behind it.

• Every placement is labelled. The listing carries an “Editorial placement” badge, and the listing, product page and review all state the relationship behind it.
• The score is not adjusted. A placed product is scored with the same methodology as everything else. Its position is the placement; its score is still its score, and the two can disagree.
• A placement never earns “Best overall”. That badge describes the highest score in a category, and a placed listing does not receive it.

Outbound links to vendors may be affiliate links. In practice this includes buttons such as “Get deal” or “Visit site”, links inside reviews and comparisons, and any coupon or deal listing. Some outbound links are not affiliate links at all — for example links to a vendor’s documentation or status page — and we do not mark those separately.

Affiliate links may pass through a redirect on our own domain so that we can count the click. That redirect does not add cost and does not change the destination.

We do not invent discount codes. Any code listed on this site comes from a vendor, an affiliate network feed, or a publicly published offer. A code that we cannot trace to one of those sources does not go on the site — a fabricated code wastes your time at checkout and misrepresents a discount that does not exist.

We may display advertising from third-party ad networks, including Google. Advertising is sold and served separately from editorial content: an advertiser cannot buy a review, a score, or a placement in our rankings. How advertising cookies work is covered in our cookie policy and privacy policy.

If anything about our commercial relationships is unclear, ask: hello@reviewcost.com.