The short version
BenPicks is free to read. We make money through affiliate links — when you buy a tool through a link on our site, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes our verdict. That’s the entire deal, and we want you to know it before you read a single review.
How affiliate links work here
Some (not all) of the tools we review have affiliate programs. When we link to one and you choose to buy, the vendor pays us a referral fee. You pay exactly the same price you would have anyway — sometimes less, where we can secure a reader discount.
What our money can — and can’t — buy
A commission can keep the lights on and pay our testers. It cannot buy a positive review, a higher score, or the Ben’s Pick seal. We routinely recommend tools that pay us nothing (or less than a competitor) when they’re genuinely better, and we routinely tell you not to buy tools that would have paid us well.
Our independence firewall
We decide what to review and what to conclude before commercial considerations enter the picture. Verdicts and Picks are based solely on our testing criteria. No vendor sees or approves a review before it’s published.
Sponsored content
If we ever publish something paid-for, it will be clearly and unmistakably labeled as such, and kept entirely separate from our independent reviews. Our Picks and ratings are never sponsored.
Compliance
We follow advertising-disclosure rules including the US FTC guidelines and the UK ASA/CAP code. You’ll find a disclosure note on every page that contains affiliate links.
Questions about how we make money? Email us — we’re happy to answer.