Affiliate disclosure

What is an affiliate link?

An affiliate link is a special URL that tracks referrals. When you click one and sign up for a paid plan with the tool provider, that provider pays us a small commission — typically a percentage of your subscription fee. You pay the same price whether or not you use our link. The commission comes out of the tool company's marketing budget, not your pocket.

How we make money

Toolisme is a free resource. We do not charge readers. Our revenue comes from two sources:

• Affiliate commissions. When a reader clicks a link in a review and purchases a paid plan, the tool provider may pay us a commission. Not all tools we review have affiliate programs, and we review many tools that offer no commission at all.
• Display advertising. We may run clearly labeled banner ads or sponsored placements. Sponsored content is always marked as such and is never presented as a review.

Our editorial independence promise

Revenue never influences our reviews, scores, or recommendations. Here is how we keep it that way:

• Reviewers do not know the commission rate when they test and score a tool. Commission terms are handled separately by the business team.
• We do not accept paid reviews. No tool maker can pay us to write a review, publish a positive review, or change a score.
• We review tools with no affiliate program. If a tool is good, we recommend it whether or not it pays. If a tool with an affiliate program is bad, we say so.
• Our scoring rubric is public. You can see exactly how we arrived at every rating.

How to spot an affiliate link

Every affiliate link on Toolisme is marked. You may see:

• A small badge or note next to the link that says "Affiliate link" or "We may earn a commission."
• A disclosure statement at the top or bottom of the page.

If you are ever unsure, assume the link is an affiliate link. When in doubt, you can go directly to the tool's website by typing the address instead of clicking our link.

Why affiliate links matter

Affiliate revenue lets us keep Toolisme free, independent, and ad-light. It means we can spend real time testing tools instead of chasing page views. We believe this model — honest reviews funded by optional commissions — is the best way to serve readers.

Third-party tracking and cookies

Affiliate links typically use cookies to track referrals. When you click an affiliate link, a tracking cookie may be set by the tool provider or an affiliate network (such as Impact, PartnerStack, or ShareASale). These cookies let the provider know that a visitor came from Toolisme. See our Privacy Policy for more about cookies and how to manage them.

Your trust is the product

If we ever broke your trust for a commission, you would stop reading — and without readers, we have no business. That is the real incentive: honest reviews keep you coming back, and that is what makes the whole model work.

Questions about this disclosure? Contact us and we will answer them.