The short version: Some links on Savings Radar are affiliate links. If you click one and sign up or buy something, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The commission never determines our recommendation. We pay for the services and products we test unless we explicitly say otherwise.

What an affiliate link is

An affiliate link is a normal-looking hyperlink with a tracking parameter. When you click it and end up signing up or making a purchase on the destination site, the merchant or its affiliate network pays us a small percentage of the transaction. The price you pay is exactly the same as if you'd typed the URL by hand.

Why we use them

Affiliate commissions are the primary way we keep Savings Radar running. They pay for the services we sign up for to test (most of which we pay for at retail), the hosting, and the time we spend writing. They are not tied to favorable coverage, and we are not paid extra for ranking one provider higher than another.

Programs we may participate in

We participate in, or may participate in, the following kinds of affiliate and merchant referral programs:

  • Major online retailer affiliate programs (e.g., Amazon Associates, Walmart Affiliate)
  • Insurance, telecom, and financial-services referral programs run on networks such as Impact, ShareASale, CJ, FlexOffers, and Awin
  • Streaming-service and software-company referral programs
  • Cashback and rewards-credit-card referral programs

Where required, programs that mandate specific disclosure language take precedence — for example, programs may require us to state that "as an Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases."

FTC compliance (16 CFR Part 255)

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" (16 CFR Part 255) require us to disclose any "material connection" between us and the brands or services we endorse. Affiliate commissions are a material connection. Our policy:

  • Every article that contains affiliate links includes a clear, plain-English disclosure near the top or in the article's footer.
  • This page (Affiliate Disclosure) is linked in our main navigation and in the footer of every page on the Site.
  • We use language a normal reader can understand — no fine print, no hidden footnotes.

What we do not do

  • We don't accept money to publish a positive review.
  • We don't let companies review or approve our copy before publication.
  • We don't take "free service trials" that come with editorial strings attached. If a company offers an account for testing, we tell them upfront we may not write about it, may write a negative review, or may simply cancel.
  • We don't republish marketing copy as our own commentary.

How we choose which products and services to cover

We pick categories based on what readers ask about, what we ourselves are paying for at home, and what we think is genuinely interesting to compare. Affiliate availability is checked after the editorial decision has already been made. If the best option in a category isn't part of any affiliate program, we still cover it and link to it (without a commission).

Editorial firewall

The people who write our articles and the people who handle our affiliate programs are the same small team — but our editorial process insulates the writing from commercial considerations. Specifically:

  • We finalize the recommendation and rationale before adding affiliate links.
  • We never replace a top pick with a higher-paying alternative.
  • If two options are roughly tied on merit, we say so, and we'll link to both.

Pricing, plans, and availability

Prices, plan structures, and availability on linked merchant pages can change quickly — particularly for insurance, telecom, streaming, and credit-card products. The price you see on the merchant site at checkout is the authoritative one. We do our best to reflect current pricing, but we cannot guarantee it.

Cookies on outbound clicks

When you click an affiliate link, the merchant or its affiliate network may set cookies in your browser to attribute your purchase to us. These cookies are governed by the destination site's policies, not ours. See our Privacy Policy for more on cookies.

Questions or concerns

If you spot a link you believe is undisclosed, or you have any other concern about our use of affiliate links, please email us at hello@savingsradar.org. We take this seriously and will look into it.

For more on how we work, see Editorial Standards.