How we make money

A review site that earns money from the things it reviews has a conflict of interest. Here is ours, and what we do about it.

Last updated: 12 January 2024 1 min read

The short version

We earn commission when readers open accounts through some of our links, and it never changes a score. Reviewers are not told which brokers are commercial partners. Brokers we earn from receive low ratings when they deserve them — and several already have.

Where the money comes from

Reviews cost real money to produce — we fund every account we test with our own capital. That is paid for by:

Affiliate commission

If you open an account through one of our links, the broker may pay us a commission. It costs you nothing extra, and the terms you get are identical to going direct.

Primary source

Advertising

Limited and vetted. We decline advertising from unregulated brokers and from anything promising guaranteed returns.

Secondary

Sponsored content

Rare, labelled unmistakably where it appears, and never presented as a review. Sponsored placement cannot buy a rating.

Rare

How the conflict is managed

1

Disclosed on the page

Any page containing affiliate links says so on the page itself, not only here. We do not disguise commercial links as editorial ones.

2

Blind scoring

Reviewers are not told whether the broker they are testing is a commercial partner. The rubric is applied the same way either way.

3

Commission cannot move a score

The rubric on our methodology page is the only input to a rating. If a partner broker delays withdrawals, the review says so and the score drops.

4

No cost to you

The commission is paid by the broker out of its own margin. Your spreads, fees and account terms are the same as going direct.

What we never do

Sell your personal data
Accept payment in exchange for a recommendation
Promote unregulated brokers, at any price
Disguise an affiliate link as an editorial one
Give personalised investment advice
Remove a finding because a partner objected

Editorial independence

The review desk is separated from commercial partnerships. Reviewers do not know which brokers we earn from, so the question cannot influence a score even unconsciously.

It is not a promise about our character — it is a process designed so that our incentives cannot reach the scoring.

Why we publish this at all

Every broker comparison site on the internet earns money the same way, and most of them bury it. Stating it plainly lets you weigh our reviews properly:

  • You can discount our recommendations appropriately
  • You know exactly where our incentives sit
  • You can check whether a low-scoring broker is one we earn from
  • You can choose to support the work, knowingly rather than accidentally

If you want to support this

Use our links only if a review actually helped you decide, and only for a broker that suits you. Opening an account you did not want in order to support a website is a bad trade — please do not do it.

Questions? Get in touch