Affiliate disclosure
ProxyAxis is reader-supported and independently run. This page explains exactly where the money comes from — and the lines it never crosses.
The short version
- Some links earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
- Commissions and sponsorships never change a score, ranking or verdict.
- Anything paid-for is explicitly labelled “Sponsored”.
How ProxyAxis makes money
Running real tests costs real money — subscriptions, bandwidth, tooling and time. Three revenue streams pay for it:
Affiliate commissions
When you click a Visit button or deal link, you go through our /go/ redirect to the provider. If you sign up, the provider may pay us a commission. Your price is never higher because of it — sometimes it’s lower, via negotiated coupons.
Sponsored placements
Providers can pay for visibility in clearly-marked slots. Every one carries a “Sponsored” label — if it doesn’t say sponsored, it wasn’t paid for.
Display ads
Some pages carry ad slots managed by us, not an ad-tech tracking network. They’re clearly distinguishable from editorial content.
What money never buys
Every service — partner or not — is scored against the same published methodology. Several of our affiliate partners carry average scores and blunt cons; that’s the system working. No amount of commission buys:
- A higher editorial score or a better ranking
- A softer verdict, trimmed cons or added pros
- Removal or burial of a critical review
- Placement in a “best of” pick it didn’t earn
- Advance notice or approval of what we publish
How the links actually work
Outbound provider links route through our own /go/<provider> redirect. That lets us count clicks (so we know what readers find useful) and attach our affiliate tag where one exists. These links are marked rel="sponsored" for search engines, and the destination site may set its own cookies once you arrive — that part is governed by the provider’s privacy policy, not ours.
You pay the same price either way. Where we’ve negotiated exclusive coupons, going through our link is actually cheaper — current codes live on the deals page.
Not every listing has an affiliate relationship. Services with no commercial link to us are reviewed, scored and recommended (or not) exactly the same way.
Hold us to it
If you ever spot a sponsored placement that isn’t labelled, or a score that looks like it followed the money, call us out — we’ll investigate publicly. Related reading: how we score and our privacy policy.
More about ProxyAxis