Short version: Some links earn us a commission if you upgrade to a paid plan. It costs you nothing extra. It never changes what we recommend — if a tool is bad, we say so regardless.
What an affiliate link is
When we link to a tool and you click through and sign up for a paid plan, the company sometimes pays us a small commission. This is called an affiliate arrangement. It's a common and transparent way for content sites to earn revenue without charging readers or selling ads.
The price you pay is exactly the same whether you use our link or go directly to the company's website. We never get a cut of your subscription cost — the commission comes from the company's marketing budget, not your wallet.
How we handle it
Here's our rule: we only include affiliate links for tools we've actually tested and genuinely think are good. We don't take on affiliate arrangements and then reverse-engineer a positive review around them. It goes the other way — we test something, decide it's worth recommending, and then (sometimes) set up an affiliate relationship.
If we test a tool, find it disappointing, and write critically about it, that article stays as it is — even if the company offers us an affiliate deal afterwards. Our reviews aren't for sale.
How to spot an affiliate link
We don't mark every single affiliate link with a label (that gets cluttered and annoying fast), but we do disclose at the start of any article that contains them. You'll see a note along the lines of: "Some links in this article are affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure for details."
If you're ever unsure whether a link is affiliated, just ask — we'll tell you honestly.
Does this affect our recommendations?
No — and we take this seriously. The whole point of StudifyLabs is that our recommendations are trustworthy. The moment we start recommending things because they pay us rather than because they're genuinely good, we've broken the only thing that makes this site worth reading.
We test every tool regardless of whether an affiliate relationship exists. Tools we recommend without any affiliate arrangement get the same treatment as ones we earn commissions on. The review comes first; the commercial relationship (if there is one) comes after.
Free tools
Many of the tools we write about are completely free, or have a free plan we're recommending. There's no affiliate commission on a free signup — we recommend them because they're good, full stop.
Questions?
If you want to know whether a specific link on the site is affiliated, or if you have any other questions about how we operate, just get in touch. We're happy to be transparent about any of this.
Our promise to you
We will never recommend something we don't believe in just because it pays better. If you ever feel like a recommendation doesn't add up, call us out on it — we'd rather know.