Affiliate disclosure

Plain answer: some links on this site earn us a commission. Here is exactly how that works.

The disclosure

Some links on this site are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. Affiliate compensation does not determine our ratings or recommendations.

How it works in practice

• Pages containing affiliate links carry a disclosure before the first affiliate link, and again near comparison tables and recommendation buttons.
• Affiliate links are tagged rel="sponsored nofollow" so search engines know a paid relationship exists.
• The merchant is always named — we never hide who a link goes to, use fake buttons, fake countdowns, or claim a deal is “exclusive” unless we verified it.
• Rankings are locked against our public methodology before monetization is checked. Products with no affiliate program (Bitwarden, for example) are recommended whenever they are the best answer.
• We always show free alternatives and drawbacks. If you don't need a product yet, we say so.
• We never place affiliate links inside warnings about security threats — fear is not a sales channel.

Current status

As of the date this site launched, no affiliate applications have been submitted and no affiliate relationships exist yet — outbound vendor links currently go to vendors' public pages with no tracking. This page will list every network and program relationship as they begin, and this paragraph will be updated when the first one does.

Who we are

Small Team Stack is a Vertex Lab Solutions LLC publication. Questions about this policy: see About.