Some links on IT Mystery are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This page explains what that means and, more to the point, what it does not change.
What an affiliate link is
An affiliate link carries a tracking code. If you click it and then buy something, the vendor pays IT Mystery a commission. The price you pay is the same either way. Any article that contains affiliate links is marked with a disclosure at the top, so you know before you click.
How commissions affect our recommendations
They do not. Products are judged on whether they do the job well for a small business or non-profit, not on what they pay. The method is the same for every product, affiliate or not: total real cost, setup burden, ongoing management, and vendor support, in that order. You can read the full method on our How We Evaluate page.
The proof is in the verdicts. We recommend free and open-source tools over paid affiliate products when the free tool is the better fit. We name a product’s limitations in the same article that recommends it. And when a popular consumer product is the wrong tool for a business, we say so, even when it pays and the right answer does not.
If we would not deploy it in a client’s office, we do not recommend it here. That rule has no exceptions.
What we will not do
- Recommend software because it pays well
- Recommend a consumer product for business use without flagging the limitation
- Soften a review to protect an affiliate relationship
- Publish sponsored content dressed up as independent editorial
Why we use affiliate links at all
Commissions cover the cost of running the site: hosting, tools, research, and the time it takes to test and review what we write about. They keep IT Mystery free to read and free of the sponsored padding that fills most of this space. When you buy through a link here, you support that work, and we are grateful for it.
Questions and corrections
If a price is out of date or a detail is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. We correct articles rather than defend them. Contact us.