The short version
Settled On is free to read. When it earns money, it earns it from affiliate links: if you click a link to a product or service on this site and then buy or subscribe, the seller may pay us a commission. The price you pay is the same either way.
That is currently the only way this site is set up to make money. There are no ads, no sponsored articles, and no paid placements. If that changes, this page will say so, with the date it changed.
How affiliate links work here
- They are disclosed where you will see them. Every article that contains affiliate links says so at the top, before the first paragraph, not in a footer you have to scroll to.
- They go to the seller. An affiliate link takes you to the product's own site, or to the retailer that sells it. We do not resell anything or take payment ourselves.
- They carry a tag, not your data. The link includes an identifier that tells us which article the click came from. It does not include your name, your email, or anything that identifies you. What the seller collects once you arrive is governed by their privacy policy, and what we collect is described in ours.
- Commissions come from affiliate networks and vendors' own partner programs. These pay a percentage of a sale, or a fixed amount per sign-up, typically some weeks after the purchase and only if it is not refunded.
What commission does not change
The point of this site is the decision rule, not the product. These are the rules we hold ourselves to so that the money does not bend the advice:
- Recommendations come first; links follow. An article's framing, its decision rule, and which options fit which reader are settled before anyone checks whether a product has an affiliate program. Links are added to options the article already recommends. We do not add an option because it pays.
- Options without an affiliate program are treated the same. If the best fit for a reader is a free tool, a built-in feature of something you already own, or a product with no partner program at all, the article says so on the same terms as anything that pays a commission.
- "Keep what you have" is always an allowed answer. Many articles here end with a case for not switching. That recommendation earns nothing, and it stays in.
- Commission rates are not a ranking signal inside an article. Where an article compares products, the order and the verdict are not affected by which one pays more. To be precise about where money does have a say: it affects which topics we choose to cover, since a topic with no way to earn is less likely to get written. It does not affect which option an article recommends once we are writing it.
- We do not accept payment for coverage. No vendor has paid to be mentioned, reviewed, or ranked, and none can. We will not publish sponsored content presented as editorial.
- We do not claim to have tested what we have not. When an article reasons from specifications, documentation, and published pricing rather than hands-on use, it reads that way. See how articles get written.
Corrections and changes
Prices, plan limits, and program terms change. If a link points to something that no longer matches what the article says, tell us and we will fix the article, not the link. Material corrections are noted in the article itself.
If we ever add advertising, sponsorship, or any other source of revenue, this page will be updated to describe it, and the change will be dated below.
Last updated: September 18, 2026.