Affiliate Disclaimer

Last updated: July 1, 2026

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Short version: Some links on TechToolsHQ are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we earn a small commission — at absolutely no extra cost to you. This never changes what we recommend.

What is an affiliate link?

An affiliate link is a special URL that contains a tracking code. When you click on it and make a purchase, the company (e.g., NordVPN, Hostinger) knows the referral came from TechToolsHQ and pays us a commission. The price you pay is identical to what you'd pay going directly to the company's website.

How does this affect our reviews?

It doesn't — and we take this commitment seriously. Our editorial process is fully independent. Affiliate relationships do not:

Influence our ratings or scores
Change what we recommend
Suppress criticism of a product
Cause us to favor one product over another for financial reasons

We have affiliate relationships with dozens of companies. Some of our top-recommended tools (like Claude, ProtonVPN's free plan) have no affiliate program at all. We recommend them anyway because they're the best options.

Which companies do we have affiliate relationships with?

Current affiliate partners include (but are not limited to):

NordVPN
Surfshark
Hostinger
Semrush
GetResponse
Systeme.io
Canva
Notion (via affiliate program)

This list changes as we add and remove partnerships. We may not always list every affiliate partner, but we always disclose the existence of affiliate relationships on relevant pages.

How do we identify affiliate links?

We try to make affiliate disclosure clear and prominent:

Individual review pages contain a disclosure near the top
Affiliate CTA banners are labeled with "Affiliate link"
Deal pages link to this disclaimer page
Newsletter issues disclose affiliate links inline

FTC Compliance

TechToolsHQ complies with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) endorsement guidelines (16 CFR Part 255). Our disclosures are clear, conspicuous, and placed near affiliate links whenever possible. We take FTC compliance seriously.

Do we ever receive free products?

Occasionally, companies provide free press accounts for review purposes. When this happens, it is always disclosed at the top of the review with a note like: "We received a complimentary press account for this review." This happens rarely — we prefer to purchase the products ourselves to avoid any perception of bias.

No paid reviews

TechToolsHQ does not accept payment to write, alter, or publish reviews. No company can pay us to write a positive review or suppress a negative one. This is a firm, unconditional policy.

Questions?

If you have questions about our affiliate relationships or our editorial process, please contact us or email hi@techtoolshq.com. We reply to every message.