"We earn commissions when you buy through our links. That's how we pay for testing, hosting and writers. It is the entire business model — and we'd rather be honest about it than pretend otherwise."— The tuto.digital editorial team
01 — SummaryThe one-paragraph version
Some links on tuto.digital are affiliate links. When you click one and make a purchase, we receive a commission from the merchant. You pay the same price either way — the commission comes from the merchant's marketing budget, not a markup on your bill. This is the only way we make money. We do not run ads. We do not sell your data. We do not accept paid placement in our rankings.
02 — MechanicsHow affiliate links actually work
An affiliate link contains a tracking parameter — usually something like ?ref=tutodigital or a redirect through a network like Impact or ShareASale. When you click:
- Your browser is sent to the merchant with the tracking ID attached.
- The merchant drops a cookie on your device identifying us as the referrer.
- If you buy within the merchant's cookie window (usually 30–90 days), the merchant credits us with the sale.
- We receive a commission (anywhere from a flat fee to 30% of your first payment) typically 30–60 days later.
Affiliate cookies are first-party for the merchant, not us. We don't read them.
03 — AmountsWhat we actually earn
Commission rates vary by merchant and program. To give you concrete numbers from our 2025 reporting:
- WordPress hosting — typically $60–$150 per sale, depending on the plan length
- VPNs — usually 40–60% of the customer's first payment (so $30–$80 on a 24-month plan)
- AI tools — recurring 20–30% for the first year, then dropping
- Domain names — $5–$15 per new registration
Yearly, this funds: editor salaries, the 100+ products we buy at retail to test, our own hosting bills, and a small reserve to keep going if commissions drop suddenly.
04 — IndependenceWhat affiliate revenue does NOT do
Three guarantees we make ourselves and that we restate in every onboarding for new writers:
- It does not influence which products we cover. We test products our readers ask about. If a merchant has no affiliate program at all, we still review them — Mullvad VPN is an example.
- It does not influence rankings. Editor's Pick is awarded by methodology, not commission rate. The product paying us the most (it varies) is rarely our top pick.
- It does not influence scores. All testing happens before any affiliate negotiation, and scores are signed off by the editorial team independently of business.
If we ever broke any of these, our long-term credibility — and therefore long-term revenue — would collapse. The incentive is self-policing.
05 — PartnersWho pays us a commission
Below is a non-exhaustive list of merchants we have active affiliate relationships with. We update it whenever a new partnership starts or ends.
We do not have affiliate relationships with: Mullvad VPN, Kinsta (their program doesn't fit our model), WP Engine. We still cover them — they're cited by methodology and direct testing.
06 — SponsoredSponsored content
We do not publish sponsored articles, paid-placement reviews, or advertorial content. If we ever do, it will be:
- Labeled "Sponsored" in the headline and at the top of the article
- Visually distinct (different background color)
- Excluded from rankings, "best of" lists, and category recommendations
- Written by, or with explicit byline from, the sponsoring brand
So far (April 2026), we have published zero sponsored articles.
07 — Free productsFree units & review accounts
Brands sometimes offer free trial accounts or product samples for review. Our policy:
- If we accept, we disclose it in the review with the phrase "product provided by [Brand]"
- For SaaS we still pay for at least one month at retail to test the billing flow
- For physical products we either return the unit or pay full retail after testing
- Free does not mean favorable — see our methodology
At this writing, fewer than 5% of products we cover involved any free unit.
08 — Opt-outIf you'd rather we didn't get paid
You can support a brand we recommend without crediting us — just copy the brand name into a new browser tab instead of clicking our link. The brand still gets your business; we just don't get the commission. Some readers do this. It's fine.
If you'd like to support the publication directly instead, the best things you can do are:
- Subscribe to our newsletter (helps with reach)
- Share an article that helped you
- Send us a note about what we got right or wrong
09 — QuestionsIf you have questions about a specific recommendation
Write to hello@tuto.digital. We will tell you exactly:
- Whether the link in question is affiliated
- What our commission rate is
- How the product was scored, by which writer, on what date
- Whether any free unit or trial account was involved
If we can't answer any of those, we shouldn't be publishing.
This is the spirit of the site.
Transparency about affiliate revenue is the deal we make with readers in exchange for spending hours of your time. If we ever break it, please tell us — publicly if needed.
Hold us to it →