Editorial Principles
Last reviewed: 2026-10-12.
Rankings cannot be bought
No vendor can pay to be listed, ranked higher, or reviewed more favorably on TopRatedSoftware. Affiliate commissions never feed into scores, verdicts, or the order of any list.
No paid placement
We do not sell sponsored positions inside rankings, comparison tables, or "best of" lists. Vendors cannot pay for inclusion or for a higher position.
Commission-blind scoring
Scores are computed from published criteria and evidence. Commission rates are not an input, and products without an affiliate program are reviewed and ranked on the same terms.
Every fact carries a date and a source
Prices, plan limits, and claims link to their source and show when they were last verified. Pricing older than 30 days is labeled stale instead of being shown as current.
Honest evidence labels
Each review states whether it is lab tested, long-term tested, or expert researched. Researched reviews never claim hands-on test results.
Public corrections
Material errors are corrected and logged publicly rather than silently edited.
Disclosed relationships
Affiliate links are disclosed on every page that contains them, and any vendor relationship is stated next to the content it affects.
1. Independence
Scores and verdicts come from the published scoring method, and commission rates are not an input to it. No vendor can pay to be listed, ranked higher, or reviewed more favourably, and we publish negative findings about products we earn commission on.
2. Evidence
Every review carries an explicit content status: Lab Tested, Long-Term Tested, Expert Researched, First Look, Vendor Data, or Archived. We never present researched summaries as hands-on tested. Each review links to the supporting evidence and the methodology used.
3. Transparency
We disclose affiliate relationships, sponsored placements, complimentary review units, vendor relationships of staff, and AI assistance used in research. We document who wrote, edited, and tested each review.
4. Honesty about limitations
We say what we did not test, what evidence is missing, and where confidence is low. We do not round up.
5. Reader first
We optimise for helping a reader make a confident software decision, not for engagement metrics that would push us toward clickbait or fake urgency.
6. Corrections
We publish corrections when we get something materially wrong. Corrections are logged and never silently edited. See our Corrections Policy.
7. AI assistance
AI tools may be used for research summarization, language polishing, or data extraction, but never for original editorial conclusions or product testing. See our AI Usage Policy.
8. Sponsored separation
Sponsored content is visually and editorially separated from editorial content. We never accept payment to alter a review or ranking. See our Sponsored Content Policy.