Affiliate Disclosure
We believe you deserve to know exactly how HostingDive makes money — and why it doesn’t affect our ratings or rankings.
The Short Version
HostingDive earns commissions when you click our affiliate links and purchase a hosting plan. This is how we fund the site, pay for test accounts, and cover ongoing monitoring costs. Our commissions come from hosting companies — not from you. You pay the same price whether you use our link or go directly to the host.
Affiliate revenue does not influence our rankings, review scores, or editorial opinions. We have published negative reviews of hosts that offer high commissions and positive reviews of hosts that offer none. Our methodology is independent and data-driven.
How Affiliate Links Work on HostingDive
When we include a link like “Visit Hostinger” or a button linking to /go/hostinger, that’s an affiliate link. Here’s what happens when you click one:
Important: You pay exactly the same price whether or not you use our affiliate link. The commission comes from the hosting company’s marketing budget, not from your pocket.
Why This Doesn’t Affect Our Reviews
Our editorial process is independent of our commercial relationships.
Every hosting provider we review is evaluated using the same structured methodology: uptime monitoring, speed benchmarks, load testing, support quality, pricing analysis, and security audit. The resulting scores determine rankings — not commission rates, not relationships with hosting company reps, and not which company reached out to us for coverage.
We have given low scores to hosts with high affiliate payouts. We have given high scores to hosts that pay modest commissions. If you’d like to verify this, compare our rankings against commission rates published in hosting affiliate programs — the correlation is weak by design.
Specifically, our affiliate relationships do not influence:
- ✓The overall score or star rating we assign to any host
- ✓The ranking order in our “Best Hosting” roundup articles
- ✓Which hosts appear in comparison articles or guides
- ✓The content of pros and cons sections in any review
- ✓Whether we update or revise a score based on new test data
If a hosting company asks us to change review content or ranking positions, we decline. Our data and methodology are the only inputs to our rankings.
Our Current Affiliate Relationships
We maintain affiliate relationships with the following hosting providers. This list may be updated as we add or remove programs:
| Hosting Provider | Affiliate Link | Our Overall Score |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger | /go/hostinger | 4.8 / 5.0 — #1 Pick |
| SiteGround | /go/siteground | 4.6 / 5.0 — #2 Pick |
| Bluehost | /go/bluehost | 4.2 / 5.0 — #3 Pick |
We also review hosting providers with whom we have no affiliate relationship. Those reviews are conducted and scored using the same methodology and are clearly identified where applicable.
Our Link Management Tool
We Use ThirstyAffiliates
All affiliate links on HostingDive are managed using ThirstyAffiliates, a WordPress plugin that organizes and cloaks affiliate URLs. This is why our links appear as /go/hostinger rather than long tracking URLs. ThirstyAffiliates does not collect personal data about your clicks beyond what a standard server log captures. Using these redirected links does not change your rights or the price you pay.
FTC Compliance
In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, HostingDive discloses its material connections to hosting providers. A “material connection” includes affiliate arrangements where we receive compensation for referrals.
We make this disclosure:
- ✓On this dedicated Affiliate Disclosure page (linked from our footer on every page)
- ✓In disclosure notices on pages that contain affiliate links
- ✓Near affiliate links within articles where applicable
If you have questions about our affiliate relationships or believe a disclosure is missing on any page, please contact us and we will review it promptly.
How Affiliate Revenue Funds Our Testing
Running an independent hosting review site isn’t free. Our ongoing costs include:
- ✓Purchasing real hosting accounts across multiple providers for testing
- ✓UptimeRobot monitoring subscriptions for 12+ months per host
- ✓GTmetrix, Pingdom, and Loader.io testing tool subscriptions
- ✓Dedicated test servers for baseline speed comparisons
- ✓Staff time for writing, testing, and maintaining reviews
Affiliate commissions are the primary way we cover these costs. Without them, we couldn’t maintain the depth of testing that distinguishes HostingDive from sites that simply repeat marketing copy. We’re transparent about this because we believe readers should understand the economics of independent review publishing.
Questions About Our Disclosure?
If you have questions about our affiliate relationships, believe a disclosure is unclear or missing, or want to understand how our affiliate arrangements work in more detail, please reach out:
Email: team@hostingdive.com
Contact page: /contact/
We read every message and take questions about our editorial integrity seriously.