Affiliate Disclosure & Editorial Independence
Transparent information about our revenue model and editorial standards
Affiliate Relationship Disclosure
Required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and UK Competition and Markets Authority (CAP Code)
The VPN Matrix participates in affiliate marketing programs with various VPN providers. This means we may receive compensation when you purchase a VPN service through our affiliate links. This disclosure complies with FTC guidelines (USA) and CAP Code requirements (UK) for transparent advertising practices.
What This Means:
- We earn commissions from some VPN providers when you purchase through our links
- These commissions help fund our independent testing infrastructure
- You pay the same price whether you use our links or not
- Our reviews and rankings are based on our testing methodology, not commission rates
Providers We Don't Get Paid By
Naming the VPNs we have no commercial relationship with — including ones we still recommend.
We participate in affiliate programs with several major commercial VPN providers, in line with industry-standard FTC and UK CAP disclosure practices. The more meaningful trust signal — and the one most review sites won't give you — is identifying providers we have no commercial relationship with. These providers cannot influence our coverage in any way, and we still cover them because the methodology says they're worth covering.
| Provider | Why they're on this list |
|---|---|
| ExpressVPN | We link to ExpressVPN's order page directly. No commission. We have flagged ExpressVPN's Kape Technologies ownership as a material trust concern in our reviews. |
| Mullvad VPN | Mullvad does not operate an affiliate program (a deliberate trust posture we respect). We link to mullvad.net directly. No commission earned. |
| IVPN | IVPN does not operate an affiliate program (a deliberate trust posture we respect). We link to ivpn.net directly. No commission earned. |
Last verified: May 5, 2026. If a VPN appears in our reviews and is not on this list, we may have an affiliate relationship with them — and our methodology applies identically either way.
Editorial Independence
How we maintain unbiased reviews
Our Commitment
- Rankings based on objective testing metrics
- No VPN provider can buy a better review
- We test all VPNs using identical methodologies
- Editorial team operates independently from business development
Testing Standards
- Repeatable lab tests for leak protection, encryption defaults, and protocol support
- Verification of published transparency/audit reports against primary sources
- Latency and throughput sampling from our distributed testing nodes
- Legal and corporate-structure review using public filings and regulator disclosures
Editorial Integrity Pledge
Our explicit commitments to readers
Unlike many VPN review sites, we make explicit pledges about what we will never do:
We will never accept payment to review a VPN
No VPN provider can pay for a review or to be included in our comparisons.
We will never accept payment to improve a rating
Our scores are determined by our 28-criteria methodology, not commission rates.
We will never accept free test accounts from VPN providers
We purchase all VPN subscriptions with our own funds to ensure unbiased testing.
Independent ownership guaranteed
The VPN Matrix is independently owned and is not affiliated with, or invested in by any VPN provider or parent company that owns VPN services.
How We're Different
Comparing our practices to industry norms
| Practice | Many VPN Review Sites | The VPN Matrix |
|---|---|---|
| Owned by VPN company | Yes (PCMag, vpnMentor, Comparitech) | No - Independent |
| Accept review payments | Often undisclosed | Never |
| Use free test accounts | Common | No - We buy subscriptions |
| Publish methodology weights | Rarely | Yes - 28 criteria with % weights |
| Revenue transparency | Almost never | Yes - Published breakdown |
| Evidence citations | Rare | Required for all claims |
Learn more: See our VPN Company Relationships page for detailed analysis of who owns which VPN providers. Also read our Industry Transparency investigation exposing which VPN review sites are owned by VPN companies.
Revenue Transparency
We believe in complete transparency about our revenue sources:
Affiliate Commissions
~80% of revenue
Enterprise Consulting
~15% of revenue
Premium Tools
~5% of revenue
All revenue is reinvested into improving our testing infrastructure, expanding our global server network for testing, and maintaining our independence.
When We Reconsider a Provider
The kinds of events that prompt us to formally re-review (and sometimes remove or downgrade) a provider.
The strongest signal of editorial independence is being willing to remove or downgrade providers when the evidence warrants it — even ones that compensate us. Privacy Guides publicly delisted ExpressVPN over its Kape ownership. Wirecutter regularly demotes products after material changes. We hold the same posture.
Events that may prompt formal editorial review of a provider's listing include:
- Ownership transfer to an entity with a documented adware, malware, or data-broker history (e.g. Kape's acquisitions of CyberGhost / PIA / ExpressVPN)
- Failed independent security audit not addressed by the provider in a reasonable timeframe
- Jurisdiction change that materially degrades the provider's privacy posture (e.g. relocation to a country with secret-logging compulsion or active 5/9/14 Eyes membership where none existed)
- Documented evidence that no-logs claims were materially false (e.g. server seizure that surfaced user logs the provider claimed not to keep)
- Marketing claims that contradict independently verifiable behaviour and remain uncorrected after a public correction request
- Refusal to engage with security researchers reporting vulnerabilities under reasonable disclosure terms
Our editorial team makes the final call after reviewing primary-source evidence. When we do remove or materially downgrade a provider, we explain the reasoning publicly so readers can judge our judgment.
Have evidence we should know about? If you believe a provider on our site meets one of these criteria, please contact us with the supporting evidence. We review every credible report.
Want the Full Picture?
This page covers our commercial relationships and editorial commitments. Our Methodology page documents the 28-criterion rubric we use to score every VPN, with minimum requirements and best-case standards for each pillar. Our VPN Company Relationships page traces who actually owns each provider, audited against public filings.
Last updated: May 5, 2026
This disclosure complies with FTC guidelines (USA) and CAP Code requirements (UK) for affiliate marketing transparency.