Affiliate disclosure
RatedByPatients is free to read, so something has to pay for it. This page says exactly what that is, in plain terms, and what it is not allowed to buy. Read it sceptically - that is the right way to read a page like this on any comparison site.
The short version. Some links to providers on this site may earn us a commission if you sign up. Readers can also pay for a price check. Providers can pay for clearly labeled placement. None of it changes a score, a ranking, or a word of a review - the scoring formula is fixed and published, and no commercial arrangement can alter it.
How this site makes money
| Source | What it is | What it can influence |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliate commissions | Some outbound links to providers pay us a referral fee if you sign up. It costs you nothing extra and does not change the price you pay. | Nothing. Links are placed because a provider is relevant, not because it pays. |
| Plus membership | Plus is free and earned by leaving one review, so we take no money from readers at all. We show you the saving we have found before you are asked for anything, so you never pay to be told there is nothing to save. | Nothing in editorial. It funds the research that keeps prices current. |
| Labeled provider placement | Providers can pay for a visit button, a sponsored slot, a newsletter section, or a boxed statement in their own voice. | Visibility only. Every paid element carries a label on the page where it appears. |
| Data and reports | Aggregate, anonymised market research on telehealth pricing and demand. | Nothing. It never includes anything that identifies an individual reader. |
What money cannot buy here
- A score. Scores come from a fixed formula with published weights, applied identically to every provider. The count of scores ever changed for commercial reasons is zero.
- A ranking. Ordering in lists and comparison tables follows the score or the sort you choose, never the commercial relationship.
- Removal of a fact. FDA warning letters, missing certifications and unverifiable pricing stay on the page regardless of who is paying.
- Editorial voice. A company that pays for a statement gets a labeled box in its own words. It does not get to write, edit or approve our assessment.
- Exclusion of a competitor. No provider can pay to keep another provider off the site or out of a comparison.
How paid elements are labeled
You should never have to guess. Wherever a commercial relationship exists, it is marked at the point you see it:
- Sponsored placements are labeled “Sponsored” on the placement itself.
- Company-supplied text appears inside a bordered box headed “From the company”.
- Product modules sold by a provider are labeled as sold by that company and always sit below our independent review, never inside it.
- This disclosure is linked from the footer of every page on the site.
Why we built it this way
The standard model in this sector is to be paid per referral. That quietly rewards sending you to whoever pays most, and it is why so many “best of” pages read the same. Our main product is paid for by readers and only earns when we find you a verified saving - which means our incentive is your bill going down, not your click going out.
Affiliate income exists alongside that, and we would rather disclose it clearly than pretend otherwise. If you would prefer not to use an affiliate link, go to the provider directly - the information on this site is identical either way.
Amazon and third-party programs
Where we participate in a third-party affiliate program, the disclosure that program requires appears on the pages it covers. We do not use affiliate links inside patient reviews or inside regulatory and safety statements anywhere on the site.
Questions
If anything on this site looks like paid placement and is not labeled, that is a defect - tell us through the contact form and we will fix it. Related reading: our editorial policy and scoring methodology.