How we calculate ratings

Why the method changed

Ratings used to be a database column an admin filled in. One company carried a **perfect 5.0** with nothing said about what it rested on, and ten companies had no number at all.

A number like that on a site that earns commission does not deserve to be believed. Ratings are now computed from the same price table you can see, with the weights published below.

The three axes we measure

Each gives a score from 1 to 5, combined with these weights:

• **Entry price — 35%.** The cheapest monthly price at that company, placed against the market range in our table: cheapest 5, most expensive 1.
• **Renewal price — 45%.** Renewal relative to entry price. A ratio of 1 (no increase) scores 5; four times or more scores 1. We use the **median**, not the mean, so one odd plan does not judge the whole company.
• **Renewal transparency — 20%.** How many of their prices publish a renewal figure at all. Hiding it is a choice.

Renewal outweighs entry price deliberately: entry is paid once, renewal is paid every time after. A site that ranks on entry price alone serves the company, not the reader.

What we do not score — on purpose

**Speed, support and ease of management are not in the number.** We have no measurement for any of them.

We could have added them and filled them with judgement. That would be **worse** than the opaque number we replaced, because it would look researched when it is not. What we do not measure, we do not include.

So if speed is what matters most to you, this rating does not answer that. Ask on the company page, or test it yourself.

When an axis has no data

If a company publishes no renewal prices, its renewal axis has no data. We then drop it and redistribute its weight — **we do not score it zero**. A zero would punish a gap in our data, not a flaw at the company.

The breakdown shows "no data" beside it, so you know the score rests on less.

Ratings move on their own

There is no button that freezes a number. The moment a price changes in the table, the rating is recomputed. The date of the last price change is shown beside every rating.

So a company's rating can fall without us touching anything — if it raises its renewal price, for instance. That is the point.

And commission?

Commission plays no part in the calculation. The formula above is all of it, and you can check it yourself: every price is on the [comparison table]({{page:compare}}).