Affiliate Disclosure

Last updated: May 17, 2026

ToolsByRole earns commission when readers sign up for AI tools through our affiliate links. Here's exactly how that works and what we do to keep it from corrupting the rankings.

How affiliate programs work here

When you click a link on one of our pages and sign up for the recommended tool, the vendor (or their affiliate network) pays us a small commission. The price you pay is the same whether you arrive through our link or directly. There is no markup, no upsell, and no hidden cost to you.

Programs we participate in

We're affiliates of (or actively applying to be affiliates of) the following programs, all of which appear as recommended tools somewhere on the site:

• Direct programs: Smartlead, Writesonic, Kit, Beehiiv, Notion, Descript, Opus Clip, Cal.com, ElevenLabs, HeyGen, Synthesia, Gamma, and others.
• Via PartnerStack: Copy.ai, Surfer SEO, Apollo, Lemlist, Motion, Reclaim, Anyword, ClickUp, Asana, ActiveCampaign, Frase, and more.
• Via Impact: Jasper, SEMrush, HubSpot, Adobe (Creative Cloud, Firefly), Buffer, Hootsuite, Later, Pipedrive, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Sprout Social.

Tools we recommend that pay us nothing

Many of our top picks have no public affiliate program. We recommend them anyway because they're the right answer for the question. These include:

• Foundational AI: Claude (Anthropic), ChatGPT (OpenAI), Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code.
• Specialized tools: Ahrefs (no public program), MagicSchool, Linear, JetBrains AI, Spellbook, Westlaw Precision AI, Lexis+ AI, Harvey, Salesforce Einstein.

If you'd rather use a tool we don't earn from, do it. The ranking is the same.

How the commission affects the ranking

It doesn't. Our policy is documented in our Editorial Standards: we rank tools based on fit for the profession and category, not on commission rate. Smartlead pays 40% recurring lifetime; Apollo pays 20% for 12 months. We've ranked them based on which one is better for the specific use case, not the rate.

How you'll know which links are affiliate

The product cards on our category pages use rel="sponsored noopener" on outbound links to the tools we recommend, per Google's guidance on affiliate disclosure. The banner at the top of every category page also makes the affiliate relationship explicit.

FTC compliance

Under FTC guidelines (16 CFR Part 255), we disclose our affiliate relationship clearly and conspicuously. The banner on each category page and this dedicated disclosure page are both intended to satisfy that requirement. If you have specific concerns about the disclosure, email chris@toolsbyrole.com.

Questions

Email chris@toolsbyrole.com with any questions about our affiliate practices.

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