1. What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a common way independent publishers earn revenue. A merchant (for example, Anthropic, Cursor, or Vercel) provides us with a special tracking link. If you click one of our affiliate links and later make a purchase from that merchant, the merchant pays us a percentage of the sale as a referral fee. The price you pay is exactly the same as if you had gone to the merchant directly.
2. Why We Disclose This
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") requires publishers to clearly and conspicuously disclose material connections with brands they endorse or recommend. Even though we operate from Pakistan and reach a global audience, we voluntarily follow FTC standards because they represent the strongest expectation of transparency — and because we think you deserve to know.
We label affiliate links in-line where feasible (with a small "aff" tag or note), and we always provide this general disclosure across the Service.
3. Our Affiliate Partners
We currently participate, or plan to participate, in the following affiliate or referral programs:
| Partner | What we link to | Program |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Claude API credits, Claude Pro/Max plans | Anthropic Partner Program |
| Cursor | Cursor Pro subscriptions | Cursor Affiliate |
| GitHub | GitHub Copilot subscriptions | GitHub Partner Program |
| Vercel | Vercel Pro / Enterprise hosting | Vercel Partner Network |
| Neon, Supabase, PlanetScale | Managed Postgres plans | Individual referral programs |
| Beehiiv | Newsletter platform subscriptions | Beehiiv Boost |
| Various dev-tool SaaS | Sentry, PostHog, Linear, Notion, etc. | Individual programs |
This list is representative, not exhaustive. We add or remove partners as our content and their programs evolve.
4. How We Choose What to Recommend
Editorial independence matters more than affiliate revenue. Our process:
- We recommend a product because it best fits the use case we're writing about — not because a program pays the highest commission.
- We frequently link to competitors we don't have affiliate deals with, when they're the better option.
- We write honest comparisons even when Claude Code (our featured platform) loses on specific dimensions — see our comparison pages.
- Whenever a page discusses a paid product, we mention the free/open-source alternative if a good one exists.
- We update reviews when the product changes materially. If a partner drops in quality, we say so and often remove the recommendation.
5. Does This Affect the Price You Pay?
No. Affiliate links do not change the price you pay. Occasionally a partner offers our readers a special discount or free trial; when that's the case, we say so explicitly — and you always benefit compared to the standard rate.
6. Sponsored Content vs Affiliate Links
Sponsored content and affiliate content are different, and we treat them differently:
- Affiliate links mean we earn a commission on your purchase. The recommendation is editorial — the merchant didn't pay us to write about them.
- Sponsored content means a brand paid us to publish a piece. When we do this (from Month 6+), the entire page is clearly labelled "Sponsored" at the top, and the sponsor has no editorial control over other pages.
We do not write "sponsored content that looks editorial." Native/undisclosed advertising is not on our roadmap.
7. Reviewing Your Options
We encourage you to do your own research. Read our comparisons, check the merchant's own docs and pricing, and buy the tool that fits your needs. If you decide the tool isn't right for you after buying — you keep 100% control; our commission does not lock you in.
8. Questions
For any question about affiliate relationships, commission structures, or how we chose to recommend a specific product, email editorial@aicodetoolkit.com.