Affiliate disclosure
KotoVPN earns commission when a reader subscribes through some of the links on this site. This page names which ones, and explains the structure that stops that from changing a score.
Who pays us, provider by provider
| Provider | Score | Do we earn from it? |
|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN | 90.0 | Commission |
| Mullvad | 85.5 | Nothing |
| NordVPN | 84.0 | Commission |
| IVPN | 82.5 | Nothing |
| Surfshark | 75.5 | Nothing |
| ExpressVPN | 74.0 | Nothing |
| Private Internet Access | 73.0 | Nothing |
| CyberGhost | 70.0 | Nothing |
| PureVPN | 69.0 | Commission |
| Windscribe | 67.0 | Nothing |
| FastestVPN | 48.0 | Commission |
4 of 11 providers pay commission. 7 pay nothing: Mullvad, IVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost, Windscribe.
Why the ranking cannot follow the money
Scores on this site are produced by a published rubric from sourced inputs. Seven criteria, fixed weights, one written reason per score. Commission is not one of the inputs, and there is no editorial step after the arithmetic where a total gets adjusted.
That is a claim, so here is the check: Mullvad, which pays us nothing, currently sits at position 2 of 11. A site optimising for revenue would not rank a provider it cannot monetise above ones it can.
How the links work
Outbound links to providers that pay commission go through /go/{provider}/, which is excluded from search indexing and marked rel="sponsored nofollow". Links to providers we earn nothing from go straight to the provider and are marked as ordinary external links, because labelling an unpaid link as sponsored would be as misleading as hiding a paid one.
Every call to action on this site states which of the two it is, in the sentence directly beneath it. You never have to come to this page to find out.
What we do not do
- Accept payment for a review, a position, or a higher score
- Accept payment to remove or soften a criticism
- Publish sponsored posts presented as editorial
- Change a score after a provider objects, unless they show the fact is wrong
If a provider disputes something, the route is the same as for any reader: show us the source. A corrected fact changes the score through the rubric, and the change is logged on the corrections page.
Prices and offers
Prices carry the date they were checked and a link to the page they came from. Promotional rates change constantly and renewal pricing is usually higher than the introductory term. The provider’s own checkout is the only authority on what you will actually pay.