How we test, and how this site makes money

Our testing policy

Every tool reviewed on Helpdesk Compass is tested hands-on before we publish a word about it. At minimum, that means:

• We sign up for the tool's free plan or trial ourselves.
• We set it up the way a real small support team would, and run real test tickets through it.
• Screenshots in our reviews are taken from our own accounts, not vendor press kits.
• When we say something is slow, confusing, or missing, it's because we hit it ourselves.

We do not publish reviews of tools we haven't used, and we do not let vendors preview or edit our content.

Affiliate disclosure

Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and sign up for a paid plan, we may earn a commission from the vendor, at no extra cost to you. This is how the site is funded.

Three things affiliate money does not change:

• Rankings. Tools are ranked by how they performed in our testing, not by commission rates. We link to tools with no affiliate program when they're the better pick.
• Criticism. Our reviews list what's bad as prominently as what's good, including for tools that pay us.
• Coverage. We choose what to review based on what readers are comparing, not on who has a program.

Every article containing affiliate links carries a disclosure notice at the top.

Questions

Something in a review that doesn't match your experience? Tell us — corrections make the site better. Contact details are on the About page.