Affiliate Disclosure
Full transparency on how affiliate links work on Honeyindex.
What's an affiliate link?
An affiliate link is a special URL that tracks when someone clicks through to a product page and makes a purchase. If you buy something via one of these links, the product company pays us a referral commission. The price you pay is exactly the same — the commission comes from the company's marketing budget, not your wallet.
How we use affiliate links
Honeyindex uses affiliate links in a few specific places:
- Listing pages — when we have an affiliate program with a project we list, the "Visit website" button may use our affiliate link.
- Blog posts — when we review or recommend a tool, the link in the post may be affiliated.
- Newsletter — links to recommended tools may include affiliate tracking.
All affiliate links carry rel="sponsored" in the HTML, which is the standard
tag for affiliate / paid links recommended by Google and the FTC.
What you'll never see
We have hard limits on affiliate behavior:
- No fake reviews. We only recommend tools we've actually used or tested.
- No paid rankings. Our "best of" lists aren't influenced by affiliate payouts.
- No bait and switch. If we link to a product, the link goes to that product's official site, not a misleading lookalike.
- No undisclosed sponsorship. Sponsored posts are clearly labeled "Sponsored." Affiliate links are marked with this disclosure.
- No commissions before substance. Our editorial coverage is independent of whether a project has an affiliate program.
Which programs do we participate in?
We're members of several affiliate programs, including but not limited to:
- Various AI product affiliate programs (Anthropic, OpenAI partner programs where available, etc.)
- Hosting and infrastructure (e.g. Hostinger, the host running this site)
- Newsletter and creator tools (Beehiiv referral, etc.)
- Selected indie maker products with affiliate programs
The list grows and changes. We disclose specific programs on individual product reviews where applicable.
Why we use affiliate links
Running an independent directory like Honeyindex costs money — hosting, plugins, time. Affiliate revenue is one way we keep the site running without resorting to:
- Pop-ups and intrusive ads
- Selling your data
- Paywalling everything
- Charging for basic submissions
If you find the directory useful, clicking through affiliate links costs you nothing and helps keep the site free and indie. If you'd rather not, just visit the project websites directly — we won't take it personally.
FTC compliance
This disclosure is provided per the Federal Trade Commission's Disclosure Guidelines for Online Endorsements . We comply with FTC requirements on disclosure and Google's sponsored link guidelines .
Questions?
Want to know if a specific link is affiliated? Ask us. We'll always be straight about it.