Independent age-and-content ratings for families, behind a metered paywall.
What it's really for A nonprofit rating media for age-appropriateness, not artistic quality, behind a metered paywall.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its age-and-content ratings for kids' media, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
The media and tech companies whose content it rates (Apple, Comcast, Charter, Cox, OpenAI and others) are also paying distribution/licensing partners, and CSM earns affiliate fees when users buy via its links, but it does not sell placement and there is no evidence that paying correlates with higher or more favorable ratings, which it states are written independently of creators, partners, and funders.
Source →- Operating since
- 2003 (23 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Partly paywalled Some content is free, but the full reviews or detailed ratings sit behind a paid subscription.
- How they make money
- A nonprofit funded by foundation grants (~40%), individual donations and paid subscriptions, licensing fees from media/tech distribution partners, and affiliate commissions on Buy/Watch/Download links.
- What they do
- It publishes age-based, content-by-content ratings and written reviews of movies, TV, games, books, apps, websites, and AI tools to help families judge what is appropriate for kids.
- What to watch for
- Ratings judge age-appropriateness and content (violence, sex, language), not artistic quality, and full access is behind a metered paywall, so you can't rely on it to tell you whether something is actually good or to read unlimited reviews for free.
- Composite score
- 3.60 / 5.00 → grade B+
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Common Sense Media was founded by civil rights attorney Jim Steyer in 2003 as an American nonprofit (501(c)(3), tax ID 41-2024986) that reviews and rates media for appropriateness for children. Source: Wikipedia / Common Sense About Us →
- CSM states: "Our ratings are written by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the creators, media partners, or funders in any way." Reviews are produced by editorial staff who review the media itself, rating content categories (violence, sex, language, positive messages, etc.) on a 0-5 scale with a recommended minimum age. Source: Common Sense Media — How We Rate and Review →
- Funded ~40% from foundations plus fees from media partnerships and individual donations; the same companies it rates (Apple TV, Comcast, Charter/Spectrum, Cox, OpenAI) are paying distribution partners, and CSM earns an affiliate fee from Amazon/iTunes on its Buy/Watch/Download buttons. Reported total revenue ~$38M (2024). Source: InfluenceWatch / Common Sense Affiliate Partners →