Hands-on antivirus and VPN testing, but its own disclosure says rankings may weigh affiliate commissions and products it shares an owner with — including ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and PIA.
What it's really for An affiliate-funded security-software review site with hands-on testing.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its hands-on antivirus and VPN 'best of' rankings, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Revenue comes from affiliate commissions on purchases made through its links, and the site is part of Kape Technologies, which also owns VPNs it reviews; by its own disclosure these affiliate and ownership ties "may" factor into rankings, and reporting notes Kape's own VPNs rose to top spots on sister review sites after acquisition.
Source →- Operating since
- 2018 (8 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- An affiliate-funded cybersecurity review site that hands-on tests antiviruses, VPNs and password managers and earns commissions on the products it ranks.
- What they do
- Publishes ranked "best of" lists and reviews of antivirus, VPN, password-manager and parental-control software based on multi-hour hands-on testing of speeds, malware detection and support.
- What to watch for
- The catch: by its own advertising disclosure, the rankings may take into account the affiliate commissions it earns and several products it ranks (ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Intego) share common ownership with the site.
- Composite score
- 2.70 / 5.00 → grade C+
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
- SafetyShares its advertising disclosure stating that reviews and rankings 'may also take into consideration the affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links on our website, and the providers (ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and Intego) with whom we share common ownership.' Source: SafetyDetectives About / advertising disclosure (via search) →
- Kape Technologies (owned by Teddy Sagi) owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access and Zenmate, plus the VPN review sites vpnMentor, WizCase and SafetyDetectives; reporting found Kape's own VPNs took the top 3 ranking spots on sister sites after acquisition, calling it 'clearly a conflict of interest.' Source: CyberInsider — Kape owns VPNs and review sites →
- SafetyDetectives describes a hands-on methodology: roughly 40–50 hours of testing per review, running a database of nearly 1,000 malware files through antiviruses, testing VPN speeds from multiple locations, and going undercover to test customer support. Source: SafetyDetectives — How We Test / methodology →