An in-house lab that benchmarks PC hardware hands-on and says it won't sell reviews; the buy buttons earn it affiliate commissions, and it says so at the top of the review.
What it's really for A PC-hardware site with in-house benchmarking; affiliate links and ads fund it.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its lab-benchmarked PC-component reviews, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Retailers and advertisers pay it most through affiliate fees and ads, but by its own disclosure ads never affect what it covers, manufacturers get no preferential treatment for advertising, reviews are not shown to manufacturers before publication, and it does not accept payment for reviews. Paid-for editorial, where it runs, is labelled with who funded it.
Source →- Operating since
- 1996 (30 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- It makes money through a mix of display advertising, affiliate commissions on retailer links, occasional labelled paid-for editorial, and a paid Tom's Hardware Premium subscription.
- What they do
- Tom's Hardware reviews and rates PC components and consumer electronics using in-house lab benchmarks, sensors, and hands-on testing, scored 1 to 5 with Editor's Choice badges, and publishes a How We Test page describing the procedure for each category.
- What to watch for
- It doesn't rank firms or services and it isn't a neutral price comparison; the product links you click are affiliate links that pay the site a commission. It also asks manufacturers to supply the review samples, buying a unit itself only when a company won't provide one. Reviews themselves stay free, but its deeper benchmark database, roadmaps and some analysis now sit inside the paid Premium tier.
- Composite score
- 4.60 / 5.00 → grade A+
- Last verified
- September 1, 2026 — when a human last checked this entry's facts, links, and grade against the live site.
- Citations checked
- September 1, 2026 — our automated check re-fetched all 7 sources cited on this page. All resolved. This is a link check, not a re-grade — the “Last verified” date above is the one that covers the facts and the grade.
- Site confirmed live
- September 1, 2026 — our monthly automated check reached Tom's Hardware and got a normal response.
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
- On its own How We Test page (last updated 12 September 2025, re-read 2026-09-01), Tom's Hardware states: 'We do not accept payment of any kind for reviews, nor do manufacturers receive preferential treatment for being advertisers. We also do not show our reviews to manufacturers before publication.' The same page discloses how units are obtained: editors 'request that companies provide us with samples for testing purposes. In some cases, when a company is unwilling or unable to provide us with an important product, we will use our budget to purchase it from a retailer such as Amazon or Best Buy.' It also states 'Transparency is key. If we conduct a test, you should be able to replicate that experience.' Source: How Tom's Hardware Tests, Rates and Reviews Tech Products →
- The About page carries a full Affiliate and Advertising Disclosure: within editorial content it links to retailers 'for which we can receive compensation - called an affiliate fee,' its product widgets are powered by Future's own Hawk pricing software, ads are 'designed in a way that makes them clearly identifiable as ads and distinguishable from our editorial articles,' and 'From time to time, we also publish paid-for editorial content on the site. This content is labelled so you can see who has funded it and how it was created.' The same page describes Tom's Hardware Premium as 'a beta subscription-based service with longer-form news, analysis, testing, and features,' with free membership still giving 'free access to reviews, badges and discussions.' Re-read 2026-09-01. Source: About Tom's Hardware - Affiliate and Advertising Disclosure →
- The affiliate disclosure appears inline at the top of individual reviews, directly under the byline rather than only in a footer: on the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB review the line 'When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works.' sits above the verdict and the Editor's Choice badge. The review itself is readable without an account. Checked 2026-09-01. Source: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB review (disclosure placement check) →
- Founded in 1996 as Tom's Hardware Guide in Canada by Thomas Pabst; owned by Future plc since 2018 (acquired via the Purch Group purchase). Future plc is a UK publisher and a member of IPSO, which regulates UK digital news. Source: Tom's Hardware - Wikipedia →