Why SwipeCaddy has no affiliate links

There's a conflict of interest baked into almost every "best credit card" page you've read, and it's worth naming out loud: the site usually gets paid when you're approved for a card. A single approval through an affiliate link can be worth $100 to $200 to the publisher — so the "best card for groceries" and the card that pays the biggest bounty have a way of turning out to be the same card.

SwipeCaddy takes none of that. We have no affiliate links, no "apply now" bounty buttons, and no arrangement with any card issuer. We earn exactly $0 when you open a card — which means nothing on this site is nudged by what a card pays us, because no card pays us anything.

How we're funded instead

Two ways, and neither one touches which card we recommend:

• SwipeCaddy Pro — a subscription ($3.99/month, $29.99/year, or $99.99 once). You pay us; card issuers don't.
• Non-personalized ads in the free tier — no tracking, and no card-issuer deal behind them.

Because our revenue doesn't move when you apply for a card, the ranking has nothing to gain by steering you. That's the point.

Why it changes the answer

When our engine says a $0 grocery-store card beats a $395 premium travel card at the checkout, no one paid us to say it — and, just as important, no one paid us not to. We rank every card the same way, on reward rate times a conservative cash value, and we name whichever wins. Sometimes that's a card with a fat sign-up bonus an affiliate would love; often it's a boring $0 card an affiliate earns nothing on. We don't get a vote.

The one thing this stance costs you: we don't hand you a pre-filled application. We link to the issuer's own page so you can read the terms at the source — a plain link, not a tracked one. Pick the cards you already carry and let the math tell you which to use; if you decide to open a new one, you'll do it on the issuer's site, and we'll have earned nothing either way. That's the deal.