Affiliate Disclosure

Last updated: April 27, 2026

Startup Cost Guide participates in affiliate marketing programs. This page explains how those relationships work and what they mean for you.

What are affiliate links?

Some links on this site are affiliate links, identifiable by the /recommends/ URL pattern (for example, startupcostguide.com/recommends/quickbooks). When you click an affiliate link and make a purchase or sign up for a service, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Affiliate partners include providers of business formation services, accounting software, payroll services, business insurance, POS systems, website builders, and other tools relevant to starting a business.

What affiliate relationships do not affect

Affiliate relationships do not influence:

Cost estimates, ranges, or startup cost data in any guide
Editorial rankings or tool comparisons
Which businesses or tools we cover
Whether a guide includes a recommendation at all

Guides that include affiliate links contain the same cost data and recommendations they would contain if no affiliate program existed. Tools without affiliate programs appear alongside those with them.

How we select affiliate partners

We only recommend tools that are genuinely relevant to the business type covered in a given guide. Selection criteria: does it justify its cost for a startup, is it useful for this specific business type, and would we use it ourselves?

We do not accept payment for favorable coverage. No one can pay to be featured or to have their products presented more favorably.

FTC compliance

This disclosure satisfies the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on endorsements and testimonials (16 CFR Part 255). We believe in transparent disclosure of any financial relationship that might influence our content, even when that relationship does not in fact influence our content.

Questions

Questions about our affiliate relationships: hello@startupcostguide.com