See what partners can and can’t pay for.
FalcoScan’s scores are the product. This page sets out what partners can pay for, what they can never change, and how anything paid is labeled.
The rules
- Payment never changes Heat, Opportunity, Saturation, score-based rankings, confidence, or whether a tool is included.
- Sponsored cards never sit inside an organic ranking table.
- Every sponsored placement is labeled where it appears.
- Sponsored slots only open on a market page once it has steady organic traffic.
- In the Browse directory’s default order, products FalcoScan earns an affiliate commission from are listed first, in an order we set by hand and then by highest commission. Any other sort, a search, and the market pages show no such ordering.
- An affiliate commission never changes which tools appear or how they score, and a tool page says when its Visit link is an affiliate link.
What partners can and can’t buy
Today, FalcoScan offers free listings and claims, a private Position Report, labeled Featured partner listings, private monitoring, affiliate links, optional backing after submitting and a directory list, and no sponsored placements. Anything new follows the rules above, and this table is updated first.
| Program | Price | Partner gets | Partner can never change | Label | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tool listing | Free, or $59 one time for a same-day review (refunded in full if not approved) | A review, and once approved a listing scored under the same methodology as every tool. Same-day review only changes when we review it. Listings already on FalcoScan, claims and updates stay free | Approval, scores, market rankings, inclusion in any table or list, search results, analysis | None | Available |
| Badge for your site | Free | A “Listed on FalcoScan” badge (or “Rising 10”, if earned, or a moat rating badge showing its wide or narrow moat band, never a score) for the product’s site or README, linking to its FalcoScan page. Optional, never required | Scores, rank, inclusion, search results | None | Available |
| Verified listing | Free | When the product’s own website links to its FalcoScan page (the badge, or any link), the listing is marked Verified, sorts first in its market’s directory and in Browse’s default order after partners, and its page carries a direct link back to the product’s site. Checked by reading the site; removed when the link goes | Scores, rank in the best-rated and opportunity tables, inclusion, search results | “Verified” on the tool page | Available |
| Claim and update your listing | Free | A verified claim on the product’s listing, so its makers can correct and fill in the facts, and a private dashboard with its rank and its own scores | Scores, rank, inclusion, search results | None | Available |
| Position Report | $49, one time | The maker’s own private report on their product: its exact scores and rank, its rank history, the nearest rivals named with their public bands only, new entrants, shut-downs and acquisitions in its market, and how the market’s averages moved | Scores, rank, inclusion, search results | None, it’s private | Available |
| Featured partner listing | $400, one time | A labeled profile on the Partners page: logo, description, links, verified facts | Scores, rank, inclusion, analysis | “Featured partner” | Available |
| Partner Article | Included with the Featured partner fee | One article under the company’s name, on its own page, reviewed before it is published | Scores, rank, inclusion, analysis | “Partner Article” | Available |
| Partner monitoring | $70 a month | A private report by email on the first Monday of each month: the product’s views, saves and rank on FalcoScan, the products added to its market or recorded as shut down or acquired, and how the market’s averages moved | Scores, rank, inclusion, search results, anything public | None, it’s private | Available |
| Backing (a tip) | You choose, from $5, one time | Our thanks. It is asked for only after a tool has been submitted, and helps pay for servers, data and review time. From $100 the backer may be named on the Backers page, after we check the name | Review order or timing, approval, scores, rank, inclusion, search results | Named backers appear only on /backers; their links are marked sponsored | Available |
| Directory list | $2.99, one time | A spreadsheet of the AI directories FalcoScan tracks, with columns to track each submission. No scores | Scores, rank, inclusion, search results | None, it’s a private download | Available |
| Affiliate links | Paid by the product, per signup or sale | Visit buttons go through the product’s affiliate link, so FalcoScan may earn a commission when a visitor buys. The product is listed first in the Browse directory’s default order, can appear in a labeled partner card on Browse, the AI Graveyard and articles, in a labeled Partner strip on search results that match it, on the /partners page, in a labeled Partner strip under the best-rated table of the market pages it fits, in a labeled Partner row under the Visit button and beside the alternatives on product pages it fits (on product pages no partner fits, the free-to-start partners, as “From our partners”) (never under the Visit button of a product its maker submitted, claimed or verified), as a replacement on pages of products that shut down or whose website is gone (never on a maker’s own listing while it still runs), in the labeled video showcase on the home page, and after someone submits a tool, as “A word from our partners” and “From our partners” (partners chosen for makers, never one in the submitted tool’s market) | Scores, market rankings, the best-rated table, inclusion, search results, analysis | “Affiliate link” under the Visit button on the tool page; “Partner”, “A partner alternative” or “From our partners” in the label of every partner card, strip and row; the commission stated under the product-page row, on the home showcase and after a tool is submitted; the Browse order is disclosed here | Available |
| Sponsored placement | Monthly fee, max 2 per market page | A clearly marked card on a relevant market page, with click stats | Organic rank, scores, “best tool” claims | “Sponsored” | Not offered yet |
| Sponsored report or Pulse issue | Per issue | A brand mention on a category report | Findings, inclusion, scoring | “Sponsored by” | Not offered yet |
| Data partner | Custom | Faster, structured updates to their record | Editorial independence | “Data partner” | By arrangement |
Questions or concerns
If you think a score, ranking or label breaks these rules, tell us at friends@falcoscan.com and we’ll look into it.