How We Make Money

AI Course Rater is reader-supported. When readers sign up for courses through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to them. This is the primary way the site pays for itself, and we want to be completely transparent about how it works.

Affiliate links

Some links on this site are tagged with an affiliate tracking parameter. If a reader clicks one of those links and later enrolls in the course, the platform pays us a small commission — typically a percentage of the first-year subscription or a flat fee.

Where we earn commissions

We participate in affiliate programs from Coursera, Udemy, DataCamp, edX, and a small number of independent course creators. We do not participate in the affiliate programs of courses we rate poorly — we simply don't link to them.

What commissions don't buy

• Inclusion in a ranked list. Every course is evaluated on merit against our published criteria.
• Ranking order. The order of ranked courses is based on the criteria, not on commission rate.
• Positive reviews. If a course is bad, we either don't write about it or write honestly about what's wrong.
• Removal of criticism. Once a critique is published, platforms cannot pay to have it removed.

Non-affiliate content

Many courses we recommend — notably free ones like Elements of AI, fast.ai, Harvard CS50, and Anthropic's prompt engineering tutorial — have no affiliate program. We recommend them anyway when they're the best option, because our job is to help the reader, not to maximize revenue.

Questions?

Anything unclear about how our money works? Email editor@aicourserater.com.