Affiliate Disclosure
Last updated
elitewphost.com is reader-supported. The honest, current status, May 2026:
We are not yet earning affiliate commission from any host on this site. Every CTA on the site currently links directly to the vendor’s home page or product page with no tracking ID attached. We are in the process of evaluating and applying to the affiliate programs below. We disclose this up front so you can read every recommendation knowing nothing is paying for it yet.
Programs we are evaluating
When a program approves us, the table below switches that row’s status to approved, we publish the commission terms we’re actually working under and we update CTAs to use cloaked /go/<host-slug> redirects that carry the tracking ID server-side. Until then: direct links, no tracking.
| Host | Status (May 2026) | Commission (per vendor program docs) | Cookie window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsta | needs-signup | 10% recurring (lifetime) + $50 to $500 first-month bonus | 60 days |
| WP Engine | needs-signup | $200 minimum, one-time | 180 days |
| Cloudways | needs-signup | Slab $30 to $125 OR hybrid $30 + 7% lifetime | 90 days |
| Rocket.net | needs-signup | 150% of first month, then 10% recurring | 30 days |
| Nexcess (Liquid Web) | needs-signup | 150% of first month | 90 days |
| Pressable | needs-signup | $50 to $200 per sale | 90 days |
| Hostinger Business | needs-signup | 60% of first sale, $60 minimum | 30 days |
| SiteGround GoGeek | needs-signup | $50 to $100 per sale | 60 days |
When a host pays better commission than a higher-ranked competitor we link below it, we say so in the article. This is policy, not aspiration, for example WP Engine’s flat $200+ payout is materially better than Kinsta’s first-month bonus on the entry plan and if Kinsta wins a comparison anyway, the table on this site will reflect that and the methodology page will explain why.
How we comply with the FTC and Google’s affiliate guidance
- Disclosure above the fold. Every commercial article carries an aside-styled disclosure block above the H1, before any affiliate link. The exact wording is on every page; you’ve already seen it if you’ve read any review here.
rel="sponsored nofollow"on every outbound affiliate link. Google’s spam policies for affiliate content require sponsored-link attribution; we apply it site-wide, not selectively.- No cloaked geo-redirects that show one URL to Google and another to readers. The
/go/<slug>redirect resolves to the same vendor URL whether the visitor is Googlebot or a buyer in Sydney. - No fake reviews, fake screenshots, fake “we surveyed 500 store owners” stats, or AI-generated author photos. Style guide and methodology page enforce this.
What commissions do not influence
Specifically and on the record:
- Ranking order. If WP Engine pays $200 flat and Kinsta pays $50 first-month + 10% recurring and Kinsta wins our checkout-latency test, Kinsta is listed first. Full stop. The methodology page documents this rule and the scoring weights that produce it.
- Inclusion in a comparison. Hosts we don’t have an affiliate relationship with, Pantheon, Acquia, smaller managed players, are included where they’re relevant. We just don’t earn anything when readers click those links.
- “Skip this if” sections. Every host review includes 2 to 4 honest reasons not to buy. We don’t soften that section for higher-commission hosts. SiteGround GoGeek pays well; the “skip this if you do more than $50k/year in WooCommerce revenue” line is still there.
- Correction speed. If a host pushes a bad release or raises prices unfavourably, we update the article on the normal cadence regardless of partner status.
- Comparison tables and “best for X” picks. Cloudways pays recurring lifetime commission, which is the most valuable program on the panel for a publisher. It still only wins the “best price/performance for tinkerers” pick because that’s what the data supports.
What we will never do for money
No paid placement, no “featured host” badges, no link insertion, no sponsored posts dressed as editorial, no agreeing to remove negative coverage. The pitch deck for any of those gets a polite “no” and, if it’s egregious, a screenshot in a future post.
If you think a recommendation on this site doesn’t add up, email hello@elitewphost.com. We will respond, and if you’re right we will fix it in public on the article itself.