How CartWise Makes Money — and What We Promise You
The short version
- CartWise earns a small affiliate commission when you make a purchase through a link we provide.
- This commission comes from the retailer — you pay the same price whether you use CartWise or go directly.
- We never rank results by commission rate.
- We never replace links you click on your own.
- Results are always sorted by actual price.
Affiliate commissions, explained
When you tap a product link in CartWise and complete a purchase, the retailer pays CartWise a small percentage of the sale — typically 1–10% depending on the product category. This is called an affiliate commission. It's how many comparison apps and browser extensions earn money. The difference is what CartWise promises you about how this affects what you see.
At launch, CartWise has an affiliate arrangement with Amazon Associates. Commission rates are set by Amazon and vary by category. You can see Amazon's current rate schedule at amazon.com's Associates rate page.
CartWise may add affiliate arrangements with other retailers over time. When we do, we will update this page.
What CartWise never does
- ✓ Ranks results to maximize our commission — rankings are sorted by price ascending (all-in where calculable), regardless of whether we have an affiliate arrangement with that retailer.
- ✓ Replaces affiliate links you click yourself — no cookie-stuffing, ever. If you navigate to a retailer directly and make a purchase, we earn nothing. That's the correct behavior.
- ✓ Sells your search history or shopping list to advertisers. Your data is not CartWise's product.
- ✓ Shows sponsored results without labeling them. CartWise v1 has no sponsored results at all.
How results are ranked
Every search result you see in CartWise is ranked the same way, whether or not CartWise has an affiliate deal with that retailer:
- All-in price (item price + known shipping + applicable taxes) — lowest first.
- For local stores: distance and availability as tiebreakers.
This ranking policy applies equally to Amazon and to any retailer where CartWise earns no commission.
Your grocery list stays on your device
In CartWise v1, your grocery shopping list is stored locally on your device only. CartWise does not send your list contents to any server. When you search for a product's price, CartWise sends product identifiers (search terms or UPCs) to store data providers — but it does not send your saved list. Your shopping list is private to you.
For the complete picture of what CartWise collects and doesn't collect, read our Privacy Policy. Read the Privacy Policy →
Questions?
Something unclear? We'd rather over-explain than leave any doubt.
Send us a message and we'll get back to you.