Support Sifter
Sifter is free for gamers, and always will be — no subscriptions, no paywalls, no ads from the games it rates. That's a promise, not a trial.
If Sifter has saved you money, time, or a regretted purchase, a one-time donation helps cover the costs of keeping it running and independent. Entirely optional — you get everything either way.
Online donations aren't enabled yet — but thank you for even thinking about it. Sifter stays free either way.
How Sifter is funded
Sifter only works if you can trust it, so here's exactly where any money comes from — and where it never comes from.
Voluntary donations
The main way — one-time, entirely optional, and you get everything either way. Chip in if Sifter has saved you a bad purchase.
Affiliate store links
Sifter isn't currently enrolled in any storefront's affiliate program, so the “Buy” links earn us nothing today. If that ever changes, this page — and every store link — will say so up front.
Never
No ads from the games we rate. We don't sell your data. And no studio can pay to change a score, buy a better verdict, or get surfaced as a recommendation.
Whatever funds Sifter, it stays walled off from the scoring engine. Donations and affiliate links never influence a Design Risk score, a Joy Index, or a recommendation — that independence is the entire point of a trust layer.
Donations support Sifter itself and are not tax-deductible.