About EcomReports

Why we exist

If you run an online business, you are constantly choosing tools: a store platform, a payment provider, tax and compliance software, shipping, email, analytics. Much of the advice you find when researching these choices is paid for. "Best of" lists often earn a commission for every sign-up, and higher placements can be bought.

We started EcomReports to offer the opposite: comparisons and guidance with no commercial interest behind them, written so you can check the evidence yourself.

What we cover

• Comparisons of ecommerce platforms, payments, tax and compliance tools, fulfilment, marketing and analytics software.
• Reports on costs, market trends and regulatory changes that affect online sellers, with our data and methods.
• Articles with practical, up-to-date guidance on running and growing an online business.
• Awards recognising tools that serve their customers well, chosen by our editors with no entry or badge fees.

What we will never do

• Use affiliate or referral links, or earn commission from anything we mention.
• Accept payment, sponsorship or gifts in exchange for coverage, rankings, reviews or awards.
• Let a company read, approve or edit our work before it's published.
• Run advertising that is targeted at you or disguised as editorial content.

The full details are in our editorial standards.

Ownership and funding

EcomReports is an independent project, run and paid for by the person who started it, with support from a Hackney Council small business grant for individuals in Hackney. There are no investors, no revenue targets and nothing to sell. The council has no say in what we cover or what we conclude.

This works because the site costs very little. It's a small, fast website with no advertising, so hosting is cheap. The real cost is the time spent researching, testing and checking facts, and that time is given freely.

Why do it? Because most advice online sellers find about software is paid for by the software companies, and someone should offer the alternative.

We take no money from the companies we cover, in any form. If we ever accept reader donations, they will be anonymous to us, so nobody can use a donation to buy influence. If our funding ever creates a potential conflict of interest, we will disclose it here and on the affected articles.

Get in touch

We read everything sent to contact@ecomreports.org, including corrections, topic suggestions and questions about our methods. See the contact page for details.