Affiliate Disclosure
CodeThemes earns commissions from casino operators when you open an account through the tracked links in our reviews. This does not change what you pay: deposits, odds, bonuses and withdrawal terms are identical whether you arrive through our link or type the casino’s address yourself. This page explains the whole commercial model in plain language, because a review site that hides how it gets paid has already failed its first test.
How does CodeThemes make money?
CodeThemes has one revenue stream: affiliate commissions paid by casino operators for referred players. There are no subscriptions, no sponsored scores, no banner networks and no sale of reader data. When you click a tracked link — every one of them is a plain, visible link to the casino, marked as such — the operator records the referral, and if you register and play, CodeThemes is paid under a commercial agreement with that operator. That revenue funds the test bench, the real-money deposits used in testing, and the editorial hours behind every review.
What do CPA and revenue-share deals actually mean?
CodeThemes is paid under the two standard structures in the iGaming affiliate industry, described here generically:
- CPA (cost per acquisition): the operator pays a one-time fixed fee when a referred reader registers and meets a qualifying condition, typically a first deposit.
- Revenue share: the operator pays an ongoing percentage of its net revenue from referred players.
- Hybrid: a smaller CPA combined with a smaller revenue share.
Which structure applies to which operator is a commercial detail that varies by contract, but the structural point matters to readers: under every model, the money flows from the operator to CodeThemes — never from you — and your costs are unaffected.
Are CodeThemes rankings for sale?
No. CodeThemes rankings and scores are outputs of the fixed 5-category weighting model documented on How We Rate, and that model is applied identically to operators who pay us and operators who do not. Commission size has no input into any score, and a higher commission cannot move a platform up a list. Several of the platforms we review carry no affiliate agreement at all, and some of our commercial partners hold scores below our recommendation threshold — both situations are normal and permanent features of how this site works.
Is paid placement labeled?
Yes — and as of this update, there is none to label. CodeThemes does not currently run sponsored posts, paid placements or advertorials. If we ever publish one, it will carry a visible sponsored label at the top of the page, it will be excluded from ranked lists, and it will never be presented as a review or a score. Anything on this site without that label is editorial content produced under our Editorial & Review Process.
Why does CodeThemes disclose this at all?
Because the commission relationship is a material connection between CodeThemes and the operators we review, and readers are entitled to know about it before acting on our recommendations — the same principle behind the US FTC’s endorsement guidelines and equivalent consumer-protection rules elsewhere. A material connection does not make a review dishonest, but an undisclosed one would make it untrustworthy. We would rather you read every CodeThemes review knowing exactly who pays us, and judge our methodology on its own evidence.
How are the editorial and commercial teams separated?
CodeThemes keeps review production and partnership negotiation in separate lanes with a one-way flow. Reviewers [AUTHOR_CT_1] and [AUTHOR_CT_2] test, score and publish; the partnerships function — reachable at partnerships@codethemes.co — negotiates commercial terms after scores exist, and has no write access to the content management system. Operators never see scores before publication, never receive draft copy, and requests to soften a finding are declined and logged. If you believe a commercial relationship has influenced any published score, report it to editorial@codethemes.co via our Contact page; we investigate every such report and respond within 3 business days.
Does using a CodeThemes link cost you anything?
No. The commission is paid entirely by the operator out of its own marketing budget, and operators are prohibited by their own regulators from offering worse terms to affiliate-referred players. You get the same registration flow, the same bonus terms and the same withdrawal rules either way. What a CodeThemes link adds is attribution — it tells the operator the referral came from a site that will keep re-testing them every 90 days and publish it when their platform regresses. One final reminder belongs in any disclosure on a gambling site: casino play is 18+ entertainment with a built-in house edge, not a way to earn money — see our Responsible Gambling page before you deposit anywhere.