Transparency

How Vendors.ie actually works

We believe software comparison sites should be upfront about how they make money, how data is collected, and where AI is used. Here's how Vendors.ie operates.

How we make money

Vendors.ie is free for users. Here's how we sustain the platform.

  1. 1

    Featured placements (planned)

    Vendors will be able to pay for featured placement on category pages. Any featured placement will be clearly labelled "Featured" or "Sponsored" so you can tell what is paid and what is editorial. See our pricing page for current vendor tiers.

  2. 2

    AI Audit consultancy

    We run paid AI readiness audits for Irish SMEs (Enterprise Ireland grant-eligible). These engagements are separate from vendor relationships and do not influence editorial coverage.

  3. 3

    Ranking positions are never sold

    Vendors cannot pay to change compliance data, suppress negative findings, alter editorial verdicts, or buy priority in AI recommendations. Vendor data is maintained independently of any commercial relationship.

  4. 4

    Affiliate and referral disclosure

    We currently do not take affiliate commissions on vendor rankings. If that changes - for example as part of a vendor referral programme - we will disclose it per-vendor at the point of the link, in line with Irish Consumer Protection Act and EU disclosure rules, and affiliate status will never influence editorial coverage or placement.

Where review counts come from

About our ratings

Sourced or hidden

Where you see a numeric rating with a review count, we attribute it to its source (e.g. "via G2"). Where we have not yet verified a sourced rating, we display "Not yet rated" rather than show an unsourced number. This is a recent change — we are working through every vendor profile to add verified review sources.

AI disclosure

How AI is used

Recommendation Engine

When you use "Find My Stack", your business details are sent to Claude (by Anthropic) along with our verified vendor database. The AI recommends 3 options from our data only - it cannot search the internet or invent compliance status for vendors not in our system.

Monthly Verification

Each month, AI reviews every vendor's changelog and compliance pages against our stored data. Discrepancies are flagged for human review - AI never updates vendor data automatically.

Strict Mode

All AI tools operate in Strict Mode: they can only reference vendors in our verified database. If a tool is asked about software we haven't reviewed, it says so and suggests the closest verified alternative.

What AI does NOT do

AI does not search the internet for answers. It does not invent Irish compliance status. It does not factor referral relationships into recommendations. It does not store your data beyond your browser session.

Common concerns

Frequently asked questions

Can vendors pay to change their compliance data?
No. Vendor data (Revenue integration, PAYE Modernisation, GDPR residency, pricing, bank feeds) is maintained independently. Vendors cannot pay to alter any data fields.
How often is vendor data updated?
Monthly. Our automated verification system checks each vendor's public pages against our stored data. Changes are flagged for human review and published with an updated verification date.
Does Vendors.ie store my data when I use the AI tools?
No. Your form inputs are sent to the AI provider to generate results and are not stored after your session ends. We do not build user profiles or track individual tool usage.
Are the editorial verdicts independent?
Yes. Editorial verdicts are written by Bryan Collins and reflect genuine assessment of each vendor's suitability for Irish SMEs. Vendors cannot pay to influence or remove verdicts.
Why should I trust Vendors.ie over G2 or Capterra?
G2 and Capterra rely on user-generated reviews and don't verify Irish-specific compliance. Vendors.ie verifies Revenue integration, PAYE Modernisation, Irish bank feed support, GDPR data residency, and euro pricing for every vendor - and shows you when it was last checked.