Affiliate Disclosure
Last updated: April 4, 2026
The Short Version
Some links on Crash Courses are affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep the courses free.
We only recommend products we genuinely believe are useful. We'll never recommend something just because it pays us.
What Are Affiliate Links?
Affiliate links are special URLs that track when someone clicks through from our site to a product or service. If you make a purchase after clicking, the company knows you came from us and pays us a small percentage of the sale.
This is a common way for educational content creators to earn income while keeping content free.
What This Means for You
- No extra cost - You pay the same price whether you use our link or not
- Supporting the site - Commissions help cover hosting, development, and content creation
- Your choice - You're never obligated to use our links
Our Recommendation Policy
We take recommendations seriously. Here's how we decide what to include:
- We use it ourselves - Or have thoroughly tested it
- It's genuinely useful - It solves a real problem for our audience
- Quality over commission - We recommend free tools over paid ones when they're better for beginners
- Honest opinions - We'll mention downsides and alternatives
Many tools we recommend (like Vital, Inkscape, DaVinci Resolve) are completely free and earn us nothing. We recommend them because they're the best options, not because they pay us.
Types of Affiliate Relationships
We may earn commissions from:
- Software - DAWs, plugins, design software
- Hardware - MIDI controllers, audio interfaces, graphics tablets
- Educational platforms - Advanced courses on other platforms
- Creative tools and resources - Preset packs, sample libraries, fonts
How to Identify Affiliate Links
We aim to be transparent about affiliate relationships. You may see:
- Notes like "(affiliate link)" near links
- Disclosure statements on pages with product recommendations
- This disclosure page linked in our footer
If you're ever unsure whether a link is an affiliate link, assume it might be.
FTC Compliance
This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on endorsements and testimonials. The FTC requires that we disclose any material connection between us and products or services we recommend.
Questions?
If you have questions about our affiliate relationships or want to know if a specific recommendation is an affiliate link, feel free to ask: