Transparency Notice (FTC 16 CFR Part 255): TCO Audit is reader-supported via partner referral compensation at zero extra cost to buyers. Return to Calculators
LAB // 2026 TCO Audit
Governance & Compliance

FTC Affiliate Disclosure, Pricing Methodology & Privacy Policy

1. FTC Affiliate Compensation Disclosure (16 CFR Part 255)

TCO Audit (https://tcoaudit.com) publishes free interactive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculators, live website technical readiness graders, and open-source cloud/automation templates without paywalls or mandatory email gates.

To fund ongoing software engineering and benchmark maintenance without charging visitors, certain outbound links routed via /go/* are partner or affiliate referral links (including programs operated directly or via PartnerStack, Impact.com, FirstPromoter, Dub, and Railway). If you click a partner link and register for a trial, deploy cloud infrastructure, or purchase a paid subscription, TCO Audit may earn a referral commission at zero additional cost to you (and in several cases, such as Railway or Cloudways, includes promotional platform credits for the new user).

2. Benchmark & Formula Independence

Calculator outputs are computed deterministically from publicly published vendor pricing tiers (monthly vs. annual rate cards, included task/execution allowances, contact tier brackets, and compute resource baselines). Partner compensation never alters the mathematical formula inside our calculators: if your input volume shows that staying on your current platform or self-hosting raw Docker containers is cheaper than a partner SaaS tier, the calculator displays that exact figure.

3. Zero-Cookie Privacy Policy & Edge Telemetry

TCO Audit does not set third-party advertising cookies, fingerprinting scripts, or behavioral retargeting pixels on visitor browsers:

  • Client-Side Calculators: All task, contact, seat, and revenue inputs entered into the SaaS Tax Calculator and Outbound Sizer are evaluated locally in your browser's JavaScript engine and are never stored on our servers.
  • Live URL Grader (/api/audit): Fetches only publicly accessible HTTP headers, HTML metadata tags, /robots.txt, and /llms.txt for the URL you request, caching public technical scores at the edge for up to 24 hours to prevent redundant requests against target servers.
  • Aggregate Redirect Telemetry (/go/*): Records anonymous aggregate event counters (slug, referring tool page, coarse country header, and bot-filter status) without storing personal IP addresses or browser cookies.

For partner inquiries, benchmark corrections, or data questions, contact: partners@tcoaudit.com.