01Provably-fair verification
Can the round outcome be reproduced from the published seed/nonce after the fact? We replay the HMAC math in our own browser via the verifier tool. Sites that don't expose the math get downgraded.
Published methodology · Audit-friendly
How we test + rank.
Four-factor scoring with published weights. No site gets ranked from a press kit or a marketing screenshot. If you ever spot a ranking that contradicts our own data, tell us, corrections show up on the public changelog.
What the score is made of
- Provably-fair verification
- Bonus value
- KYC + withdrawal friction
- Support response
Step 1
Four-factor scoring
Every ranked site is scored 0 to 10 on each factor below, and the total is the average.
02Bonus value
Real EV of the welcome offer after wagering requirements. A '$1,000 100% match' with 50× WR is worth less than a '$500 50% match' with 5× WR. We compute the actual playthrough cost.
03KYC + withdrawal friction
How much paperwork between you and your money. Some sites require ID verification only above a threshold; some demand it on every withdrawal. Lower friction = higher score.
04Support response
Time to a real human answer on live chat, not a bot autoreply. Tested at peak hours and off-peak. Sites without live chat get a max score of 5/10 here.
Payout speed was a fifth factor until September 2026. It was removed because the withdrawal timings behind it were never measured, and nothing was put in its place.
Step 2
The review cycle
Every ranked site goes through this loop each cycle. We read what the operator publishes, replay its provably-fair math ourselves where it publishes a seed pair, and score it on that.
- 01
Verify a random handful of rounds
Pull seeds for 3–5 rounds, run them through our HMAC verifier locally. If outcomes don't match, the site loses its provably-fair score.
- 02
Score + slot the site
Update the spreadsheet. If the score moved enough to change the rank order, we ship the change with a public note on the changelog.
Step 3
Affiliate model + ranking independence
We earn affiliate commission when readers sign up to a site through our tracked links. That funds the operation.
Affiliate disclosure on every page
Thin always-visible bar at the top of every page on the site says exactly what we earn on. FTC-aligned and (in our view) trust-building, readers prefer sites that are upfront about incentives.
Public ranking-change log
Every ranking move is documented at /changelog with the reason. If a partner drops 3 slots after a change to its bonus terms, you can see the exact change and the data that triggered it.
Step 4
Editorial-only coverage
We cover 35 CS2 sites we earn nothing on. They get the same review depth as our partners, just no Claim button. A further 13 directory brands issued us a code after their review was written; those carry a tracked link and say so on their own pages.
Most CS2 affiliate portals only cover sites they earn on. That makes their "best 5" rankings effectively a "best 5 of the 5 we get paid by" list. We cover 29 additional sites, Skinport, CS.MONEY, DMarket, Tradeit.gg, ShadowPay, Swap.gg, BitSkins, SkinBaron, CSFloat, CS.Deals, white.market, LIS-SKINS, SkinsMonkey, iTrade.gg, CS.Trade, Skinflow.gg, DatDrop, Key-Drop, DaddySkins, GGSkins, CaseHug, LootBox, R1-Skins, Duel, Roobet, CSGOPolygon, Chicken.gg, Skinwaste, LootBear, under an explicit "editorial-only" treatment. No Claim button, no SKINSVAULT code, no /go/ tracking.
This costs us money. A reader who picks Skinport over a partner generates zero revenue. We do it because the alternative, ignoring sites we don't earn on, would be dishonest.
Step 5
The blacklist
Sites we won't list at all, even if they offered top-tier affiliate rates. Documented criteria, public list, removal process if conditions change.
A site lands on the blacklist for any of: documented theft of user funds, rigged provably-fair (caught after-the-fact reverse-engineering), no-pay on withdrawals beyond a certain pattern, predatory targeting of minors, or evasion of KYC requirements that put users at legal risk in their home jurisdiction.
We publish the blacklist publicly with the reasoning. If a site cleans up, they can come off. That's also documented.
Spot a problem with our methodology? Tell us.