About this site

How Our Links Work

The Maker Guide is free to read and is supported by affiliate links. This page explains exactly how that works.

The short version

Some links on this site — mostly links to Amazon and to maker brands like FoxAlien — are affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, the retailer pays us a small commission. The price you pay does not change.

As an Amazon Associate, The Maker Guide earns from qualifying purchases.

Our editorial rules

• Commissions never decide a verdict. When we compare two machines, the recommendation is written first and the links are added after.
• We link to product categories and specific products we would genuinely compare if we were buying — never to whatever pays the highest rate.
• Pages that contain affiliate links say so in a disclosure near the top.
• When borrowing or using a shared machine is the smarter move, we say that instead — even though it earns us nothing. That is also why we point readers at makerspaces like The Makr Lab.

Who is behind this site

The Maker Guide is part of the OCreate maker network in Orange County, California, which also runs The Makr Lab community makerspace in Anaheim and OCreate custom fabrication, and produces Maker Faire Orange County. The guides here come out of the same questions members ask in the shop every week.

Questions about a link or a recommendation? Reach out through OCreate.