25+ years
Track record
Per CNET's own homepage
Report
Should I Use CNET?
Get full-length product reviews, the latest news, tech coverage, daily deals, and category deep dives from CNET experts worldwide.
Worth it
Worth itUse CNET free as a first pass for gadget research and deal hunting; there's no purchase risk.
Free first-stop for tech research and deals — but cross-check reviews; reliability dinged by AI-content episode.
Confidence: Medium
163
Trustpilot reviewers
Site experience, not product reviews
Sold 2020
Ownership
Noted in App Store listing
62.19% male
Audience skew
Similarweb traffic analysis
Value for money
5
Entirely free content; no purchase risk.
Pros
Cons
Gotchas
- mediumShopping and deals content is commercially driven; treat 'best of' picks as starting points, not verdicts.
- mediumCheck article dates and bylines — trust from the AI-content episode hasn't fully recovered.⁶
- lowOnly 163 Trustpilot reviews of the site; weak signal in either direction.⁹
- lowApp reviewers note changes 'since CNET was sold in 2020' — expect shifting editorial priorities.10
Best for
- Everyday gadget shoppers
- Deal hunters
- Casual tech news readers
- First-pass buying research
Not for
- Enthusiasts wanting deep, technical benchmarks — readers call it broad and generic
- Buyers wary of affiliate-driven 'best of' picks
- Anyone expecting pre-2020 editorial depth
Pricing
Free
$0
- Full-length reviews and news
- Daily deals and shopping hub
- Free iOS/Watch apps
Security
No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
What users say
Reader sentiment is split: long a default tech resource, but many say quality declined after the 2020 sale and the AI-content controversy.
“CNET used to be great but went downhill many”
“I find Cnet to be very broad and g”
“I stopped going to CNET by that ti”
Alternatives
Compare CNET with each alternative.
PCMag
More technical, lab-tested reviews for serious buyers.
CNET vs PCMagReddit niche communities
Unfiltered owner feedback in subreddits like r/buildapc.
Trustpilot
Crowd reviews for sellers and services editors don't cover.
CNET vs TrustpilotGuess: Wirecutter
Rigorous single-pick recommendations for common purchases.
Full analysis
Based on 20+ public sources. CNET is a free media/reviews site, not software — fit judged as a research tool.
Sources
- CNET homepagecnet.comofficial
- CNET Reviews sectioncnet.comofficial
- CNET Deals sectioncnet.comofficial
- CNET Best Home Security Systemscnet.comofficial
news
news
- Trustpilot reviews of cnet.comtrustpilot.comreview
- CNET app — App Store listingapps.apple.comreview
- cnet.com Traffic Analytics — Similarwebsimilarweb.comnews
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