1936
Founded
90 years of testing
Report
Should I Use Consumer Reports?
Get unbiased ratings and reviews for 10,000+ products and services from Consumer Reports, plus trusted advice and in-depth reporting on what matters most.
Depends
DependsBuy it if you're shopping big-ticket items — cars, appliances, home systems — where CR's lab testing and member reliability surveys pay for themselves.
Worth it for big-ticket shoppers (cars, appliances); skip for one-off small buys — free sites cover that.
Confidence: Medium
$39/yr
Starting price
magazine subscription tier
10,000+
Products covered
products and services rated
Security Planner
Free tool
free personal security guidance
Value for money
3
Mixed 'is it worth it' debates among members
Feature depth
4
Ratings, price tracker, car-buying service, member surveys
Support quality
2
Recurring cancellation complaints on review sites
Security posture
4
No breaches found; publishes own security tools
Pros
- Nonprofit, ad-free testing since 1936 — ratings aren't advertiser-driven²
- Ratings for 10,000+ products and services¹
- Large member surveys back reliability data (11,000+ respondents for home security)⁵
- Price tracker helps time purchases and spot deals⁶
- Free Security Planner tool for personal digital safety⁷
Cons
Gotchas
- mediumCancellation complaints recur on Trustpilot and ConsumerAffairs — expect auto-renewal friction⁸
- mediumDigital and print access are priced differently; members report confusion choosing tiers12
- mediumReliability ratings depend on member survey sample sizes; sparse categories are weaker14
- lowCheapest $39/yr rates come via magazine resellers, not CR's own checkout⁴
Best for
- Car and appliance shoppers
- BuyItForLife researchers
- Ad-free, independent test-data fans
- Households making multiple big purchases yearly
Not for
- One-off small purchases under ~$100
- Shoppers unwilling to pay for reviews
- Anyone wanting niche or non-US-market products
- People averse to subscription auto-renewal friction
Pricing
Membership
From $39/yr
- Unlimited ratings access
- Price tracker and car-buying tools
- Print/digital tiers priced differently
Security
No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
What users say
Sentiment is split: longtime fans still trust CR's testing and reliability data, while others say it has declined and complain about cancellations.
Alternatives
Compare Consumer Reports with each alternative.
Wirecutter
Free, ad-supported single picks for most product categories
Reddit r/BuyItForLife
Free crowd-sourced durability opinions from real owners
ConsumerAffairs
Free customer-written reviews and complaint records
Consumer Reports vs ConsumerAffairsReddit r/carbuying
Free model-specific reliability threads for car shoppers
Consumer Reports vs Reddit r/carbuyingFull analysis
Based on ~40 public sources; most Reddit and review-site snippets were truncated, so verbatim quotes were unavailable.
Sources
- Consumer Reports homepageconsumerreports.orgofficial
- Consumer Reports - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgofficial
- Become a Member - Consumer Reportsconsumerreports.orgofficial
- Consumer Reports magazine subscription price comparisonmagazinepricesearch.comofficial
- Best Home Security Systems of 2026, According to Over 11,000 CR Membersconsumerreports.orgofficial
- CR Price Tracker 2026consumerreports.orgofficial
- Consumer Reports Security Plannersecurityplanner.consumerreports.orgsecurity
- Trustpilot reviews of consumerreports.orgtrustpilot.comreview
- ConsumerAffairs reviews of Consumer Reportsconsumeraffairs.comreview
review
- Reddit: Consumer Reports lost its way?reddit.comreview
Rate this review
Anonymous. You can change your vote.
Loading votes…
Ask a follow-up
Ask if a use case fits. Answers stay inside this report and its sources.