shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

RTINGS.com Review

Depends

Should I use RTINGS.com?

Find the best products for your needs, based on our reviews, ratings and recommendations. - rtings.com

· 1 month ago

Worth one paid month when you're buying a TV, monitor, or headphones; skip the ongoing subscription if you buy electronics rarely. Loyal readers of the old free site should weigh free alternatives first.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 15+ public sources; pricing cross-checked via Best Buy listing and news coverage.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

$10/mo, auto-renews

Membership

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierNo

Best for

  • Big-ticket TV and monitor buyers
  • Headphone and ANC shoppers comparing models
  • AV enthusiasts wanting calibration settings
  • Frequent gadget upgraders

Not for

  • One-time buyers making a single cheap purchase
  • Anyone expecting free detailed test data
  • Casual shoppers happy with free review sites
  • Non-tech categories outside their tested lineup

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Auto-renews at $10/mo; set a reminder to cancel after your purchase.

medium

My Best Buy Plus/Total members get 6 months free; new subscribers only, offer ends.

medium

Free access culture ended abruptly; community trust is still recovering.

low

Some monitors reportedly lack full settings coverage despite complaints.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Buys every product itself and runs identical tests — no sponsored reviews.
  • Widely praised as unbiased versus sponsored YouTube reviewers.
  • Deep side-by-side comparison tools across TVs, monitors, headphones.
  • Publishes calibration settings for reviewed TVs.
  • Large product range covered, per Trustpilot users.

Cons

  • Now entirely behind a paywall.
  • $10/month subscription that auto-renews.
  • Paywall triggered heavy backlash and subscription cancellations among longtime fans.
  • Some monitor calibration data reportedly missing even for users.
  • Paywall added to block AI scraping, not to add features.

Sources & method

- 10 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x3review x4security x1news x2

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • $10/mo, auto-renews

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Free data became $10/mo; loud user backlash
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Comparison tools and test data easy to use
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Identical lab tests, huge product coverage
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 4/5. Scam Detector 82.7/100; no breach reports
  • $10/mo Subscription auto-renews, per Best Buy listing
  • None Free tier full results now paywalled
  • 20,000+ Indexed pages per SEO case study
  • 2.1K votes Paywall backlash single Reddit thread, r/hometheater

Pricing

Membership

$10/mo, auto-renews

  • Full test results and ratings
  • Review data and comparison tools
  • 6 months free via My Best Buy Plus/Total (new subs)

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Long praised as the most trustworthy lab-testing review site, but the sudden paywall turned many loyal readers angry.

“I love what rtings.com is doing. Their product comparison and reviews platform is incredible. Such a fresh breath of air in an industry ruined by sponsored youtubers.”
Reddit, r/hardware
“RTINGS is great, always check them before making a purchase decisio”
Reddit, r/hardware
“It's insanely sad to see the dead of such a good website.”
Reddit, r/RTINGS
Full analysis

Based on 15+ public sources; pricing cross-checked via Best Buy listing and news coverage.

Gold-standard lab testing, now $10/mo paywalled. Pay for one month when you buy; don't keep it running.

Methodology

Based on 15+ public sources; pricing cross-checked via Best Buy listing and news coverage.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Reviews and Ratings - RTINGS.comrtings.com
    official
  2. Rtings.com Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  3. Reddit r/hardware: Honest appreciation of RTINGSreddit.com
    review
  4. Reddit r/hometheater: RTINGS now behind a paywallreddit.com
    news
  5. RTINGS locks full test results behind paywall to combat AI scraping - Back2Gamingback2gaming.com
    news
  6. 6 months free RTINGS membership for Best Buy Plus/Total membersbestbuy.com
    official
  7. RTINGS - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    official
  8. rtings.com Reviews: Scam Detectorscam-detector.com
    security
  9. RTINGS.com Alternatives - AlternativeToalternativeto.net
    review
  10. Reddit r/PWM_Sensitive: Alternative sites to RTINGSreddit.com
    review

Add this review to your site

This check for RTINGS.com says Depends.

Put the badge on your site.

Visitors see the independent review.

The link points here, and search engines follow it.

This is the badge visitors see on your site.

Depends RTINGS.com Independent review on Should I Use It

Paste one snippet. Keep the link as it is. A nofollow tag stops search engines from following it.

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.