Wirecutter

What Wirecutter does

Wirecutter, Inc. is a product review and buying guide service founded in 2011 by Brian Lam and acquired by The New York Times Company in 2016 for approximately $30 million, operating since as a wholly-owned editorial subsidiary of NYT (NYSE: NYT). Headquartered in New York with 51-100 employees, Wirecutter publishes independent, journalist-tested buying guides across 100+ consumer categories including Home & Garden, Kitchen, Tech, Health & Lifestyle, Baby & Kid, Style, Gifts, and Outdoors. The platform's core offering combines hands-on product testing — some spanning hundreds of hours over multi-year periods — with category-organized editorial content, a curated daily deals section (234 active listings), The Wirecutter Show podcast, a daily email newsletter, and a small branded merchandise store.

Name

Wirecutter

Legal name

Wirecutter, Inc.

Website

https://thewirecutter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Wirecutter is The New York Times Company's product recommendation service, publishing independent hands-on-tested buying guides across 100+ consumer categories and monetizing via affiliate commissions from retailers including Amazon and Walmart.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Commerce Revenue: Wirecutter earns commission when readers purchase products through affiliate links to retailers including Amazon, Walmart, REI, Costco, Backcountry, and others. The site explicitly states 'When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.' This is the primary revenue driver, functioning as a commission-based referral model.
2. Editorial Content Licensing: Wirecutter content appears on The New York Times platform, with potential for licensing arrangements around their testing methodology and review frameworks to other publishing partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Wirecutter publishes independently tested product reviews and category-organized buying guides covering 100+ consumer product verticals (home & garden, kitchen, tech, health & lifestyle, baby & kid, style, gifts, outdoors), available free to readers. The service combines journalist-led hands-on testing with a daily deals section, an editorial podcast (The Wirecutter Show), and an email newsletter, monetizing exclusively through affiliate commissions earned when readers purchase recommended products through retailer links.

Product overview

Wirecutter is The New York Times Company's product recommendation service — a content platform publishing independent, journalist-tested buying guides across Home & Garden (vacuums, appliances, furniture, home security), Kitchen (cookware, appliances, food & drinks), Tech (electronics, computers, audio), Health & Lifestyle (fitness, personal care, meditation apps), Baby & Kid, Style (apparel, shoes, accessories), Gifts, and Outdoors. The service is organized as a unified editorial platform supported by multiple content formats: in-depth buying guides (the core product), a curated deals section highlighting price drops on recommended products, The Wirecutter Show podcast, a Wirecutter-branded merchandise store, and a daily email newsletter. Revenue is generated through affiliate links to retailers. The company was acquired by The New York Times in 2016.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wirecutter Buying Guides Wirecutter's flagship offering: in-depth, independently researched product reviews and buying guides across categories including Home & Garden, Kitchen, Tech, Health & Lifestyle, Baby & Kid, Style, Gifts, and Outdoors, produced from hands-on testing by journalists and experts. Targeted at US consumers making purchase decisions.
• Wirecutter Deals A curated deals section featuring daily price drops on Wirecutter-recommended products from affiliate retailers including Amazon, REI, Walmart, Costco, and Backcountry, with 234 active deals tracked. Targeted at US consumers seeking value purchases on already-recommended products.
• The Wirecutter Show Podcast A regular podcast accompanying the Wirecutter brand, featuring discussions on product testing, buying advice, and lifestyle topics across categories such as tech, home, kitchen, and lifestyle. Distributed via major podcast platforms and embedded on the Wirecutter website. Targeted at US consumers.
• Wirecutter Store A merchandise store selling Wirecutter-branded products, operated as a secondary sub-product under The New York Times Company.

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• AmazoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAmazon is Wirecutter's primary affiliate retail partner. Wirecutter earns commission when readers purchase products through Amazon links embedded in recommendations. Featured prominently in the deals section with thousands of product listings and price comparisons.
• WalmartcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerWalmart serves as a major retail affiliate partner, featured in Wirecutter's deals section and product recommendations. The partnership includes exclusive sales events and recurring deal features.
• REIsecondaryGTM or Marketing PartnerREI appears as an affiliate partner for outdoor and fitness product categories, including deals on camping gear, bikes, and apparel.
• CostcosecondaryGTM or Marketing PartnerCostco partnership focuses on home and appliance categories, featured in deals for items like smart thermostats that align with Costco's membership warehouse model.
• BackcountryminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBackcountry outdoor retailer partnership covers specialty outdoor gear and apparel categories with affiliate links in relevant product guides.
• The New York Times CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWirecutter is a fully-owned subsidiary of The New York Times Company. NYT provides editorial infrastructure, brand credibility, distribution channels (nytimes.com platform), subscriber access, and cross-promotion opportunities across NYT properties.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Reviewed: Reviewed is a product review and buying-guide operation owned by USA Today/Gannett, publishing hands-on tested reviews across home, tech, and appliances with affiliate commerce monetization — a near-identical business model to Wirecutter, making it the most direct comparable.
• Tom's Guide: Tom's Guide, owned by Future plc, is a product review and buying guide publisher covering consumer electronics, home, and lifestyle categories with affiliate-driven revenue, directly competing with Wirecutter for SEO traffic and retailer partnerships.
• BestProducts.com: BestProducts (owned by Dotdash Meredith/People) publishes curated tested product recommendations across home, beauty, and lifestyle categories using affiliate commerce, making it a directly comparable wirecutter-style review business.
• The Strategist: The Strategist is the product-recommendation vertical of New York Magazine (Vox Media) covering home, fashion, and beauty with affiliate links, directly overlapping Wirecutter's category scope and target demographic.
• CNET: CNET (Red Ventures) publishes product reviews, buying guides, and deals across consumer tech and home categories with affiliate commerce monetization, putting it in direct competition for high-intent product-research traffic.
• Good Housekeeping Institute: Good Housekeeping Institute (Hearst) operates an independent lab testing consumer products across home, kitchen, and beauty, with affiliate-driven buying guides directly comparable to Wirecutter's tested-recommendation model.
• Engadget: Engadget (Yahoo) is a consumer-tech review and buying guide publisher with affiliate revenue, competing with Wirecutter specifically in electronics and home-tech categories.
• Consumer Reports: Consumer Reports is a nonprofit product testing organization publishing independently tested reviews across consumer categories; though non-affiliate and subscription-funded, its methodology-led editorial mission closely mirrors Wirecutter's value proposition.

Emerging players

• OutdoorGearLab: OutdoorGearLab publishes side-by-side tested reviews of outdoor and fitness gear with affiliate links to retailers like REI and Backcountry — directly comparable to Wirecutter's outdoor category content with a narrower vertical focus.

Broad incumbents

• Popular Mechanics: Popular Mechanics (Dotdash Meredith) covers tools, home improvement, and tech with hands-on tested reviews and affiliate commerce, overlapping with Wirecutter across home improvement and tools categories as a broader incumbent.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wirecutter
• Facebookfacebook.com/thewirecutter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-wirecutter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wirecutter