1. What the Monster Score measures
A 0–10 weighted average of six categories. Each category is scored by the research desk against the firm's published terms, documented behaviour and verifiable evidence. Category scores are assigned before the overall is calculated, never after, never to fit a conclusion.
2. The weights
| Category | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| PAYOUTS | 25% | Payout reliability, cadence, minimums and split generosity. |
| RULES | 25% | Clarity and fairness of the rulebook. Fewer gotchas = higher score. |
| VALUE | 20% | Price, discount culture and what you actually get for the money. |
| TRANSPARENCY | 15% | How visible the catch is. Terms on the pricing page beat terms in the PDF. |
| SUPPORT | 10% | Responsiveness, documentation and dispute handling. |
| PLATFORM | 5% | Platform quality, choice and stability. |
3. The formula
overall = Σ (category_score × weight)
then rounded to one decimal place
Example: payouts 9.0, rules 8.2, value 7.6, transparency 9.2, support 8.8, platform 8.6 → (9.0×0.25) + (8.2×0.25) + (7.6×0.20) + (9.2×0.15) + (8.8×0.10) + (8.6×0.05) = 8.5. Every review page's "WHY THIS SCORE?" panel shows this exact breakdown.
4. Verdict bands
| Score | Verdict |
|---|---|
| ≥ 8.5 | MONSTER APPROVED |
| ≥ 7.5 | DECENT, WITH CATCHES |
| ≥ 6.5 | WATCH YOUR FINGERS |
| ≥ 5 | READ THIS TWICE |
| ≥ 3.5 | MONSTER WARNING |
| < 3.5 | SPIT IT OUT |
Verdicts are mapped from the score band. We never hand-assign a verdict.
5. BULL$#!T TAX
The Tax measures friction: unnecessary complexity, gotcha mechanics, opaque terms, surprise fees and avoidable restrictions. It is not a fraud accusation and not a trust score. It is evidence-backed, every HIGH or SEVERE rating carries a bulleted list of reasons.
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| VERY LOW | Unusually clean rulebook. Minimal friction. |
| LOW | A few hoops, nothing outrageous. |
| MODERATE | Real friction: consistency rules, conditional payouts, lawyer-grade terms. |
| HIGH | Serious hoops. Easy to trip, easy to misunderstand. |
| SEVERE | Wall-to-wall gotchas. We would not touch it without independent legal review. |
6. Sourcing and evidence hierarchy
- Firm official rules/terms
- Firm official pricing
- Firm official payout documentation
- Official announcements
- Public company/regulatory data
- Verified user evidence
- Third-party community reports (treated as signals, not truth)
Every review links its sources. Allegations are never converted into facts.
7. Freshness
Every rules table and deal carries a "checked" date. Nothing is stamped with a date it wasn't actually verified. Reviews are re-checked on a rolling basis; material rule changes are logged in each firm's "What Changed?" section.
8. Affiliate integrity
A commission never changes the Monster Score. Ever. Deals and links may pay us a commission , that is disclosed on every commercial placement. Featured placement is distinguishable from editorial ranking. If a commercial relationship ever touched a score, this page would say so and the score would be corrected. It hasn't happened; it can't happen silently.
9. Corrections
We publish corrections, not deletions. If a fact, score or rule is wrong, it is fixed with a note on the affected page and a dated entry in our corrections log. Report an error via the editorial policy page.