How we're paid
CompareAML is free for Australian businesses, forever. Providers pay us — per qualified lead, and in some cases a success fee on the first sale. Whatever a provider pays us comes out of their margin and is never added to your quote.
A$0 / forever
No subscription. No fee per match. No upgrade tier. No data resale.
- Unlimited provider comparisons
- Free risk assessment
- Free AML program template
- Sector-specific matching
- All future tools and content
Pay per qualified lead
Three packages: pay-per-lead, lead + success fee on first sale, and a Founding Partner tier with trailing on lifetime value. All pricing disclosed up front in the partner agreement.
- Lead price disclosed and fixed per vertical
- Optional success-fee and trailing tiers, paid from vendor margin
- Featured slots clearly marked as sponsored
Where every dollar comes from
Three revenue lines. All paid by providers, out of their margin. All disclosed in the partner agreement. None added to your quote as an SME.
Qualified lead delivery
Providers pay a fixed price per qualified lead — set per vertical and disclosed in their partner agreement. Price is the same whether you sign or what you eventually spend.
Optional first-sale fee
Growth-tier providers pay a single-digit percentage on the first sale only. Paid out of the provider's margin — not added to what you pay them.
Founding Partner trailing
A small number of Founding Partners (one per vertical) pay an ongoing trailing percentage in return for category exclusivity. Same independence rules apply to matching.
Success-fee and trailing rates are agreed per provider and disclosed in our annual transparency report. Vendor packages are described in full on our partner deck.
Why this model is different
Most comparison sites take a cut of what you spend. That changes who they recommend.
| Typical comparison site | CompareAML | |
|---|---|---|
| How they earn | % of customer spend, baked into your quote | Fixed per-lead, optional success fee paid from vendor margin |
| Incentive bias | Push you to highest-paying provider | Lead price set by vertical, not by deal size |
| Sponsored disclosure | Often hidden in T&Cs | Labelled inline on every row |
| Data resale | Common — sold to multiple advertisers | Never. Only matched providers receive your details |
| Cost to you | Marked up into your quote | A$0 — vendor fees come out of their margin |
The principles we run on
These aren't marketing lines. They're written into every provider contract.
Independence over revenue
If a provider doesn't fit your sector or size, we won't match you to them — even if they're paying for featured placement that month.
Vendor-side fees only
Per-lead prices, success fees and Founding Partner trailing are paid by providers from their own margin. They're never added to the quote you receive.
Inline disclosure
Sponsored rows, featured tables, and paid placements are labelled in the same row — not buried in a footer.
Vetting before listing
Every provider passes our independent vetting checklist before they appear — paid or not. No pay-to-list.
What we will never do
Lines we won't cross. If we ever do, hold us to this page.
- Add our fees on top of the provider's quote to you.
- Match you to the highest-paying provider instead of the best fit.
- Sell your contact details to anyone outside our matched providers.
- Hide which placements are sponsored.
- Recommend providers we haven't independently vetted.
Common questions
If providers pay you, how is that independent?+
Providers pay a fixed price per qualified lead, set per vertical. Some opt into a single-digit success fee on the first sale, or a Founding Partner trailing arrangement — but those fees come from the provider's margin, not from your quote. We're paid the same whether you choose a A$129/month tool or a A$25,000 enterprise solution, which removes the structural incentive to push you toward higher-priced tiers.
How are featured providers selected?+
Featured placements are paid sponsorships and clearly labelled as such. Independent matching above the featured table is unpaid and based on sector fit, size, and risk profile from your matching form. Featured placements never displace independent matches — they sit beneath them, and the independent shortlist runs first.
Do you take a kickback if I sign up with a provider?+
Some providers opt into a single-digit success fee on the first sale, or a Founding Partner trailing percentage in return for category exclusivity. Both are paid by the provider out of their margin and disclosed in their partner agreement — they are never added to the price you pay. We disclose every revenue line publicly so anyone can sense-check the structural neutrality claim.
Is my data ever sold?+
No. The only parties who receive your details are the providers we match you to, and only after you submit the matching form. We don't sell, license or share your data with any third party — not data brokers, not marketing list builders, not analytics firms beyond the standard privacy-respecting product analytics needed to run the site.
What's the maximum a provider can pay you per lead?+
Lead pricing varies by vertical based on the lifetime value of a customer in that sector. Legal services and financial services lead prices are higher than bookkeeping or pubs and clubs because the underlying customer is worth more to the provider. Within a vertical, pricing is fixed — no auction, no per-deal bidding, no opportunity for a provider to outbid the genuinely best fit.
Why don't you just charge businesses a small fee instead?+
Two reasons. (1) Adoption: most Australian SMEs currently captured by Tranche 2 have never bought AML software before and won't pay to compare options before they understand the market. A free comparison platform is the lowest-friction way to help them. (2) Sustainability: provider revenue is more durable than one-off purchase fees from businesses, and lets us invest in deeper vetting and better content. The structural neutrality is what makes the model defensible.
What happens if a provider tries to influence my recommendation?+
It can't, because the matching logic is based on form inputs (sector, size, risk profile, capability) and provider attributes (sectors served, pricing band, support model) — not on lead spend or relationship strength. Providers don't see the matching algorithm, and we don't accept editorial requests on the comparison data. A provider trying to pressure for placement changes is a vetting red flag.
Can a provider pay to be vetted?+
No. Vetting is editorial — providers can apply to be assessed, but inclusion is decided by the five-gate methodology (AUSTRAC alignment, SME pricing, reference checks, AU support, data handling). Several providers have failed vetting and are not on the platform regardless of how much they were willing to spend on lead pricing. The vetted list is a credibility asset; selling entry would destroy it.
Still the cheapest path to compliance
You pay nothing to compare. Providers compete for your business on fit, not on what they're willing to pay us. Get matched in 60 seconds — no obligation, no card.