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Methodology & about · policy in effect since 2026

How this site does its homework.

SimCosts is a research publication, not a review lab. That's a deliberate position, not a limitation being worked around — and this page is the contract that comes with it.

Nobody sends us anything. There's no warehouse of comped gear. Every analysis reads the spec sheets, verifies the prices, cites the owners who actually have one, and does the math. Most simulator sites review units the manufacturer chose to send them — our authority costs nothing to keep and nothing for a reader to buy.

The research standards

Every claim on this site is one of four kinds, and each kind carries its own rule.

  1. Specs

    Published data, compared side by side

    Specifications come from manufacturer documentation, cited by revision and retrieval date. Where an independent published study exists — an accuracy comparison, a teardown — it's cited next to the claim it checks. When a spec can't be corroborated, that's stated in the text.

  2. Prices

    Verified, dated, and all-in

    Every price is a retailer listing checked directly, stamped with the month it was checked. All-in build totals get published — monitor, screen, mat, software, cables — because "starting at" numbers are how this industry lies without lying.

  3. Owner experience

    Sourced from forums, and cited

    This site doesn't own these products, so it never describes using them. What owners report comes from forum threads and owner groups, presented as theirs, with thread counts and dates. A theme needs multiple independent reports before it appears here.

  4. Judgment

    Math shown, assumptions stated

    Verdicts are arithmetic on the first three kinds: cost-per-round, break-even points, ceiling clearances. When a verdict rests on an assumption — rounds per year, green fee — the assumption is printed next to the number so it can be rerun with different inputs.

What we never do

  • Claim hands-on testing, ever. If you see "we tested" on this site, it's a bug — report it.

  • Accept free or discounted units, sponsored placements, or paid rankings.

  • Let commission rates touch a verdict. A top budget pick and a top overall pick both earned their spot on merit, not payout.

  • Publish a price without a verification date, or leave a stale one standing past a quarterly re-check.

  • Use urgency theater: no countdowns, no "only 2 left," no popups.

How the site makes money

Affiliate commissions from the retailers our links point to — PlayBetter, Rain or Shine Golf, Shop Indoor Golf, Top Shelf Golf, Garmin, Rapsodo, Carl's Place. If you buy through a link, the retailer pays a percentage. Your price doesn't change.

That's the whole model. It's also why every money page discloses it near the top instead of only in the footer: a business model you have to hunt for reads like one you should worry about.

“If you buy through our links we may earn a commission. It never affects the math.”
Charles McQuain

Charles McQuain

Research & Math

SimCosts is a research publication, not a review lab: published specs, verified/dated prices, and forum-sourced owner reports — never comped review units.

Why this site exists: I'm the reader, a few hundred hours ahead of you. I started this research the way most buyers do — planning a sim room, opening a dozen tabs, and finding that every guide quoted the same marketing copy without ever stating what the whole thing costs. So I built the spreadsheet myself, then kept going, because the spreadsheet turned out to be the thing the internet was missing. This site is that homework, published as it gets done.

Corrections

Material errors — a wrong price, a misread spec, a miscalculated total — are corrected in the text and logged with a date and what changed. The log is public.

Read the correction log

Contact

Found an error? Own one of the products covered here? Corrections make the site better, and owner reports make it possible.

hello@simcosts.com