Review methodology
The documented, evidence-based framework applied to every platform review we publish.
Scope
Reviews assess how a product presents itself, what can be verified about it, and what risks a reader should understand. A review is not a recommendation, a suitability assessment, or a prediction of financial outcome.
Evidence we use
- Public regulatory registers and licence records, where a jurisdiction publishes them.
- Official documentation: terms of service, fee schedules, custody and asset-protection statements.
- Published security material: audits, bug-bounty programmes, proof-of-reserve statements and their limitations.
- On-chain and contract evidence for DeFi front-ends and protocols.
- Documented incident history, enforcement actions and public complaints where verifiable.
Assessment criteria
- Regulatory and jurisdictional status, and what it does and does not protect.
- Custody model and asset segregation claims.
- Security posture, including audit coverage and incident response history.
- Costs: spreads, commissions, funding, withdrawal and hidden conditions.
- Transparency: how clearly risks, fees and terms are disclosed.
- Product scope and access restrictions.
- Support and complaint handling evidence.
Scoring
Where a numeric score is shown, it summarises the criteria above on a 1 to 5 scale and reflects documented evidence at the review date. Scores are not comparable across product categories, and a high score is never an endorsement or an indication of expected returns.
Where evidence is insufficient, we publish the gap instead of inventing a score.
Disclosure
Zero Plus Finance may have financial affiliations with some of the brands it reviews. Affiliate and sponsored relationships never determine a review conclusion, and any commercial relationship relevant to a page is disclosed on that page.
Reviewed companies do not receive advance approval over review conclusions.
Re-review and corrections
Reviews are revisited when material facts change — regulatory status, ownership, fee structure, or a security incident. Readers who identify an inaccuracy can contact us using the details on the corrections page.