Consumer Reports - Shopping advice & product reviews

Experience the advantages of Consumer Reports through the new "AskCR" feature, which fuses advanced AI technology with reliable and impartial product evaluations. You can inquire about products ranging from vehicles to kitchen appliances and receive prompt, expert-informed responses to aid in your purchasing choices.

As an independent nonprofit entity, CR buys every item it tests and does not accept sponsorships, guaranteeing that you benefit from objective insights derived from comprehensive product analysis. Make well-informed purchases with reliable reviews, tailored suggestions, and professional buying guides.

What’s Included:

The Consumer Reports application is available for free download and provides immediate access to our expert Buying Guides.

By supporting Consumer Reports through a Membership, you will also unlock:

• Ratings and reviews for over 10,000 products and services

• The ability to browse by product or brand, showcasing the top and bottom ratings in each category

• Comparisons of products side-by-side

• AskCR, our innovative AI-driven advisor supplying expert insights at your convenience

• Options to save and organize items you're exploring for easy retrieval

• Personalized content and suggestions customized to your preferences

• Discover discounts with the Best Time to Buy calendar

• Compare prices and shop seamlessly with our online partners

Deal Finding and Price Comparison

Best Time to Buy Calendar: The Best Time to Buy calendar helps members find deals and know the optimal time to make a purchase. This can lead to significant savings.

Price Comparison: The app allows members to compare prices and shop with online partners. This ensures that they get the best deals and make cost-effective choices.

App and Online Access

Free Download: The Consumer Reports app is free to download, providing instant access to expert Buying Guides. This makes it easy for users to start exploring the app and its features.

Online Platform: A membership also gives full access to Consumer Reports Online. The online platform offers additional tools and benefits, further simplifying product decisions and helping users make smarter choices for their families.

Brand Introduction

Our Mission

Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit member organization that works side by side with consumers for truth, transparency, and fairness in the marketplace.

Consumer Reports works to create a fair and just marketplace for all. As a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit member organization, CR empowers and informs consumers, incentivizes corporations to act responsibly, and helps policymakers prioritize the rights and interests of consumers in order to shape a truly consumer-driven marketplace.

Consumer Reports was founded in 1936 at a time when consumers had very few options to gauge the value, quality, or authenticity of goods and services. It was an era of unfettered advertising claims, rapid technological progress, and patchwork regulations—so CR was created to equip people with the credible, trustworthy information they needed to make informed choices. Over time, CR’s findings shaped purchasing decisions, and regulators and manufacturers began to heed our voice and the needs and interests of consumers.

CR remains a trusted source because our rigorous, independent testing and research still creates a marketplace built on credible information, greater transparency, and fairness. Our investigative journalism, advocacy, and digital testing empower consumers, inform people’s purchasing decisions, influence businesses to improve the products and services they deliver, and strengthen norms, laws, and regulations through science, evidence, and data.

In this era of momentous change and upheaval, consumers continue to rely on us to shine a trusted light on the shifting landscape of the marketplace—and ensure that rapid innovation and consumer safety go hand in hand. As the digital age accelerates, there has never been a more important time for consumers to be empowered with trustworthy knowledge and expert insights. In today’s rapidly evolving world, what we do at Consumer Reports must be as transformative and groundbreaking as the new technologies, products and services entering people’s lives every day.

We are passionate about our work because we know how much is at stake for you. We succeed in our mission every time your family gets a little bit safer, your finances get more secure, new technologies get more trustworthy, and the future gets that much brighter. As we work with consumers to ensure a future that meets their needs, we are focusing on four specific areas to pursue positive change in the marketplace: Safety, Sustainability, Financial Fairness, and Digital Rights.

Today, CR is still an independent nonprofit with more than 6 million members who fight with their voices and choices for a fair and just marketplace—one that is responsive and resilient enough to deliver trust to consumers no matter what changes come their way.

Digital Rights

We control our personal data, including how it’s shared and used.

In a world where software shapes and powers our lives, CR can help people reclaim agency, demand better from platform-based businesses, and ensure that innovation is a force for human advancement, creativity, and freedom. 

People love the benefits of the digital world, but just 9 percent of people believe they have “a lot of control” over the information that is collected about them, even as 74 percent say “it is very important to be in control.” This points to a disconnect between supply and demand: Consumers’ expectations are not being served in the marketplace. But because of the complexity of the issue, people feel powerless. It is not merely that people’s data is extracted and used without their understanding, consent, or control; it’s how this data is used to manipulate behaviors, exploit cognitive biases, and power automated decision-making by opaque algorithms, which disproportionately harm low-income consumers and communities of color.

In a time of social distancing, almost every aspect of our lives has become digital. And while local shops, restaurants, and other services are shuttered, the largest platform-based businesses are devouring their customers and jobs—further concentrating economic power and market domination.

CR will work with its coalition partners to reshape the terms of the digital marketplace in consumers’ favor. In 2018, CR was a part of a coalition to aid the passage of the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act, the nation’s first comprehensive privacy bill. The momentum from this victory has created a window for us to spearhead a larger coalition to pass additional reforms and protections—including a much-needed federal privacy law. CR will also scale up product testing and partnerships through the Digital Standard, working with manufacturers to shape the design of connected products and services, and enabling them to compete and differentiate on emerging consumer values such as privacy and fairness. Finally, CR will launch innovative products and services that help people control their data and exercise their data privacy rights.

To model our values, we are working to improve the data privacy experience of our own members and users. Specifically, we are rewriting our privacy policies so that they are clear and concise, building digital products that collect and retain only the minimal data necessary, and  introducing an easy-to-understand interface for consumers to exercise their right to access or delete their personal information. And as our journey continues, we hope to share our experience to help others with theirs.

In a world where software shapes and powers our lives, CR can help people reclaim agency, demand better from platform-based businesses, and ensure that innovation is a force for human advancement, creativity, and freedom. We are uniquely positioned to drive change and contribute to mainstreaming understanding and awareness of the need to preserve competition, choice, and agency in the marketplace.

Financial Fairness

We use financial products and services that augment our economic well-being.

In a fair and just economy, we all have access to the resources and services we need to build a financially safe, secure and stable life.

From hidden costs and confusing terms and conditions to exploitative and predatory practices, consumers can find it difficult to protect what they earn and make informed decisions about what to do with their money. In the digital marketplace, technological innovation is creating new products and services that may bring convenience but also create unseen risks and consequences. The scale and breadth of the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19 has exposed an even broader swath of consumers to financial hardship and fragility, and has demonstrated the depth of structural problems and the need for consumer protection.

CR’s strategy will focus on three goals. First, we will advocate for consumers to emerge from the economic crisis unharmed, particularly consumers of color who have been disproportionately impacted: whether managing auto or student loans, mortgages or credit card debt, no consumers should face a greater debt burden or damaged credit scores due to forces out of their control.

Second, we will strengthen foundational consumer protections where our efforts can have the most impact. CR will sustain its long commitment to and engagement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seeking to reverse a trend of weakening government oversight. We will also work to expand protections in states through model laws and regulatory protections in California, New York, and elsewhere.

Third, we will ensure financial protections are applied and enforced equally in the digital marketplace. Regulators and advocates are stymied by the complexity of digital finance, and powerful corporations argue that consumer protections limit innovation and wealth creation. CR has developed respected in-house expertise on digital transactions, which, coupled with our capacity to test, enables us to speak with authority about the consumer harms embedded in digital finance. We must ensure that digital financial tools help consumers, emerging harms are not normalized, and old biases are not replicated in new products. Our success will be defined by our ability to build partnerships with young, diverse consumers who are acutely aware of the ways in which technology and data are being used against them.

Safety

We have confidence that the products and services we buy and use are safe.

We will ensure that innovation and consumer safety go hand in hand.

In the COVID-19 era, we are sharply reminded that public health and safety are the foundation of a functioning society, and both government and the private sector have critical roles to play. We can provide clear and accessible information to help consumers manage day-to-day risks; call out price-gouging, deception, and scams involving products and services; and advocate to ensure that our food supply remains safe. As we mourn the loss of hundreds of thousands of Americans to the coronavirus, we must also act on the highly preventable deaths and injuries generated by failures in the marketplace each year, and, in particular, ensure that our homes are truly a safe haven for all ages.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data preceding the COVID-19 pandemic showed unintentional injuries as the third leading cause of death in the U.S., following only heart disease and cancer, and a top cause of death for those under 45. In recent years, car crashes have accounted for at least 36,000 deaths and 2.7 million injuries per year, while incidents involving consumer products are tied to at least 8,000 deaths and 15.5 million emergency room visits per year. Foodborne illnesses leave 3,000 people dead, 128,000 hospitalized, and 48 million people sick each year.

Consumers often bear the burden of protecting themselves and paying the hidden economic costs of marketplace harm. Many companies see safety as a cost driver or as an opportunity to charge a premium for new features. Weak government oversight and the underfunding of key agencies undermine legal protections, which are opposed by a well-resourced industry. Legal redress for consumers is slow and costly, and frequently hides risks from public view.

Safety has been a hallmark of CR’s work for decades: We bring the capacity to lead on multiple issues while leveraging the reach and political diversity of our members. With these strengths in mind, CR will establish a new standard for safety across the marketplaces for transportation, home products, and food through strong mandatory rules and voluntary standards, partnerships, consumer demand (including our ratings), and public pressure. We will also work to strengthen the nation’s core safety agencies, with a legislative focus on reforming the Consumer Product Safety Commission. And we will ensure that innovation and consumer safety go hand in hand.

Sustainability

We reduce the impact of consumption on the environment and public health.

We have the opportunity to bend the curve of consumption toward a sustainable future.

The nation has failed to put the marketplace on track to avoid catastrophic climate change, which requires limiting warming to 1.5°C and attaining carbon neutrality by 2050—a failure that will cost our country catastrophic loss of human life and as much as $500 billion a year by the middle of the century. Transportation is the leading cause of climate pollution and a top contributor of other air pollutants that result in nearly 100,000 U.S. deaths per year. Companies have few incentives to build for durability or factor in the full environmental cost of production, distribution, use, and disposal, and the online marketplace has amplified these harms. A lack of government leadership on a national and global scale, resulting in part from strong corporate power, is inhibiting political solutions.

The American public now recognizes the real threat of climate change, and it’s the top concern for millennials and Gen Zers. However, consumers struggle to evaluate the sustainability of products and services and the total cost of ownership, even as they face higher household costs (for food, home insurance, healthcare, and utilities). Low-income families and communities of color are disproportionately affected by extreme weather events, exposure to air pollutants, and a lack of cost-effective sustainable choices. Not surprisingly, Latinos and African Americans have a stronger-than-average interest in addressing climate change.

CR will build the partnerships needed to scope, define, and advance a strategy that could focus on any number of issues, from carbon emissions to air and water quality to plastics and other toxic waste. The strategy will leverage CR’s traditional strengths while exploring opportunities to develop new products and services that provide benefits to members while driving impact. We will prioritize markets and industries where durability and total cost of ownership have a nexus with lower emissions, lower waste, and lower cost.

While spurring others to aim higher, we must also measure and reduce our own carbon footprint. Our passionate staff has already identified measures to reduce plastic and other waste in our facilities, and we have invested heavily in our infrastructure and our cultural capacity for working remotely to reduce commuting and travel. This is the beginning of our own sustainability journey.

We have a track record of promoting energy and fuel efficiency through ratings and policy, and we are committed to bringing the full power of CR to address climate change and environmental issues more broadly. We have the opportunity to bend the curve of consumption toward a sustainable future and to build a bridge to the young and diverse members who will shape consumer issues in the next half-century.

Comments

Update 5/22: I was contacted by a developer and told my monthly subscription will run through the paid thru date. I logged back in and find it IS still active and good for another few days. I obviously misunderstood the terms...for like the third or fourth time. :-/ I have bumped my rating to 5 stars. Thank you for contacting me!! By the way, CR was a huge part of my decision to buy a Mazda CX5 and I love it!! Initial review: Why does my subscription term on the day I term with a message it will run through the end of the already paid period if only I wait to term on that date? I need to term before that date because I will be out of the country on that date and don’t want to have to mess with terming CR. You should just give me what I paid for without trying to get an extra monthly fee because I miss the date. I love CR and turn my subscription on and off as needed. I would give you 5 stars except for your cancellation policy.

I really like Consumer Reports and their unbiased reviews. Having said that, I’m disappointed in the somewhat narrow scope of products that they cover, particularly when it comes to every day items. It seems like every time I go to enter a product type (toothpaste, for example), there aren’t any reviews for it. And yet, I know for a fact that Consumer Reports has published reviews on whitening toothpastes in the past, because I specifically bought their recommended brand for years and years after reading it! Either the app should allow us to read past reviews, or the current number of product reviews should be greatly expanded beyond big ticket items like appliances. I’ll enjoy having content access for a year, but I can’t justify renewing an annual membership to read about household purchases I might make every 5-10 years when so few of the things that I use daily aren’t going to be covered.

It is an excellent app for both from-home shopping and in-store shopping; always having product ratings easily accessible makes a significant difference, especially when making major purchases that cost thousands of dollars. consumer reports vice a truly awesome service that I have found to be easily accessible and dependable. Over more years than I’d care to admit, I have found CR to be a huge time saver especially when making a major purchase. Although no rating service can be guaranteed, I have found that, for the most part, CR has been an extremely reliable resource that I have come to depend on when deciding on what will be the most practical, reputable, and well-made product before I pick up the phone or head out the door.

I’m a subscriber and I appreciate the hard work behind the ratings and objective reviews, but the app needs more features. I get the CR newsletter with all sorts of intriguing consumer rights, protections, tips, and tricks, but generally avoid clicking links in emails out of an abundance of security caution and don’t want to browse to a site on a phone. I want to be able to interact with all that great content after authenticating as a part of a more secure experience. Please expand functionality of app for a more complete and secure member experience. (Update) I would also be much more likely to participate in the surveys if I could click through the app to do so. The segmentation of the review component from the broader CR content is disjointed and very counterintuitive. Please bring both sides under same umbrella. (Update 2, 31 Mar 20) Segmentation behind the reviews in the app and all the consumer facing advice still persists; please combine the two CR sides.