About the American Ranking Institute
The American Ranking Institute (AmRank) is an independent product-research organization. We rank consumer products on published evidence, and we score the companies behind them with the same rigor as the products themselves.
Our motto: Optima Sine Favore
Optima Sine Favore is Latin for “the best, without favor” (pronounced OP-tee-mah SEE-neh fah-VOH-reh). It is the line under the Institute’s seal, and it is an operating commitment, not a slogan. “Best” is defined by the published criteria in each category’s methodology, applied the same way to every product we screen. Commercial relationships are disclosed in the open. And paid placements, wherever they appear, are labeled and kept separate from ranking decisions — no payment moves a score, a position or an award. Recognizing the best, without bias — that is the whole of the Institute’s work, stated in three words.
The commitment resolves into three principles:
Pure meritocracy. The products at the top of a ranking earned their places strictly through data, performance and excellence — never by buying their way in, and never by borrowing the standing of a sibling model or a previous year. Every placement is earned by the product itself, on the current evidence.
Absolute impartiality. The Institute operates sine favore — without favor: no prejudice, bias or special treatment toward any product, whether it comes from the largest brand in the category or the smallest.
Objectivity. The evaluation is clinical and neutral. Criteria and scores are published, corrections are public, and no outside pressure or financial incentive influences an outcome.
Why an institute
Most rankings grade a product as if it fell from the sky. Buyers live with the whole purchase: the warranty claim, the support line, the part that must exist in year six. AmRank was founded to grade that whole purchase — which is why company accountability carries a quarter of every score, and why a failing company grade caps a product’s stars.
How we are organized
The Institute works through departments — Pets, Sleep, Home Tech, Mobility & Accessibility, Kitchen & Dining, Software & Digital Services, Home Office, Outdoor Living, and Wellness at Home. Every ranking is researched, scored and published on this site under one methodology and one product record, so the full evidence behind any ranking is always here, never scattered elsewhere.
How we are funded
Reader purchases made through links on our pages may earn the Institute a commission, at no additional cost to the reader. Funding never influences scores or order, and any paid placement on this site is labeled as advertising and sits outside the rankings; the full policy is in our Affiliate Disclosure.
Contact
The Institute reads its own mail. General inquiries go to [email protected]; advertising and partnership inquiries have their own addresses on our Contact page.