Editorial policy
How we rank, why you can trust it.
cs2apps.com is a curated directory of CS2 trading tools. The reviews, rankings, and verdicts you see here are written by a real person — a CS2 trader who actually tests these tools — and follow a documented process. This page exists so anyone reading the site knows where the editorial line is and where the commercial line is.
How we pick the tools we cover
A tool gets listed when it meets three bars: (1) it works on Counter-Strike 2 assets, not legacy CSGO-only data, (2) it’s publicly available — no Discord-only or invite-only beta tools, (3) we’ve loaded a real CS2 inventory into it (or used it on real items) within the last 90 days.
We don’t accept payment for inclusion. Tools owned by 83 Apps LLC (the operator of this site) are listed under the same bar as everything else, with a visible disclosure badge.
How we rank tools
Rankings on /best/ pages are ordered by editorial judgement against a fixed set of criteria for that category. We weigh: (a) breadth of CS2 coverage, (b) accuracy of the data we can verify, (c) UX, (d) freshness of the tool’s own data, and (e) public API or programmatic access where relevant.
We do not auto-rank our own tools at the top. If our tool is the best in a category by the criteria above, it ranks #1 — and we say so. If it’s #3 or unranked, that’s what shows up. The disclosure badge appears either way.
Re-verification
Every tool entry carries a lastVerified date. We re-test on a 90-day cycle. The full chronological log is at /updates/. An overdue tool gets flagged in the sidebar of its review page.
Affiliate relationships
Some outbound “Visit” buttons earn cs2apps.com a commission if you sign up or trade after clicking. Affiliate links go through /go/<tool> with rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" per Google’s sponsored-link policy.
Affiliate status never changes a tool’s ranking, never adds it to /best/ when it doesn’t deserve it, and never removes a con from a review. The full list of current relationships is on /disclosures/.
Sponsored placements
cs2apps.com sells a small number of clearly-labelled sponsored slots — see /advertise/ for inventory and rates. A sponsorship buys placement in a sponsor slot, never an editorial position. If a sponsor and an editorial pick appear on the same page, the editorial pick is unaffected by the sponsorship and the sponsor slot is visually distinct with a “Sponsored” label.
Tools owned by 83 Apps
No 83 Apps-owned products are currently listed on the directory. When that changes, every entry built by 83 Apps will carry a “Built by 83 Apps” badge linking back to this page.
Active affiliate relationships
No affiliate relationships are currently active. When that changes, the list will appear here and on /disclosures/.
Corrections & contact
Spot something wrong, biased, or out-of-date? Reach us on X or Discord and we’ll fix it. Substantive corrections get a dated note on the affected page.
This policy was last updated on 2026-05-06. Significant changes will be logged here with a date.