Methodology
How We Rank Providers
The default sort order
Three criteria, applied in strict sequence. Each one comes into play only when the criterion before it produces a tie.
01
Calculated total
Ascending
Lowest first. This is the full cost of a four-week supply including every mandatory fee, not the headline price. Providers sharing an identical total pass to the second criterion.
02
Checked time
Descending
Most recently verified first. Where two providers share a total, the one whose price we confirmed most recently ranks higher, because it carries less risk of having drifted since the check.
03
Provider name
Ascending
Alphabetical, A to Z. A deterministic final tie-break, so that two otherwise identical entries always resolve to the same order rather than shifting between page loads.
Because the final criterion is deterministic, the same underlying data always produces the same table. No part of the sequence is randomised, weighted, or personalised to the visitor.
Sponsored placements
Sponsored placements sit outside the organic table
Some providers pay for visibility on PenCompare. Where they do, the placement appears in its own clearly labelled area, above or alongside the comparison table and never inside it. Sponsored entries are not interleaved with organic rows, are not counted among them, and are not sorted by the three criteria above.
Paying for a placement buys position in that separate area and nothing else. It does not move a provider up the organic table, does not change a calculated total, and does not affect whether a provider appears in organic results at all. Every sponsored placement carries a visible label at the point it is shown, not only in this policy.