Live Historic
The Others
Who else scores a story.
Read October 31, 2026. A blank we could not fill says “not published.” We do not invent a review count, a membership, or a chart. Each name below is their site.
How we beat each feature
Their feature, then how this desk does that job better. The link opens our version.
Common Sense
www.commonsensemedia.orgAn age, and the age is the judgment.
We set the ages in this house and hide what is too old. The number is still the judgment. An age is not.
AgesStars for quality.
A star is a mood. Ours is 0 to 100, from the same eight questions every time.
The scoreA grid for sex, language, and violence.
We do not invent those counts. The review names the thin virtues before the essay, so you see the trouble without a lecture.
The reviewsComments from parents and kids.
This house writes one sentence after the film. It stays on this phone. It is not a public pile-on.
What we sawLists of what to watch.
Your list is the titles this house saved. Best scores is the top of the desk.
My listA curriculum for schools.
One fact from 1776, then one question for the show. A family can use it tonight. A class can too.
1776
Plugged In
www.pluggedin.comA long review of the scenes.
The eight marks are a row of numbers above the essay. You get the count before the write-up.
How we scoreWhat is good, and what is spiritual.
Piety is one of the eight, scored like the rest. It is not a denomination test.
The eightA question for after the film.
After the credits is one question, taken from the thin virtue, on the review itself.
After the credits
Movieguide
www.movieguide.orgAn acceptability rating.
The words sit under the picture. Sit with it. Leave it. Or watch it awake.
Sit or leaveA separate quality score.
One number does both jobs. You do not have to reconcile two scores.
One numberA moral reading you can quote.
Copy the verdict. Say that sentence, not the essay.
Copy the verdictBox office as proof.
A film is not better because it made money. We score the story. The companies page shows who owns the shelf.
The companiesAn awards night in Hollywood.
We do not throw a dinner for the industry. Best scores is the list. The number does not move for a guest.
Best scores
Dove
dove.orgA yes or a no, and a seal.
Eighty and above is sit with it. Under 45 is leave it. The words are on the picture.
The sealEight content marks, 0 to 5.
Our eight are the virtues, 0 to 10, and they make the number. Content is not a second system.
The eight questions
Kids-in-Mind
kids-in-mind.comScreenwise
screenwiseapp.comA score bent to your family.
The review says who this phone is set for. Change the ages and the shelf follows.
This phoneA paid plan for the full score.
The number is free. A gift keeps the desk open. Nothing is locked.
Give
Rotten Tomatoes
www.rottentomatoes.comA critic percent before the plot.
The score is the first line under the title. It is not a percent of critics.
Number firstAn audience score.
We do not add a crowd beside the number. What this house saw is one sentence, on this phone.
This houseA trailer and a ticket.
The number comes before the trailer. Where to watch is on the review. We do not sell the seat.
Watch
Metacritic
www.metacritic.comA 0 to 100 average of critics.
People know a hundred. Ours is not an average. Eight questions, one house. We say so under the score.
Not a crowdA user score next to the critics.
A public user score can be brigaded. Ours stays on the device.
On this phone
IMDb
www.imdb.comA page for almost every title.
Search the desk. If it is not scored, press Score. You get a number, not a trivia page.
SearchA Parents Guide written by strangers.
The thin virtues are named before you press play. You do not scroll past a cast list to find them.
The glanceWhere to watch, after the rating.
Where to watch sits on the review, after the number, not instead of it.
Where to watchCast, trivia, and a user rating.
Trivia is not the judgment. The score is first. The essay is there if you want it.
The review
Their sites, and what they offer
- Common Sense
www.commonsensemedia.org
Age, stars, and a grid for violence, sex, language, drinking, and products. Parent and kid comments. Lists. A school curriculum. The glance. A parent can see sex, language, and violence without reading the essay.
On this desk. The review names the thin virtues before the essay. We still do not invent a sex or violence count.
- Plugged In
www.pluggedin.com
A long review: content, the good, the spiritual, and what to talk about after. The talk after. They tell you what to ask when the credits roll.
On this desk. After the credits is one question, taken from the thin virtue.
- Movieguide
www.movieguide.org
An acceptability rating, a quality rating, and a moral reading. Box-office notes. An awards list. A verdict a person can repeat, and they show up in the industry that makes the films.
On this desk. Copy the verdict. Say that, not the essay.
- Dove
dove.org
Approved or not. Eight content marks from 0 to 5, then a seal. Yes or no. A grandparent can see it across the room.
On this desk. The words sit under the picture. Sit with it. Leave it. Or watch it awake.
- Kids-in-Mind
kids-in-mind.com
Sex, violence, and language, each from 0 to 10, plus a written list of what is in the film. Fast, specific, and they do not preach.
On this desk. The eight marks are a row of numbers above the essay.
- Screenwise
screenwiseapp.com
A 0 to 100 score they call WISE: wholesome, imaginative, safe, enriching. They say it can be set to your family. The score can change for the family in the room.
On this desk. The review says who this phone is set for, and links to the ages.
- Rotten Tomatoes
www.rottentomatoes.com
A critic percent, an audience percent, a trailer, and a ticket. The number is there before the plot, and everyone already knows where to look.
On this desk. The score is the first line under the title, before the essay.
- Metacritic
www.metacritic.com
A 0 to 100 average of critics, plus a user score. Films, shows, games, music. A hundred-point scale people already understand. They say it is an average, and it is.
On this desk. Under the score: not an average of critics. Eight questions, one house.
- IMDb
www.imdb.com
Cast, trivia, a user score, where to watch, and a Parents Guide of sex, violence, and fright written by people who watched. The person who watched can leave a plain account of what was in the film.
On this desk. What we saw is one sentence, saved on this phone, and shown the next time that title comes up in search.
Hold one next to us
Age and content, for parents.
Common Sense
Reviews
1,247 titles on this desk. A new one is scored when a house is about to meet it. We do not publish a running total of essays.
Reviews
No single public total. They rate movies, TV, games, books, apps, podcasts, and websites for ages 2 to 18.
Reach
A free site. No published audience yet. We will not invent one.
Reach
The desk parents already know. 159 employees in the 2024 filing. Used by press, schools, and libraries.
Over time
No public series. When we have a year of use, we will print it.
Over time
Revenue $34.0 million in 2023, $38.0 million in 2024. Expenses ran ahead of revenue in 2024.
Funding
Gifts. No studio pays to move a score.
Funding
2024: $24.7 million in gifts, $12.9 million from program services. Named funders include Craig Newmark, the Sherwood Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Carnegie.
Ties
Not a church. Not a government office. The questions are what a household was taught to ask.
Ties
A secular 501(c)(3). Government grants were $20,285 in 2024, under a tenth of one percent. They also lobby on children's privacy.
Associations
None of the ministries and none of the studios.
Associations
Schools, libraries, and foundations. A census of children's media use that reporters quote.
What you can do
Search, get a number from 0 to 100, see the thin virtue, read the review, ask the desk, keep a list. No streaming password.
What you can do
Age, stars, and a grid for violence, sex, language, drinking, and products. Parent and kid comments. Lists. A school curriculum.
How they are paid
Free. A gift keeps the desk open.
How they are paid
Free to a parent. Money from gifts and from selling programs to schools.
Who it is for
A house, before anyone presses play.
Who it is for
A parent picking for a child, or a teacher.
Membership
No account required. A house name stays on the device.
Membership
A free account for saving and commenting. The reviews are open.
What they do well
One judgment, said as a number, before the evening starts.
What they do well
The glance. A parent can see sex, language, and violence without reading the essay.
The whole board
Each rival is a column. Slide sideways. The first column stays put.
| Live HistoricA number before play. | Common SenseAge and content, for parents. | Plugged InFocus on the Family. | MovieguideA Christian film desk. | DoveA family seal. | Kids-in-MindThree counts. No sermon. | ScreenwiseA newer family score. | Rotten TomatoesA crowd's percent. | MetacriticCritics, averaged. | IMDbAmazon's catalog. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 1,247 titles on this desk. A new one is scored when a house is about to meet it. We do not publish a running total of essays. | No single public total. They rate movies, TV, games, books, apps, podcasts, and websites for ages 2 to 18. | No public total. Movies, TV, games, music, books, and some online video, written as full reviews. | No public total. Movies and some television, plus news and an awards night. | An older GuideStar profile said about 500 movies a year. That figure is self-reported and may be stale. Do not treat it as this year's count. | No public total. Films, mostly, scored as three numbers. | Not published. | They do not publish an official total. A 2025 crawl of their movie pages came to about 225,000. That is pages, not reviews we wrote. | Not published as one number. Films, shows, games, and music, each an average of critic scores. | Not a review desk in our sense. A page for almost every title, plus a Parents Guide written by users. |
| Reach | A free site. No published audience yet. We will not invent one. | The desk parents already know. 159 employees in the 2024 filing. Used by press, schools, and libraries. | One program inside a large ministry. Not the whole of Focus on the Family. | They claim more than 69 million people a year across TV, radio, the site, and social. That is their claim, not an audited count. | A seal on films and a website. No published audience. | A small independent site. No published audience. | Not published. | The number a person checks before a ticket. Official monthly visits are not published by them. | Owned by Fandom. Fandom.com had 814.6 million visits in August 2026. That is the network, not Metacritic alone. | 664.3 million visits in August 2026, up 38% on the year. Similarweb. |
| Over time | No public series. When we have a year of use, we will print it. | Revenue $34.0 million in 2023, $38.0 million in 2024. Expenses ran ahead of revenue in 2024. | The ministry, not the review desk: $142.7 million in the year ended September 2024, $138.3 million the next year. | Good News Communications, the nonprofit behind the site: contributions rose from $2.6 million to $3.3 million between the 2024 and 2025 filings. | No clean public series for the review desk. Do not borrow another Dove foundation's tax return. | Not published. | Not published. | Owned by Fandango since 2016. In January 2026 Fandango's majority owner became Versant, spun out of Comcast. Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rest. | Launched 2001. Sold through CNET, CBS, and Red Ventures. Fandom bought it in October 2022, inside a bundle. | Amazon has owned it for years. The visit count above is the recent point, not a chart. |
| Funding | Gifts. No studio pays to move a score. | 2024: $24.7 million in gifts, $12.9 million from program services. Named funders include Craig Newmark, the Sherwood Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Carnegie. | Donors to Focus on the Family. Contributions were $113.7 million of the ministry's $138.3 million in 2025. Plugged In is not broken out. | Donations. A $500,000 sponsorship of the awards from Culture Wise Studies is on the grant list. Program service revenue was about $499,000. | They say they do not take operating money from the film industry. A full current filing for dove.org was not pinned down here. | Not published. A small independent desk. | Not published. The product has a free tier and a paid one. | Not published on its own. Money comes through Fandango: tickets, ads, and the studios' parent companies. | Not published on its own. Fandom sells ads and commerce. The 2022 bundle was reported at about $55 million for several sites, not Metacritic alone. | Amazon does not publish IMDb's revenue. IMDbPro is the paid product. The site also runs ads. |
| Ties | Not a church. Not a government office. The questions are what a household was taught to ask. | A secular 501(c)(3). Government grants were $20,285 in 2024, under a tenth of one percent. They also lobby on children's privacy. | Evangelical Christian. Part of Focus on the Family. They do not file a Form 990. They are an ECFA member. | Christian. A 501(c)(3) ministry of Good News Communications. Ted Baehr founded it in 1985. Not a government office. | Christian nonprofit, started in the early 1990s. The seal is their religious and family standard. Not a government rating. | Neither. No church. No state. | Neither, on the public page. A private product. | Neither. Owned by media companies that also make and sell the films. | Neither. A commercial site inside Fandom. | Neither. Owned by Amazon. |
| Associations | None of the ministries and none of the studios. | Schools, libraries, and foundations. A census of children's media use that reporters quote. | Focus on the Family, and the rest of that ministry: radio, magazines, counseling. | An annual Faith and Values awards night in Hollywood. Fellows in the summer. | A Family-Approved seal that films can carry. Older ties to family-film sellers have been questioned. | None of note. | Not published. | Fandango, Versant, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the theaters that sell tickets. | Fandom, and before that Red Ventures, CBS, and CNET. | Amazon, Prime Video, and IMDbPro. |
| What you can do | Search, get a number from 0 to 100, see the thin virtue, read the review, ask the desk, keep a list. No streaming password. | Age, stars, and a grid for violence, sex, language, drinking, and products. Parent and kid comments. Lists. A school curriculum. | A long review: content, the good, the spiritual, and what to talk about after. | An acceptability rating, a quality rating, and a moral reading. Box-office notes. An awards list. | Approved or not. Eight content marks from 0 to 5, then a seal. | Sex, violence, and language, each from 0 to 10, plus a written list of what is in the film. | A 0 to 100 score they call WISE: wholesome, imaginative, safe, enriching. They say it can be set to your family. | A critic percent, an audience percent, a trailer, and a ticket. | A 0 to 100 average of critics, plus a user score. Films, shows, games, music. | Cast, trivia, a user score, where to watch, and a Parents Guide of sex, violence, and fright written by people who watched. |
| How they are paid | Free. A gift keeps the desk open. | Free to a parent. Money from gifts and from selling programs to schools. | Free to read. Paid by donors to the ministry. | Free to read. Paid by donors, sponsorships, and a little program income. | Free to read. A seal and gifts. The split is not published cleanly. | Free. How the desk is paid is not published. | Free to start. A paid plan for the full product. | Free to read. The money is tickets, ads, and the owners. | Free to read. Ads, inside Fandom. | Free to read. IMDbPro is paid. Amazon owns the rest. |
| Who it is for | A house, before anyone presses play. | A parent picking for a child, or a teacher. | A Christian parent who wants the scenes named and a biblical reading. | A Christian family, and the industry people they invite to the awards. | A family that wants a yes or a no. | A parent who wants the counts and will make the call. | A parent who wants the score bent toward that child. | Anyone deciding whether a film is liked. | Anyone who wants critics in one number, especially for games. | Anyone looking up a title. Parents use the guide when they think of it. |
| Membership | No account required. A house name stays on the device. | A free account for saving and commenting. The reviews are open. | No paywall on the reviews. | They ask for donors and prayer partners. The reviews are open. | No paywall found. | No membership. | An account, then a paid tier. | A free account. A ticket can verify an audience review. | A free account for a user score. | A free account. IMDbPro is the paid membership. |
| What they do well | One judgment, said as a number, before the evening starts. | The glance. A parent can see sex, language, and violence without reading the essay. | The talk after. They tell you what to ask when the credits roll. | A verdict a person can repeat, and they show up in the industry that makes the films. | Yes or no. A grandparent can see it across the room. | Fast, specific, and they do not preach. | The score can change for the family in the room. | The number is there before the plot, and everyone already knows where to look. | A hundred-point scale people already understand. They say it is an average, and it is. | The person who watched can leave a plain account of what was in the film. |
What to take
Copy the job, not the costume. If we already do it, make it easier to see.
Common Sense
They do this well. A parent sees the trouble without reading the essay.
We take this. The review names the thin virtues before the essay. We still do not invent a sex or violence count.
On the desk
Plugged In
They do this well. The review ends with what to say after.
We take this. After the credits is one question, taken from the thin virtue.
On the desk
Movieguide
They do this well. A verdict a person can repeat.
We take this. Copy the verdict. Say that, not the essay.
On the desk
Dove
They do this well. Yes or no, big enough to see.
We take this. The words sit under the picture. Sit with it. Leave it. Or watch it awake.
On the desk
Kids-in-Mind
They do this well. Fast numbers, no sermon.
We take this. The eight marks are a row of numbers above the essay.
On the desk
Screenwise
They do this well. The answer can fit the ages in the house.
We take this. The review says who this phone is set for, and links to the ages.
On the desk
Rotten Tomatoes
They do this well. The number comes before the plot.
We take this. The score is the first line under the title, before the essay.
On the desk
Metacritic
They do this well. People know what a number out of 100 means.
We take this. Under the score: not an average of critics. Eight questions, one house.
On the desk
IMDb
They do this well. Someone who watched can say what was in it.
We take this. What we saw is one sentence, saved on this phone, and shown the next time that title comes up in search.
On the desk
How a feature gets on the desk
- Watch one rival do one job. Write the job in a sentence.
- Ask if a house can use it before play. If it only helps after, or only helps the company, leave it.
- Ask if we already do it. If yes, make it easier to see. Do not build a second one.
- If we do not, build the smallest piece that uses a number we already have. No new claim without a source.
- Use it on one title. Keep it if a person can say the result out loud. Drop it if it needs an account, a password, or a lecture.
Do not copy an age as the whole judgment, a church's name on the score, a crowd's percent, a paid lock, or a streaming password.
Sources
- Common Sense Media, Form 990 for the year ended December 2024. Revenue $37,978,651. Contributions $24,672,601. Program services $12,856,927. Government grants $20,285. Employees 159. Filed with the IRS; Cause IQ records it received November 6, 2025.
- Focus on the Family, annual report for the year ended September 30, 2025. Support and revenue $138,275,135. Contributions $113,717,665. The culture line in that report is $3.5 million. Plugged In is inside the ministry. It is not that whole sum. They do not file a Form 990.
- Good News Communications, the nonprofit behind Movieguide. Cause IQ, year ended August 2025. Revenue $3,802,574. Contributions $3,312,688. Employees 21. The 69 million figure is Movieguide's own claim.
- Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: owned by Fandango, a joint venture of Versant and Warner Bros. Discovery. The 225,000 movie pages are from a 2025 crawl, not an official total.
- Similarweb, August 2026. imdb.com, 664.3 million visits, up 38% on the year. fandom.com, 814.6 million visits. That second number is Fandom, not Metacritic.
- Metacritic was bought by Fandom in October 2022, inside a bundle of sites reported at about $55 million.
- Dove and Kids-in-Mind do not have a clean current public count or revenue in the sources used here. Screenwise has not published a review count, a revenue, or a traffic figure.
The eight questions are on How we score. A gift is on Give.