Quality of results/rates shown:
Number of results:
Spam risk:
Option to sell you a policy:
How results are generated:
For each car insurance comparison website we review, we evaluate several factors including user experience, risk of spam, the variety and relevancy of results, and more. We tested and evaluated results for 3 different driver profiles. The opinions expressed below are based on this experience as well as our team’s knowledge of the insurance comparison industry. Our editorial team follows a rigorous editorial policy and works independently from our insurance partners. Read more.
Value Penguin is a website that claims to help simplify the complicated process of shopping for insurance. It’s a lead generation insurance comparison site, which means that its quiz results are generated based on its sponsorships at the time.
Value Penguin promises to offer you “expert analyses to help you save time and maximize your savings.”
Value Penguin works by guiding you through a short quiz where they gather information including your age, gender, location, vehicle make and model, and more. Based on your answers, they will match you with one of their insurance partners. Whether the partner you are matched with is an actual insurance provider or another comparison site depends on your information and their partners at the time.
On Value Penguin’s homepage, it explains that the tool works by having experts who do the hard work for you by “simplifying complex terminology and highlighting the key issues, so you can understand your coverage better.” Value Penguin also states that they are backed by pricing data from “hundreds of financial institutions across the country.”
Value Penguin makes money in two ways. The primary way they make money is through commissions their advertising partners pay them when users visit their site through Value Penguin.
However, based on our testing and knowledge of the insurance comparison industry, we suspect they also make money through the sale of lead data to insurance providers and other comparison sites that they work with. Lead data is the information that you enter during the quiz, and the selling of this data may make these sites an above average risk for spam phone calls, emails, text massages, and more.
It is important to note that Value Penguin has a section on their homepage stating, “we value your security and don’t sell your data to spammers.”
Pros of Value Penguin:
Cons of Value Penguin:
Find the Right Car Insurance for You
When I first landed on the homepage, the first thing I took note of was the header. Value Penguin’s stated, “find clarity in your financial decisions” which gave me the impression that this site was about more than just insurance comparison. Moving further down the page, I saw that my assumption was correct as Value Penguin features several research studies that the company has completed. These studies include how much car insurance has increased in 2023, the percentage of drivers that saved money by switching their insurance company, and the percentage of Americans that don’t have health insurance.
Another thing that caught my attention was that Value Penguin said they do not sell your data to spammers.
The quiz starts by asking questions such as my age and zip code. The site also asked for information about the vehicle or vehicles I was looking to insure including their make, model, and year.
When I clicked on Value Penguin’s auto insurance quiz, I was brought to a new page that contained more in-depth car insurance stats and information. I thought this was a nice touch as it made me trust that they had done the research needed to find me the cheapest rate.
The quiz took about 5 minutes for me to complete, which seems to be the average amount of time for insurance comparison tools like Value Penguin. Furthermore, it displayed a progress bar at the top of the page during the quiz so that I always knew how close I was to seeing my rates.
One aspect of these tool that I did not like was that it required contact information before I could proceed to see my results. At first, I thought it would just require my email address, however, the following page asked for my phone number as well. This made me feel a little uneasy and definitely made the risk of spam feel greater.
Lastly, I noticed that there was fine print on the very bottom of the last page of the quiz that said that by clicking through to my results, I was consenting to telemarketing calls, texts, emails, and mail from the site as well as their marketing partners and up to eight insurance companies and their affiliates. Needless to say, this only increased my worries about being spammed (and it’s disclaimers like these that lead us to believe this site makes money through the selling of lead data).
In order to get a well-rounded idea of the quality of Value Penguin’s quiz results, I tested 3 different diver profiles: a 50-year-old man from Boston, a 35-year-old man from Buffalo, and a 20-year-old man from Texas.
The first profile I tested only got one match at the end of the quiz. The company was Progressive and while I was happy to see that I was matched with a reputable provider (rather than another insurance comparison site), I was a bit disappointed in the fact that there was only one result. Furthermore, there were no quotes or rate estimates available immediately at the end of the quiz. Rather I had to click through to Progressive’s website and re-enter my information to access those numbers.
For the second profile I tested on Value Penguin, I was only returned one result and it was for another comparison site (Smart Financial). There was also no quote or rate immediately available. I can’t lie, I felt disappointed with this result. When I’m shopping for insurance, I am always looking to be matched with an actual carrier rather than being redirected to another comparison site where I will need to re–enter all my details again. Furthermore, I was hoping to be offered more than one match.
Finally, for the last profile I tested, Value Penguin matched me with one carrier (Progressive). There were still no quotes or rate estimates available on the results page, but I was happy to be matched with an actual carrier even if it meant having to visit Progressive’s site to access my quote.
After exploring the Value Penguin tool, I unfortunately don’t think it is a good option for comparing insurance. With so many other options available, the competition is pretty steep and in a lot of ways Value Penguin just didn’t measure up for me. From the fact it required contact information to the lack of actual insurance companies included in the results (let alone quotes or rate estimates!), I think there are better options for comparing car insurance companies out there.
Unfortunately, I don’t think these sites are worth it. When I am shopping around for insurance, I am looking for a quick and easy way to see a comprehensive list of carriers – with rates – and without risk of spam or redirection to other comparison sites. That being said, these tools just didn’t work for me.
However, that does not mean they won’t work for you. If you are just looking to get an idea of what options are out there for you, or you want to find multiple comparison sites, Value Penguin might be a good place to start.
One of the main differences I see in these sites is that Value Penguin seems to be more of an overall personal finance tool while Quote Wizard seems to be focused solely on insurance. In addition to the typical insurance comparison tools, Value Penguin also offers other comparison services such as credit cards.
There is also a light difference in the companies that I was returned at the end of the quizzes. Based on my experience, the only real insurance company that Value Penguin returns is Progressive while Quote Wizard also offered Elephant Insurance as an option.
However, Value Penguin and Quote Wizard are also very similar since they are owned by the same parent company (LendingTree). A few of these similarities include: the ability to call and speak with a live agent to help you purchase your policy, requiring contact information before I was able to see my results, low probability of seeing quotes or rate estimates on the results page, and a high likelihood of only being matched with other insurance comparison sites.
| Option to sell you a policy | Offers non-biased results | |
|---|---|---|
| Gabi | Yes | No |
| Jerry | x | x |
Our own bias notwithstanding, there are several notable differences between Value Penguin and Rate Retriever, but lets start with the similarities. Value Penguin and Rate Retriever are alike in that you are not able to purchase a policy directly through either site. They both require you to complete your purchase on another site. Both options also offer you the option to speak with a live agent who can set you up with your policy.
Another difference is that Rate Retriever does not require any contact information to see your results while Value Penguin requires both your phone number and email address, making them very high risk for spam.
The availability of rate estimates on the results page is another core difference. Rate Retriever always displays personalized rates next to as many insurance companies as we can after you complete the quiz. Additionally, we will match you with real providers every time while Value Penguin oftentimes match you with other insurance comparison sites.
| Speak with live agent | Matches with real providers | |
|---|---|---|
| Value Penguin | Yes | No |
| Rate Retriever | Yes | Yes |
While I could not find many verified reviews for Value Penguin, the ones that I did find did not paint the tool in the best light. The site has a Trustpilot rating of 2.3 stars out of a possible 5 and the majority of reviews mention things such as feeling scammed, being spammed relentlessly, and not being provided with any quotes after the quiz.
I think Value Penguin is made for people who want to speak with several different insurance agents over the phone in order to find their cheapest rate. Based on the user reviews, there is a good amount of spam involved with the tool and if you are not interested in discussing policies with multiple different insurers over the phone, Value Penguin may not be the best option for you.
This site could also be for you if you are looking to use more than one comparison site to nail down your best insurance option. Since most of the results are other comparison sites rather than real providers, Value Penguin can help you get an idea of what your comparison options look like.
If you are someone looking to get rates immediately at the end of the comparison quiz, someone who does not want to speak to multiple agents on the phone, or someone who is not interested in using more than one comparison tool, Value Penguin might not be the best option for you since there are several other options on the market that may fit your needs better.
If you want to learn more about Value Penguin, you can contact their customer service line at (855) 596-3655.
Value Penguin is not an insurance company. It is a lead generation insurance comparison site that matches you with insurance companies or other sites based on their partners at the time.
Value Penguin is legit in that they are a reputable company that will try to help you compare insurance rates from providers in your area. However, many user reviews cite feeling like they were scammed into providing personal information since they did not receive any live quotes at the end of the quiz.
Value Penguin is safe in that they will not misuse user data. However, by using this site you are consenting to be contacted by marketing partners and other insurance agents which makes them high risk for spam.
Value Penguin is probably not the most reliable source for insurance comparison. This is mainly because they limit your results based on their sponsorships and advertising partners.
Value Penguin is owned by the online lending marketplace Lending Tree.
For each car insurance comparison website we review, we evaluate several factors including:
We tested and evaluated results for 3 different driver profiles:
The opinions expressed in our review are based on this experience. Our team also has previous knowledge of the insurance comparison industry that may influence how we review top insurance comparison sites.
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