Our story
Compare Tacticians was born out of frustration. In 2019, our founders — a consumer-rights advocate and a data engineer — were independently trying to switch energy providers and discovered that most comparison websites were quietly earning referral commissions that skewed their recommendations. The "best" plan on those sites was often the most profitable one for the website, not the cheapest or most suitable for the consumer.
They decided to build something different: a comparison platform funded by optional premium subscriptions rather than hidden kickbacks. By late 2020, the first version of the platform went live covering energy and insurance. Within twelve months it had expanded to telecommunications, financial planning, logistics and business software.
Today, Compare Tacticians serves over 85,000 registered users across Australia. We operate from our office at 37 Mayer Avenue, Jenkinsbury, Australian Capital Territory 9895, Australia, and our team of fourteen includes data analysts, software engineers, industry researchers and customer-support specialists. Every member of the team shares a single conviction: that transparent, unbiased comparison data empowers better decisions.
Mission and values
Everything we do is guided by a clear mission: to make it effortless for every Australian to compare services fairly and choose providers that genuinely fit their needs. These four values shape every product decision, every data-source partnership and every customer interaction.
Transparency first
We disclose every commercial relationship on our platform. If a provider pays us for premium placement, that fact is clearly labelled. Our default ranking algorithm is based entirely on user-defined criteria — not revenue. We publish our methodology documentation so anyone can audit how results are generated.
Data integrity
Comparison results are only as good as the data behind them. We invest heavily in automated data pipelines that pull directly from provider APIs and regulatory databases. Every data point is timestamped and version-controlled, and our analyst team conducts weekly spot-checks to catch anomalies before they reach users.
User empowerment
We believe the best decision-maker is the informed one. Rather than telling you which provider to choose, we give you the tools and information to decide for yourself. Our reports are designed to educate, not to sell. We explain trade-offs in plain language and never pressure you towards a particular outcome.
Continuous improvement
The market changes constantly, and so do we. We ship platform updates fortnightly, expand into new comparison categories based on user demand, and actively solicit feedback through quarterly surveys. If something is not working, we want to hear about it — and we commit to acting on it.
Meet the leadership team
Our leadership group brings together decades of experience in consumer advocacy, data science, software engineering and regulatory affairs.
Elena Marchetti
Co-founder and CEO
Former consumer-rights policy adviser with the ACCC. Elena oversees company strategy, regulatory relationships and public advocacy. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the Australian National University.
Ravi Deshpande
Co-founder and CTO
Data engineer turned entrepreneur. Ravi designed the comparison engine and leads the product-development team. Previously he built large-scale data platforms for a major Australian bank. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from UNSW.
Sophie Hargreaves
Head of research
Sophie manages the analyst team responsible for data sourcing, validation and category expansion. She has a background in actuarial science and spent eight years at a leading insurance comparison firm before joining Compare Tacticians.
James Calloway
Head of partnerships
James builds and maintains relationships with service providers, ensuring data-access agreements are in place and that commercial arrangements remain transparent. He brings 20 years of experience in business development across the energy and telecom sectors.
Registered users
Comparison categories
Providers tracked
Team members