How we test and rate tools
What do we score?
Each review produces one overall score out of 5, built from four sub-scores:
| Criterion | What we look at |
|---|---|
| Value for money | Pricing vs. what you actually get; free tier and trial quality; hidden costs. |
| Ease of use | Onboarding, learning curve, day-two usability for a non-expert. |
| Features | Depth and breadth against the job the tool is hired to do. |
| Support | Docs, response times, community, and reliability. |
How do we test?
- We set up a real account (free, trial or paid) and run the tool on representative tasks.
- We confirm pricing and plan limits directly on the vendor's site or billing page.
- We note geo restrictions, integrations and any deal-breakers.
- We write the verdict, then a second editor sanity-checks the score against the rubric.
How often do we re-check?
Prices and features move fast. We re-verify each review on a rolling schedule and after any major product change. The "Verified" date on every page is the last time we confirmed the facts — and it always matches the dateModified in our structured data.
What we will never do
- Invent user reviews, ratings or download numbers.
- Let a vendor pay for a higher score or ranking.
- Hide that a link is an affiliate link — see our disclosure.
Questions about our method? Contact AIStack.