Methodology
How a tool gets reviewed here, and how it gets a number.
The test
Every review follows the same four steps. If a tool cannot get through all four, it does not get published.
- Buy it. On the plan a one-to-five person business would actually pick. No vendor accounts, no press comps, no extended trials.
- Migrate to it. Real data goes in — real invoices, real conversations, real events. Setup friction counts towards the score, because you will pay it too.
- Run it for 30 days minimum. Long enough to hit the second billing cycle, a support ticket, and at least one thing going wrong.
- Decide. Keep it or remove it. The review says which, in the first line.
The scale
Ratings run 1 to 5 in half points. They are not an average of feature checkboxes. They answer one question: did this stay in the business?
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 5.0 | I would rebuild the business around it. No serious reservations. |
| 4.0 – 4.5 | Kept it. Recommend it, with the caveats named in the review. |
| 3.0 – 3.5 | Works, but something real is wrong — price, support, or a gap. |
| 2.0 – 2.5 | Removed it. It cost me time I could measure. |
| 1.0 – 1.5 | Actively harmful to a small operation. Avoid. |
Disclosure
Some links on this site are affiliate links. When one is, it is labelled on the page, next to the link — never buried in a footer. Here is the arrangement in full:
- Every tool is paid for at full price, before any affiliate programme is joined.
- The rating and the verdict are written before the link is added, and are never revised because of a commission.
- No vendor has ever paid for placement, a review, or a re-test, and no vendor gets a preview.
- The plain, non-affiliate URL for every tool is in its review, so you can always go direct.
Re-testing
A review is a snapshot with a date on it. Pricing changes, features ship, support gets worse. Reviews are re-tested when a tool changes its pricing, when something significant ships, or after twelve months — whichever comes first. The last-tested date at the top of every review is the honest one.
Questions
- Do vendors get to review the article before it goes up?
- No. Vendors see the review when you do. If they point out a factual error afterwards, I check it and correct it with a dated note.
- Do affiliate links change the rating?
- No. Ratings are written before any affiliate programme is joined, and several tools rated 4.5 or higher have no affiliate programme at all. Affiliate links are marked as such wherever they appear.
- How long is a review valid?
- Every review carries a last-tested date. Anything older than twelve months gets re-tested or pulled from the listings.
- Are free trials enough to review a tool?
- No. Nothing is reviewed until it has run at least 30 days of real work on a paid plan, with real customer data.