How it works

How matching works

You tell us what you use now, why you want to switch, what you must have, what would be nice to have, your budget and who the tool is for. We then check every tool we track in that category against those answers, using the structured data we hold about plans, prices, features and audiences.

Each tool lands in one of three groups:

• Fits your requirements: every must-have is confirmed (included, with limits, or as a paid add-on, which we always point out) and nothing rules the tool out.
• Might fit, but we are missing data: at least one must-have has no data yet, or only conflicting data. We never treat missing data as a “no”, so these tools are listed separately instead of being dropped.
• Ruled out: only when we have reliable evidence: a must-have is confirmed not available, a feature you want to avoid is included, the tool is a poor fit for your audience, or a verified price for the cheapest plan with your must-haves is above your budget. Each ruled-out tool shows the reason. Disputed facts never rule a tool out.

How tools are ranked

For tools that fit, we score how well they match each thing you asked for, using only the data we hold about them:

• Features (most important): confirmed must-haves and nice-to-haves, on the plan we would recommend. Limits and paid add-ons count for less than full inclusion; a must-have counts twice as much as a nice-to-have.
• Budget: within budget counts fully, within budget only with annual billing slightly less.
• Audience and use: tools built for your audience or use case count more than tools that merely support it.

Anything we have no data for is left out of the score rather than guessed. Instead, we track how much of what you asked for we could actually check, and tools we know less about rank lower. A tool that looks perfect on the two things we know about will not outrank one that is very good on everything you asked.

Each result shows a fit number from 0 to 100: the exact value the order is based on, so a higher number never ranks lower. It already counts what we could not check against the tool, so a tool that is perfect on two things we know about never shows a higher number than one that is very good on everything. Next to it, the fit strip shows each of your requirements as a segment: wider for must-haves, green when met, amber when met with limits or as an add-on, red when not available, and grey with a dashed edge when we have no data. A plain label (Strong fit, Good fit, Possible fit or More data needed) sums it up. Each result below the first says in one line why it ranks lower.

How well something is verified is shown separately (for example “Not yet verified by us”). It breaks ties, but a better-fitting tool is never pushed down just because we have researched another tool more. We do not score product quality yet: we have no objective quality data, and we will not invent ratings.

Nothing about commissions, partnerships or advertising is part of any of this, and the code that ranks tools cannot read that information at all.

Budgets

We compare your budget with the cheapest plan that includes all your must-haves, using the monthly equivalent in US dollars. If a plan fits only when billed annually, we say so. Prices are always shown in the currency the vendor lists. When a plan is priced only in another currency, we compare it at its US-dollar equivalent using the European Central Bank’s daily reference rate, and name the rate date next to it; the converted figure is never shown as the price. Per-user prices are multiplied by your team size (or compared for one user, which we point out, if you have not given one), and by the vendor’s minimum number of users where it states one. Prices that grow with usage, such as contacts or emails sent, are flagged as starting prices; a price whose billing period the vendor does not state is shown and flagged rather than guessed.

How we verify data

Prices, plans and features change. Every value we show comes from a recorded source, usually the vendor’s own pricing or feature pages, and carries one of these states:

• Verified We checked it against the source on the date shown.
• Not yet verified Taken from the source, with the quote shown, but not yet checked by a person.
• Needs re-check Verified once, but due for a re-check (prices after 90 days, features after 180).
• Under review We have doubts or conflicting information and are checking it. Values under review are never used to judge a budget or rule a tool out.
• No data yet We have nothing recorded. That does not mean the product lacks it.

Select any status mark on the site to see the source, what it said, and when it was observed.

How values are collected and checked

Values come from the vendor’s own public pages. An AI assistant may help read those pages and pull out prices, plans and features, but it never decides a value on its own: every value must be backed by an exact quote from the page, and the numbers in it must appear in that quote, or it is discarded. Values collected this way are labelled “Not yet verified” until a person has checked them against the source.

Checking is done one value at a time, with the quote and the source side by side, and every decision is recorded with who made it and when. Prices and the plan details that decide which plan we compare are checked first, because they affect results most.

Why people switch

Reasons for switching come from public discussions, reviews and search suggestions we have reviewed. We group them into common needs and count mentions. We do not store who said what: quotes are short, anonymised excerpts with a link to where they were published.

Which pages exist

We publish a page only when there is enough real data for it to be useful. A product page can be shown as soon as it is researched, but it is offered to search engines only once a person has verified its pricing and several of its features. An alternatives page exists only when people actually ask for alternatives and there are at least three comparable tools. Combinations of filters are never turned into separate pages.

Affiliate relationships

We may earn a commission when you sign up through some links in the future. That never changes which tools are shown, how they are grouped or the order they appear in. Read the affiliate disclosure.

Current limitations

• We track a small number of categories and tools, and are still researching many of them.
• Budgets are read in US dollars only. Some vendors show prices in another currency depending on where you are; we show those as listed and compare them at the ECB reference rate.
• Many values are not yet verified by a person; they are labelled wherever they appear.
• Where this site shows a “Demo data” label, the products are fictional and exist only to evaluate the design.