Our methodology
An honest note first: we're a small publication, and we can't personally long-term-test every one of the thousands of AI tools out there. So here's exactly what we do instead — no mystique, no inflated claims.
What we do for every tool we cover
- Read the documentation. Features, limits, pricing tiers — straight from the source, not from a press release.
- Read real user reports. Forums, developer communities, app store reviews, and long-form write-ups from people who use the tool daily. Patterns across dozens of users beat any single opinion.
- Try it where we can. For tools with free tiers or trials, we sign up and click through the core workflow ourselves.
- Compare against direct alternatives. No tool is reviewed in a vacuum — every review answers "why this instead of X?"
- Check the pricing math. Free tier limits, what you actually get for paid plans, and whether the free tier is usable or just a demo.
How rankings work
Rankings reflect our judgment of which tool is best for a specific user, not a single universal winner. A tool that's perfect for a professional designer can be overkill for a casual user, and our comparisons say so explicitly.
What we don't do
- No paid rankings. Nobody can pay for a better position.
- No launch-day hype scores. We'd rather be a week late and right than first and wrong.
- No pretending. If we haven't personally tried something, we say the assessment is research-based.
Updates
AI tools change fast — pricing, features, and free tiers shift constantly. We revisit our major comparisons regularly and mark each article with its last-updated date. If you spot something outdated, tell us and we'll fix it.