Methodology

Receipts, not hype — how the research works

We're researchers, not testers. We don't claim personal usage we haven't done. Instead we do the homework most reviews skip, and we show it.

1 · Read the published record

Pricing pages, official docs, changelogs and cited third-party sources (including G2/Capterra user-review data — quoted with its incentives explained). Every episode keeps a source ledger: each claim, its source, and the date we retrieved it. The ledger publishes with the episode.

2 · Model the cost at your size

The same math on every tool: what it really costs at your team size and volume, what the free tier genuinely covers, where the price jumps hide, and what the switch would cost you later. Prices carry a "checked [date]" stamp and get re-verified before we repeat them.

3 · Verdict — including who should skip it

Every recommendation ends the same way: get it if / skip it if, with the free path first when free covers the need. No tool can pay to change a verdict — placement isn't for sale, and our affiliate links (all disclosed) never decide rankings. We hold affiliate links for tools we still tell most readers to skip.

Our promise in one line: if a claim isn't cited and dated, or a verdict doesn't name who should skip it, it doesn't ship. Catch us breaking that — email us and we'll fix it publicly.