The Methodology
How We Score
Every published review is an editorial evaluation, not a hands-on test. Here is what supports our reviews and how we assess the tradeoffs.
Last updated
1. Review Criteria & Scores
Every review score is built from five sub-scores, each rated 0 to 10 from research: official documentation, pricing pages, help centers, published demos and the vendor's own terms. Nothing on this list is a lab measurement; we don't run speed, uptime or output-quality tests. Scores express editorial judgment, not a guarantee of performance or proof of product use, and affiliate or sponsor status plays no part in them.
The overall score is a fixed weighted average, rounded to one decimal: ease of use × 0.20 + features × 0.25 + pricing × 0.20 + support × 0.15 + integrations × 0.20. For example, sub-scores of 9.0, 9.5, 8.0, 9.4 and 8.7 give 8.925, shown as 8.9. Review depth and score do not determine evidence status.
| Dimension | Weight | What we assess |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 20% | Setup effort, interface and learning curve, judged from official documentation, help-center guides, product tours and published demos. |
| Features | 25% | Depth and breadth of the features a buyer in the category needs, as the vendor documents them, and which ones sit behind higher plans. |
| Pricing | 20% | Published prices, what each plan includes, free plan or trial, billing and renewal terms, add-ons and refund rules, read on the vendor's own pricing pages. |
| Support | 15% | Support channels and hours listed for each plan, published response times or SLAs, and the depth of the documentation and help center. |
| Integrations | 20% | Native integrations, API access, automation connectors and which plans include them, from the vendor's integration directory and docs. |
A few older head-to-head comparison pages still show a seven-row scorecard from an earlier format. Those rows are editorial ratings, not measurements, and they are being moved to the five sub-scores above. Where a comparison and a review disagree, the review score is current.
2. Score Bands
Best in class
9.0 – 10.0
Strong choice
8.0 – 8.9
Good with caveats
7.0 – 7.9
Skip
Below 7.0
3. What Supports Our Reviews
Carlos Gil leads our editorial evaluation of features, pricing, limitations, alternatives and buyer fit. Official documentation, product information and published demos inform that work. Professional experience helps interpret the tradeoffs, but it is not product testing.
Each review shows one of two evidence labels, and neither is a claim of hands-on testing. A long review is not a test, and an update or pricing-check date is not a test date. When a review links a video of a workflow, such as one of Carlos Gil's own, the video shows that workflow. It is not counted as review evidence and doesn't support speed, quality or benchmark claims.
- Editorially reviewed
- Our editorial evaluation considers product information, official documentation, pricing, features and professional experience. It is not a claim of documented hands-on testing.
- Research preview
- Initial editorial coverage awaiting deeper evaluation. Treat conclusions as preliminary and verify the fit before buying.
4. Conflict-of-Interest Policy
Affiliate and sponsor relationships never influence evidence status, scores, rankings or verdicts. Vendors cannot pay for editorial placement, cannot edit drafts, and never see scores before publication. We will publish a negative review of a tool we earn commission on, and we have.
Every page that contains affiliate links carries an inline disclosure, and our full affiliate disclosure details exactly which relationships exist. If a vendor sponsors content elsewhere on the internet (newsletter, podcast), it is disclosed there too — and it still does not buy them a higher score here.
5. Update Cadence
- Product and pricing changes guide our review priorities; we do not promise a fixed update schedule for every tool.
- Check the vendor's current pricing and terms before buying.
- A publication or update date does not establish when a product was used.
Section 6 · The Author
Who Reviews
Carlos Gil is the Founder & Editor of The Best Network, bestselling author of The End of Marketing, and a LinkedIn Top Voice. His digital marketing career began in 2008 and spans corporate roles at LinkedIn and BMC Software, consulting for global brands, creator partnerships, and building his own businesses. Carlos is the canonical reviewer. His professional judgment informs the evaluation; each review separately identifies the evidence supporting it.
Read more about Carlos →