The short version: we test every tool before we publish a word about it. A named human reviewer with relevant experience runs a documented workflow, screenshots the results, and writes the review. No exceptions.
Here is what that means in practice.
Testing before publishing
Every tool we publish about has been tested by an editorial team member with hands-on experience in the category. We do not review tools we have not used. We do not accept vendor-supplied screenshots as a substitute for running the tool ourselves. We do not publish reviews where the reviewer is the same person the vendor briefed for a press tour.
For CRM and sales tools, our standard test runs 500 contacts through an import, 7-touch outbound sequence, qualification rules, deal pipeline, and at least two integrations, across 14 days of daily use. The same workflow runs against every tool in the category so comparisons are apples-to-apples. For cold email tools, we test deliverability against a dedicated test domain so inbox-placement data is real, not vendor marketing.
No vendor placement money
Our editorial rankings are not for sale. Vendors cannot pay to appear in our top 10 lists or move up a rank in our comparisons. If a tool is number one in a listicle, it earned that spot by performing best in our workflow.
We do run affiliate programs and sponsored placements. Those are disclosed clearly and kept structurally separate from editorial rankings. See our Affiliate Disclosure for the exact mechanism.
Conflict disclosures
When a reviewer has a prior relationship with a tool (past employee, investor, advisor, free account in exchange for feedback), that relationship is disclosed in the review. We do not discard the review, because that prior relationship often means the reviewer knows the product inside out. We disclose it and let you weigh it.
No reviewer publishes a review of a tool their employer sells. No reviewer takes undisclosed free trials in exchange for coverage. If a tool comps us an account for testing, we say so.
Update policy
Pricing changes constantly in SaaS. Feature sets evolve. We update pricing on every review at minimum quarterly and mark the verification date. Full re-tests happen annually or when a major version change warrants it. Every review shows both the last-tested date and the last-pricing-verified date.
When we find an error in a published review, we correct it, add a correction note at the top of the post, and log the change. See our Corrections Policy for the full process.
Our methodology
The complete review methodology, including scoring criteria, weighting, and the exact testing workflows by category, is at /about/methodology/ . Read it if you want to disagree with us.