How it works

We look for what people actually said

We search the web for genuine feedback about each product: forum threads, issue trackers, review sites, wherever people talk about the tools they use. What we find goes on the page in the words it was written in, with the author, a link to the original, and the date it was posted.

Two things on the page are ours rather than theirs, and it’s worth saying which. We read each mention and judge whether it’s positive or negative about that specific product. One comment can praise one tool and criticise another, so it is scored per product, not per quote. That judgement is where the “% positive” figure comes from. We also write the short summaries under Based on what people have said, each one linking back to the mentions behind it.

The quotes themselves are never touched. If a summary or a percentage looks off, follow the links and read the originals. They’re all there.

Flares

Position on the homepage, in categories, and in alternatives lists is ordered by flares. One flare costs $5. A balance fades by about 10% a day. Half of it is gone in 6.6 days, so holding a position means topping it up. Stop, and you drift back down the list; below 1 flare your balance stops counting.

Because balances fade, the top of a list is always available at a price anyone can see, rather than going once to whoever got there first.