Editorial policy.

Independence

Editors choose which products to cover and how to rank them. Sales, sponsorship and affiliate partners have no say in editorial decisions and do not see guides before publication. A product cannot pay to be included in a guide, to move up a ranking, or to change a review.

How we label evidence

• Vendor claim: taken from the vendor’s website or documentation and not independently confirmed.
• Verified by us: an editor checked the claim against a cited source, such as documentation, a pricing page or an independent review.
• Tested by us: an editor used the product to confirm the claim. We only use this label when a hands-on test is recorded.

How we build a guide

1. Define the job the software must do and the criteria that matter for it.
2. Build a candidate list from the directory, then remove products that do not fit the category.
3. Research each candidate using vendor documentation, pricing pages and independent reviews.
4. Write a rationale, a “best for” and the main limitations for every pick, with sources.
5. A second editor reviews the guide before it can be published.
6. Each guide has a scheduled re-check date. If it cannot be kept accurate, we update or retire it.

Third-party ratings

This research shortlist has no imported third-party ratings. Any future ratings must include their source and verification date.

How we make money

• Affiliate links. If affiliate links are used, they are marked on the page and may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
• Sponsored placements. Vendors can buy a placement marked “Sponsored”. Sponsored placements sit apart from the directory order and from guide rankings.
• Display advertising. Display advertising is currently disabled.

Use of AI tools

Our initial 14 product records are AI-prepared official-source research, published with explicit owner authorization. They have not received independent human review or live-account testing. Their pages and machine-readable data disclose this method, source dates and unresolved questions. Suitability assessments are inferences, not tested recommendations. This publication route is separate from human editorial reviews and guides, which require an independent reviewer.

Corrections

If something is wrong, tell us. We review every report, fix confirmed errors, and record significant corrections in our corrections log.