How we test
Three kinds of pages
- Research-based: written from official pricing pages, documentation and terms. Every fact is linked with the date we checked it. These pages carry a yellow “hands-on test pending” label.
- Hands-on tested: we sign up (free plan first), run the same beginner task for every tool in a category, and report what happened (samples where we can).
- Partly tested: we got part of the way in (for example, a free report or a free credit) before the tool asked us to pick a paid plan or trial. We say exactly what we could and couldn't try.
Our rules for trials
- We start with free plans. If a tool forces a plan or trial picker before you can use it (as Jasper, Writesonic and Surfer did in Oct 2026), we don't start a paid trial without saying so, and the page stays research-based or partly tested.
- AI model and phone pages are explainers built from official pages and help docs; they're labelled “research-based, not tested” until we run our own tests.
What we check
- What the free plan really includes
- Real price and how billing works (credits, limits)
- Commercial-use license
- How easy it is for a first-timer
- Privacy basics
Independence
Affiliate commissions and sponsors never change scores, rankings or verdicts. Sponsored placements are always labelled.