How We Test & Score Software

Where our data comes from

Every tool on Toolsplorer is scored from independent, third-party sources — never from vendor claims. The Toolsplorer Score is a weighted average of up to 8 sources:

  • G2 (base weight 25%)
  • Capterra (25%)
  • Trustpilot (20%)
  • Reddit community sentiment (15%)
  • Product Hunt (10%)
  • AppSumo (5%)
  • Google Play / App Store (6% each, only for tools with mobile apps)

Not every tool is present on every platform. Weights are re-normalized across the sources that actually exist for a tool, so a missing platform never punishes a product. The exact per-tool breakdown — sources, ratings, and weights — is shown openly on every tool page.

Why we never award 10/10

The composite score is capped at 9.4. A perfect headline rating is a red flag, not a signal of quality — especially for young products with only a handful of reviews. Fresh Product Hunt launches are additionally dampened toward a neutral baseline until enough independent reviews exist.

What gets updated, and how often

  • Scores: recalculated weekly from fresh source data.
  • Prices: monitored monthly with historical snapshots.
  • Reddit sentiment: based on up to 15 threads from the past 12 months, with links to the original discussions.

How AI is used — and where a human checks

Descriptive sections (descriptions, use cases, FAQs) are drafted by AI from the structured data above and from the vendor’s official website. Scores are always calculated, never AI-estimated. Pages that carry an “Editorially reviewed” date have been checked by a human — that date is only ever set manually.

How we make money

Some outbound links are affiliate links, clearly marked at the button and with an asterisk (*). If you sign up through one, we may earn a commission — your price does not change. Commissions have no influence on scores or rankings: the scoring code contains no affiliate variable, and tools without any affiliate program are listed and scored identically.

Corrections

Found an error — a wrong price, an outdated feature, a dead link? Tell us and we will fix it: info@toolsplorer.com.