Methodology & editorial policy
How we write guides, moderate reviews, calculate scores and keep advertising separate from content.
Editorial independence
Guides are written by our editorial team. Advertisers, sponsors and lead-program partners do not review, approve or influence editorial content before publication. When a page contains sponsored content, it is labelled at the top.
How we write guides
- We research vendor documentation, public pricing pages, independent sources and reviews.
- We prefer criteria and questions that stay true over time to claims that go stale quickly.
- Every guide shows the date it was last updated. Pricing and features change, so we ask readers to verify with vendors.
- Errors are corrected promptly; material corrections are noted at the end of the page.
How reviews are moderated
- Automated checks for duplicates, spam patterns and prohibited content.
- Human review of every submission against our guidelines.
- Verification where possible — proof of purchase or use, which is never published.
- Publication with labels, or rejection with a reason sent to the reviewer.
Review labels
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Verified | We confirmed proof of purchase, subscription or engagement. |
| Invited | The business invited this customer to leave a review. |
| Organic | The reviewer came to us without an invitation. |
| Incentivized | The reviewer received something of value, not conditioned on sentiment. |
| Contest entry | Submitted as part of a community contest. |
How the BR Score works
Simple averages reward businesses with a handful of five-star reviews. Our BR Score blends a business's ratings with the category average, weights recent reviews more heavily and gives Verified reviews more weight:
BR Score = (C × m + Σ wᵢ·rᵢ) ÷ (C + Σ wᵢ), where m is the category average, C is a confidence constant of 10 reviews, rᵢ is each rating, and wᵢ = recency weight (1.0 in the last 12 months, 0.5 for 12–24 months, 0.25 older) × verification weight (1.25 Verified, 1.0 otherwise).
Scores are shown only after a business has at least three published reviews. Payment, sponsorship and plan level are never inputs.
Transparency reporting
Once reviews are live we will publish a quarterly report covering reviews submitted, published and rejected (with reasons), reports received and actions taken against businesses for manipulation.
Use of AI
We may use AI tools to help detect spam or draft outlines. Published guides are reviewed and edited by people, and we never publish AI-generated reviews.