How we review | Toolio

Short version: a person opens the tool, uses it briefly, writes what it is bad at, and signs the date.

Who reviews

One person. Every listing carries the name of whoever last checked it, and that name links to everything else they have checked. If a listing has no name on it, it has not been reviewed and it says so.

What we check

Four things, on every listing, every quarter. That the outbound link resolves. That the price on our page matches the price on theirs. That the screenshot still resembles the product. That the description is still true.

For tools in our best-of lists we go further and actually use them against a fixed task, which is described on each list.

The dates

The date on a listing is the day a person last opened the tool. It is not the day the record was touched by a script. When a listing passes 90 days it greys out and says so, because a stale check is worth knowing about.

Money

Tools pay for speed of review and for placement. They cannot pay for a position in our picks, for a favourable verdict, or for the removal of a criticism. Sponsored placements are labelled where they appear. Outbound links on advertising slots carry a sponsored attribute; links from editorial listings do not, and free listings get the same treatment as paid ones. The whole of it is on the disclosure page.

Corrections

If we have something wrong, tell us and we will fix it and note the change on the listing. Vendors get no special channel for this. Neither do advertisers. The address is on the contact page.