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Editorial

Methodology and placement policy

How a tool gets its rank, where every number comes from, and what would change if money ever entered the picture.

Sebastiaan Smits By Sebastiaan Smits, editor · Updated

Are positions for sale?

In a limited way. Vendors can take a numbered position on a category page at launch prices, for one year. Every paid position is labeled on the page where it appears, and its wording is still written and checked by the editor. Inclusion in a category and the facts on a page, such as prices, limits and data handling, are not for sale, and the site has no affiliate links. At launch no position has been sold. Outbound links to vendors carry rel="nofollow noopener".

How is the order of a ranking decided?

The order is the verdict; there is no numeric score. Each guide judges the same five questions, written for the category: output quality for the typical job, the real price once limits and add-ons are counted, what happens to the data you put in, how hard it is to leave, and who the tool fits. A tool that is strong on a single point but wrong for most buyers does not take a high place.

Where do prices, limits and policies come from?

From the vendor's own pricing, documentation and trust pages, read during the update, with the month noted on the page. When a number cannot be verified the page describes the shape of the price instead of guessing it. Plans change often; confirm on the vendor page before buying.

Where do statistics come from?

Each figure in Research shows its publisher, report title, year and the page it was read on. Market data in Market data is fetched from Eurostat's API and rebuilt by script, so the numbers cannot drift from the source. Vendor claims are labeled apart from independent measurement.

How is AI used in producing the pages?

Research and drafting are AI-assisted. AI Tool Compare's author, Sebastiaan Smits, is editorially responsible and fact-checks claims against sources before publication. Pages are not published on a model's recall alone.

How big is the site and why does it grow slowly?

The site is capped at 51 pages for its first phase, and only 25 key pages are listed in the sitemap. The remaining pages are built and linked but kept out of the index until they have been reviewed and are worth ranking. New pages are added a few at a time so that each one is checked and none is thin or repetitive.

How are corrections handled?

Send a correction to hello@aitoolcompare.ai or post in r/aitoolcompare. A confirmed error is fixed on the page, the "updated" date moves, and a material correction is noted on the page it affects. No corrections have been published yet.

What does each ranked guide cover?