How we review alternatives

1. Which websites get a guide

We write about websites people actively look to replace or compare: services they already use and want to leave, and services they are deciding whether to join. Reader suggestions and how often people search for alternatives to a site both shape what we cover next. Each website gets exactly one guide, named by its domain, so there is always one clear page to read and keep up to date.

2. What every guide explains about the site itself

Before comparing anything, a guide explains the site you use today, because you can only judge an alternative against something you understand. Most of every guide is about that site:

• what it is, who runs it and how it has changed;
• what it does better than its rivals;
• where it falls short and why people look elsewhere;
• how it makes money, where that affects you;
• who is better off staying, and how to get more from it if you do.

3. What qualifies as an alternative

A service is considered only if it meets all of these conditions:

• It does the same core job as the original for a real group of people, not just something loosely related.
• It's available to the public today, without an invitation or an enterprise sales process.
• It's actively maintained, with recent updates and a working service.
• It has no known record of malware, deceptive billing or misleading privacy claims.

4. What we compare

Different kinds of websites are judged on different things, so every guide's comparison table states its own criteria. They are drawn from questions like these:

• Cost: what is free, how paid plans are structured, and the extra fees people miss.
• Data and privacy: what is collected, whether it builds a profile of you, and who it is shared with.
• Core features: how well each option does the main job you came for.
• Ownership and portability: whether you can take your content, audience or data with you.
• Effort: how much there is to learn, set up and maintain.
• Who it suits: the kind of user each option is best for.

5. The figures at the top of each guide

Each guide shows a few figures about the site and its alternatives: domain age, authority scores, estimated monthly visits from search and the number of ranking keywords. Domain age is based on when the domain was first registered; the other figures are third-party estimates. We show them because they help you see how established and how visible each site is, and we date them because they change every month. Our disclaimer explains what these numbers can and can't tell you.

6. Charts and diagrams

Where a picture explains something faster than a paragraph, such as where a search engine's results come from, how a platform pays its creators or which fees apply on which plan, the guide includes a chart or diagram. Every one is built from facts stated in the guide and dated sources, never from invented or illustrative numbers.

7. How we order the list

The order reflects how well each alternative solves the most common reasons people leave the original, weighted by how many people it suits. A specialist tool that is excellent for a small group can rank below a broader option, and the guide says who the specialist is best for. Payment from a company never affects inclusion or position.

8. How we check facts

Features, pricing models and privacy practices are checked against each service's own documentation, pricing pages and published policies, supported by reputable reporting. We avoid quoting exact prices and statistics that change often; where they matter, we say when they were checked. We don't claim to have run lab benchmarks, and we don't describe a service as tested unless it was.

9. How we keep guides current

Every guide shows the date it was last updated. We review each guide at least twice a year, and sooner when a service changes its pricing, ownership, privacy policy or core features. Readers can report changes from any guide, and confirmed corrections are made promptly with the date updated.

10. How each guide is written

Every guide is written for its own site. When the same service appears in several guides, it is described differently each time, because what matters is how it compares with the specific site you're replacing. Every guide is fact-checked and edited before publication, as set out in our editorial policy.