How I test tools, and how long I’ve used them

Most review sites will tell you a tool is good. Almost none tell you what they actually did with it before deciding that. Opening an account and running something in anger are different things, and only one of them earns a verdict — so I tell you which one you are reading.

I used to promise a fixed waiting period before calling anything a review. I dropped it on 16 August 2026. It was a threshold I invented, and all it did was keep me quiet while it ran. What I have actually put a tool through tells you far more than how long it has been sitting in my account.

The four rules

1. What I put the tool through goes on the page. Whether I only set it up, ran it properly, or pushed it until it broke — you get told which, and you can weigh the verdict from there.
2. I pay, or it’s free. No free accounts in exchange for coverage. Where I paid, the number from my invoice goes in the post.
3. Every price has a date on it. Read from the company’s own page, on a day I write down, and re-checked before I reuse it.
4. If I haven’t checked something, I say so instead of guessing. An unverified figure appears like this — not verified yet — on purpose, so you can see the gap.

What you can hold me to

Pick any number on this site and ask where it came from. If I can’t tell you the source and the date, it comes down. Tell me if you find one.