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How ToolPick picks AI tools
Many "best AI tools" lists are written or paid for by the vendors they rank. Here is exactly how our picks are made, what we check, and what we don't do, so you can judge every pick for yourself.
What every pick shows
Every tool card and tool page has a “Why trust this pick” box with five facts:
- How we picked. Picked from the tool's official pricing page and stated features, compared with other tools that do the same main job. Not hands-on tested by ToolPick.
- The price on the date we checked it, copied from the tool's official pricing page, with a link to that page.
- Price history from our dated checks (2026-10-14, 2026-10-15, 2026-10-17, 2026-10-19, 2026-10-21, 2026-10-22, 2026-10-23, 2026-10-24, 2026-10-27, 2026-10-31, 2026-11-01, 2026-11-02, 2026-11-03, 2026-11-05), so you can see whether a price has moved.
- Money. Whether we earn anything if you buy. Right now no tool on ToolPick has an affiliate link, and no vendor pays for placement.
- One real limitation, taken from the pricing page we checked: no free plan or trial only, one-time credits, a lighter entry tier, yearly-only billing, usage costs, per-seat pricing, or limits on the free plan. If we haven't recorded one, we say so instead of inventing one.
What we compare, and how
- Same job only. A tool is only called cheaper than another if both do the same main job.
- Same billing. Monthly prices are compared with monthly prices, and billed-yearly prices with billed-yearly prices.
- Same tier. Lighter entry tiers (like Google AI Plus or ChatGPT Go) are compared with each other; against full plans like Claude Pro we use the comparable tier (like Google AI Pro).
- No guessing. If we can't verify a price, the tool shows “check site” and is never counted in a total or a “cheapest” claim.
- Best Value is separate from price. It's our overall-value pick for a category and never replaces the price answer.
What we don't do
- We don't hands-on test every tool, and we don't claim to. We don't publish star ratings or reviews.
- We don't accept payment for placement or rankings.
- We don't show prices we haven't checked on the official page.
Keep us honest
Prices change. Each pick links to the official pricing page so you can confirm before you buy. See every recorded change on the price changes log, or watch the tools you pay for with the price watchlist.