What ToolsProof will never do

This page is a promise to you. Many of these promises are also checked by tests that run before every release (see docs/INTEGRITY.md), so a slip stops the build instead of reaching you. The rest we keep by hand.

We will never

• Rank or recommend a tool because it pays us. Our score never reads affiliate data.
• Invent a fact, review, quote, rating or statistic. If we have not checked something, the page says Not verified.
• Show a fake timer, a fake low-stock warning, or made-up claims about how many other people are looking at a page.
• Pre-check a box, or pre-select a paid option, for you.
• Hide a cost. Prices, limits and what a free plan lacks sit beside the price.
• Shame you for saying no. No “No thanks, I like paying more” buttons.
• Show a pop-up, a full-screen overlay, or an exit-intent message.
• Dress up an advert as a page element, or show one without the word “Advertisement”.
• Hide text so that it only appears when you hover.
• Set cookies, store your IP address, fingerprint your device, replay your session, or load third-party trackers.
• Let an AI model publish copy by itself. A person reads every AI-drafted text, and it goes live only while the facts it came from are unchanged.

How we tell you about money

Some links go to vendors that pay us a commission if you buy. The rules we hold ourselves to:

• Next to the link. The notice sits right beside each such button, not only in the footer or on another page.
• Before the click. You can read it before you decide to click.
• Plain words. “Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you buy. It does not change our ranking.”
• Same wording for every link. A link that pays us is marked. A plain link says so too.
• Always visible. A short notice stays on screen on every page, with a link to the full explanation at /how-we-make-money/.
• Readable. Notice text meets a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background.
• Marked for search engines. Every paid link carries rel="sponsored nofollow noopener".

These match what we understand the US Federal Trade Commission expects of endorsements: a clear and conspicuous notice of a material connection, close to the claim, in plain language. Needs source: link the current text of the FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) once read by hand. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice.

What a recommendation always includes

For each tool we name, we say who it is for, who it is not for, and one real trade-off. If we cannot say all three, we do not recommend it.

If we get it wrong

Tell us. We fix the page and the data first and explain the change afterward.