⚠️ Affiliate Disclosure: Some links on this site are affiliate links. We always disclose this clearly, and it never influences our ratings or recommendations.
The short version
We sign up for AI tools using our own accounts, use them for real tasks over several days, and write what we actually found — good and bad. No press demos. No review copies with strings attached. No scores inflated by sponsorship. Every tool is assessed by a real person and rated on the same criteria.
How we choose which tools to review
We prioritise tools that everyday people are actually searching for or asking about — not just whatever is trending on Product Hunt. A tool makes our review list if it meets at least one of these:
- It has a free tier or free trial a non-technical user can actually try without a credit card
- It solves a specific, common problem (writing, creating images, editing video, organising work)
- It’s regularly recommended in our inbox, on social media, or in reader questions
- It’s a strong alternative to a tool we’ve already reviewed
We also maintain a Tools We Skipped list explaining why certain tools didn’t make the cut — whether that’s pricing, limited usefulness, or something we just didn’t feel good about recommending.
The testing process
Every review on WhatAITools follows the same process:
- We sign up ourselves. We create a real account, go through the onboarding, and use the free tier or trial as a first-time user would. No guided demos, no vendor walkthroughs.
- We test for the use cases most readers care about. For a writing tool, that means actually drafting content. For an image tool, that means generating images from real briefs. For a video tool, that means editing real footage. We test the workflows that matter to everyday users, not edge cases.
- We test across free and paid tiers where possible. If the tool has a meaningful free plan, we test that first. Where we upgrade to a paid tier, we note it clearly and factor the value into the score.
- We note what breaks, slows down, or doesn’t deliver. The Limitations section of every review is where we put the things that surprised us negatively. We don’t soften these to keep affiliate relationships happy.
- We compare it to the alternatives. Every review ends with a list of alternatives and which use case each one serves better. We’d rather you find the right tool than stay on the one we reviewed.
How we score tools
Every tool is rated out of 10. The score reflects our overall verdict — it’s a single number that captures how confidently we’d recommend this tool to the average reader of this site. It’s not a formula, but it’s consistent: the same four questions guide every rating.
| Question | What we’re asking |
|---|---|
| Does it do what it says? | Does the core feature work reliably and well for a non-technical user? |
| Is it worth the price? | Is the free tier genuinely useful, or does it exist just to frustrate you into paying? Is the paid tier good value? |
| Is it easy to use? | Could someone with no technical background get meaningful results on their first session? |
| Would we recommend it? | If a friend asked us which tool to use for this job, would this be the one we suggested? |
As a rough guide: a score of 9–10 means it’s one of the best tools in its category and we’d actively recommend it. A score of 7–8 means it’s solid and worth trying, with some limitations. A score below 6 means we found real problems that would affect most users — we’ll still publish the review, but we’ll be clear about why we scored it low.
Who does the testing
Reviews are written by James Huntington, the founder of WhatAITools.co.uk. James is an SEO and content specialist with over 12 years’ experience in search and digital marketing, and has been testing AI tools since they became genuinely useful for everyday tasks. The site exists because he couldn’t find a review source that was honest, plain-English, and written for people who aren’t developers.
WhatAITools is a one-person operation. That’s a feature, not a bug: every review reflects one consistent point of view, and there’s no editorial team to water down an honest verdict.
How we handle affiliate links
Some links on this site are affiliate links — if you click through and buy a paid plan, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We always disclose affiliate relationships clearly on every review page.
Affiliate relationships do not affect scores, recommendations, or which tools we cover. We’ve given low scores to tools we have affiliate relationships with, and we’ve recommended tools we have no commercial relationship with at all. The score reflects what we found, not what we’re paid to say.
If a review is not currently monetised with affiliate links, we say so. If that changes, we update the disclosure.
How we keep reviews up to date
AI tools move fast. Pricing changes, features ship or get removed, and a tool that was mediocre six months ago can become excellent (or vice versa). Every review carries a “Last updated” date at the top. We revisit reviews when:
- A tool ships a major update that changes our verdict
- Pricing or plan structure changes significantly
- A reader flags something that’s no longer accurate
- A newer competing tool makes the alternatives section outdated
If you spot something that’s out of date, let us know — we check every message.
Suggest a tool
If there’s an AI tool you’d like us to review, you can submit it here. We read every submission. We can’t review everything, but tools suggested by readers go to the top of the list.