WhatsTheStack exists for one reason: choosing business software is harder than it should be. Vendor sites promise everything, review sites are often thin lists of affiliate links, and the people making the decision — founders, operations leads, office managers — rarely have time to trial ten products.
We publish structured, opinionated reviews that explain who a product suits, who should skip it and what it really costs once you switch on the features you need. Every review uses the same scoring framework so you can compare like with like.
What we cover
- Business software: CRM, accounting, payroll and HR, project management and collaboration.
- AI tools: assistants, writing tools, workflow automation and meeting assistants.
- Security: password managers, business VPNs, endpoint protection and backup.
- Hosting: web hosting, website builders, ecommerce platforms and domains.
What we promise
- No pay-to-rank. Vendors cannot buy placement or scores.
- Honest labelling. Reviews based on research rather than hands-on testing are marked 'Researched'.
- Indicative pricing. Prices are labelled as indicative with the date they were last checked.
- No invented statistics, testimonials or awards.
How we make money
We may earn revenue from clearly labelled display advertising and from affiliate commissions when readers buy through some links. Neither affects our scores. Read our affiliate disclosure for details.
Who we write for
Our readers are the people who end up choosing software in small and growing businesses: founders, operations and finance leads, office managers and the first IT hire. They rarely have time for long vendor demos, so every page is written to answer three questions quickly — is this right for me, what will it really cost, and what should I check before I commit.
What makes our reviews different
- A public, weighted scoring methodology. The overall score is calculated from six sub-scores by code, and every review shows the full breakdown.
- True cost at 5, 10 and 25 seats, computed from the vendor's published price tiers rather than the headline 'from' price.
- 'Not for you if' sections that say plainly who should skip a product.
- Last-verified dates, evidence types and a confidence level on every score, plus a per-product changelog.
- Free calculators, a Stack Finder and starter stacks that start from your business rather than from a single category.
How we keep content current
Every review carries the date it was last checked and a scheduled re-review date that depends on how fast its category changes. AI products are re-checked most often; mature categories such as domain registrars less often. When pricing or features change we update the review and log the change.