Editorial principles

swepicks exists because most AI tool comparisons online are written by people who haven't used the tools. We're building toward something better.

Where the data comes from

Every tool page is labeled by data source:

• Public sources — pricing, features, and capability data sourced from vendor docs, changelogs, and community reviews. This is where every entry starts.
• Verified — the tool has been used first-hand on real codebases by the editor; the page includes dated testing notes and a last-verified date.

Today most entries are unverified. Our work is moving entries into the verified column over time. We say which is which on every page.

Our rules

• No tool is described as "tested" until it actually has been.
• When we mark something verified, we include a dated note about the testing — what we used it for and what we noticed.
• We explicitly mark affiliate links and never let affiliate revenue change a verdict.
• When a verdict changes, we say so — we don't silently edit.
• We don't run AI-generated reviews. Synthesis from public sources is fine and clearly labeled; fabricated experience isn't.

How we make money

Affiliate commissions on signups (mostly to adjacent dev infrastructure, not the tools we review — those don't have affiliate programs), plus sponsored listings clearly marked as such, and eventually display ads. Full affiliate disclosure.