The questions readers send us most often, answered directly. If yours is not here, write to us.
Last updated: September 21, 2026
About how this site works
Have you actually used these tools?
Not all of them, and we say so plainly. ecomtoolshed is a research publication, not a testing lab. We do not hold accounts with, or personally operate, every product we write about.
What we do instead is documented in detail on our How We Research page: we work from the vendor’s own published pricing, documentation, and help-centre articles; we aggregate user reporting across review platforms and communities; we model the bill at a stated volume; and we cross-check claims against each other. Where we could not verify a claim against a primary source, the article labels it unverified rather than dressing it up as fact.
We took this position deliberately. Most software review sites imply far more hands-on evaluation than they perform. We would rather you know exactly what you are getting.
How does ecomtoolshed make money, and does it affect the recommendations?
Through affiliate commissions. When you sign up for a tool through a link on this site, the vendor pays us a commission. You pay the same price either way.
Commission rates do not decide our rankings. If the tool we would recommend pays us nothing, we still recommend it. We do not accept payment for positive coverage, and no vendor gets to see an editorial article before you do. Every program we participate in is listed on our Affiliate Disclosure page.
Do you publish sponsored posts?
Yes, we are willing to, and we would rather say so now than deny it later. A sponsored post is paid for by a vendor and is labelled “Sponsored” at the top, above the fold, before you reach any content or link.
What sponsorship buys is space to explain a product on its own terms. What it never buys is a place in a ranking, a score, a recommendation, or a favourable conclusion in an editorial article — and a vendor cannot veto a critical finding about its own product published elsewhere on the site. We allow a vendor to check its own sponsored draft for factual accuracy and brand voice; we do not allow it to change a finding. Our Editorial Policy sets out the two sets of rules side by side.
As of the date above, no content on this site is sponsored.
Note that some programs in this category pay on recurring subscription revenue, and one or two pay for the life of the customer. We disclose that because it is a longer-lived incentive than a one-off product commission, and you should weigh it.
Can a vendor pay to be featured or ranked higher?
No. Vendors cannot buy a placement, a score, a ranking, or a recommendation. We also do not sell links and we do not accept guest posts. Offers of that kind are discarded without a reply.
Do you accept free accounts or credits?
No. We do not accept free accounts, credits, or upgraded plans in exchange for coverage, because that is a material connection that would change how our writing reads. Where we describe a paid tier, it comes from published pricing.
How often are articles updated?
We revisit an article when a vendor changes pricing or plan structure, when a product is discontinued or acquired, when a new billing or reliability pattern becomes visible in user reporting, or when a reader reports a substantive error. Pricing articles are prioritised, because a stale price is the fastest way to become useless. The date on an article reflects its last substantive review, not its first publication.
Do you use AI to write articles?
We use software to gather and organise public information — fetching published pricing, limits, and documentation, then arranging them for comparison. We do not use AI to fabricate experience: no invented test results, no fabricated user quotes, no imaginary reviewer personas, no made-up prices or ratings. Every published claim is checked against the sources listed at the bottom of its article. Our Editorial Policy states this in full.
I found an error, or a price that has changed. What do I do?
Tell us — this is genuinely useful. Email editor@ecomtoolshed.com with the article URL, the exact claim, and the primary source you are relying on. For pricing, the vendor’s current pricing page and the date you checked it is ideal. We verify against primary sources before changing published figures, then correct the article and note what changed. Details are in our Editorial Policy and on our Contact page.
Why do prices on the site differ from what I see on the vendor’s site?
Because pricing changes constantly, and vendors usually change it without announcing it. Every figure in an article reflects what we found in the sources listed at that article’s foot, on the date printed there — which is why we print the date. Always confirm the current price, limits, and terms on the vendor’s own pricing page before you commit.
Choosing and switching tools
Where should I start?
If you are deciding between tools, start with the pricing breakdown or the alternatives article for the category you care about, because those put the plans and the running cost side by side in one table. Our categories are Pricing Breakdowns, Alternatives, Migration Guides, and Reviews.
Can you tell me which tool to buy for my business?
We can tell you what the published pricing, the plan limits, and the aggregated user reports say, and what the arithmetic looks like at a stated volume. We cannot tell you which one fits your operation, because that depends on your order volume, your team, your existing stack, your region, and what you can maintain.
Can you help with a billing problem, a refund, or an account issue?
No. We are not the vendor and we are not a support channel for any tool we cover. We cannot cancel a subscription, recover an account, reverse a charge, apply a discount, or escalate a ticket. Only the vendor can act on your account, and writing to us only adds a delay to your problem.
Will you ever ask for my login?
Never. We will never ask for your password, API key, or access to your account with any tool we cover. If a message claiming to be from us asks for credentials, it is not from us — do not reply to it. See section 2.1 of our Privacy Policy.
Can you do the migration for me?
No. We do not perform migrations and we are not responsible for the outcome of one. Our migration articles describe what vendors and users report about export formats and what needs reconfiguring. Export files can be incomplete and automation rarely transfers cleanly — back up everything and test before you cut over.
Is this legal, tax, or compliance advice?
No. We are not lawyers, accountants, or auditors. Articles here may discuss contracts, data processing, tax handling, or practical obligations, but that material is general. What a term means for your business depends on your jurisdiction and your agreements. See our Disclaimer.
Privacy and your data
Do you sell my personal information?
No. We have never sold personal information, and as of the date of this policy we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. We do not use it for targeted advertising and we do not give it to data brokers. Our Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information page states this explicitly, as California law requires — and also sets out what we would do first if we ever introduced advertising.
Do you use cookies or analytics trackers?
Not for tracking. As of the date of this policy the site loads no advertising cookies, no analytics cookies, and no cross-site tracking pixels. Only the cookies WordPress needs to function are set. When you click a vendor link, that vendor may set its own cookies on its own site — that part is outside our control. Our Cookie Policy lists every cookie, its purpose, and its duration, explains how to block them, and sets out what would change if we ever introduced an advertising network.
Will you ever show ads?
Possibly, and we would rather say so plainly than make a promise we might later have to break.
Advertising is a candidate funding route for this site, alongside affiliate commissions. It is not in place today. What we commit to is the process: no advertising cookie will be set before the change is disclosed and, where the law requires it, consented to. If we introduce an advertising network, we will update our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy first, name every vendor, publish a working “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” opt-out, honour Global Privacy Control signals as binding opt-outs, and show a consent banner to readers in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland before any non-essential cookie is set.
One thing will not change: no advertiser will ever buy a ranking, a score, or a recommendation, and no advertiser will ever review an editorial article before it is published. If we ever publish sponsored content, it is labelled as sponsored and kept out of our rankings. That commitment is in our Editorial Policy and it holds whether or not advertising is ever present.
How do I make a privacy request?
Email privacy@ecomtoolshed.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line. Tell us what you are asking for (access, correction, deletion, or another right) and the email address you used when contacting us. We will verify by confirming you control that address, and respond within the deadlines in our Privacy Policy — one month under the GDPR, 45 days under the CCPA and CPRA.
Do you have a newsletter?
Not at present. If we launch one, it will be opt-in, and the unsubscribe link will be in every email. Writing to us never adds you to a list.
Technical
The site looks broken or a page shows an error. What should I do?
Reload the page first — most reported issues are a stale cached copy. If it persists, tell us the page URL and what you see, using the addresses on our Contact page. We take accessibility and broken-page reports seriously and put them at the front of the queue.
Can I read the site on a screen reader?
It is built to WCAG 2.2 Level AA, and we state our known limitations honestly on our Accessibility Statement. If you hit a barrier, tell us and we will fix it.
Contact
- Corrections and editorial matters: editor@ecomtoolshed.com
- General enquiries: contact@ecomtoolshed.com
- Privacy requests: privacy@ecomtoolshed.com