Our reviews are research-based. Here is exactly what that means, so you can judge how much weight to give them.
What we check for every tool
- The official product pages, pricing pages and documentation, read directly rather than through other review sites. Every review links its sources at the bottom.
- The WordPress.org plugin directory for plugins: active installs, rating and when it was last updated.
- How the tool connects to WordPress: a plugin on your own site, a site hosted on the vendor's platform, or an outside builder that publishes or exports to WordPress. This decides how locked in you are.
- The real cost, including AI credit limits, whether you must bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key, and whether the tool needs another paid product (Elementor Pro, a Divi license, a specific host).
- Portability: whether you can take the site with you if you leave.
What our reviews are not (yet)
Unless a review says otherwise, we have not run long-term hands-on tests of every tool. We do not invent star ratings or claim test results we don't have. When we add hands-on testing for a tool, the review will say so clearly.
AI tools change fast. Prices and features were checked in November 2026 and every review shows its date. Always confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
How we rank
Rankings on our best-of pages depend on fit: what the tool does well, how cleanly it works with a normal self-hosted WordPress site, how much lock-in it creates and what it costs. A tool ranks high for a specific job ("best for agencies", "best free option"), not as an absolute winner.
Corrections
If a vendor changes a price or feature, or you spot something wrong, we update the page and its date.