What hands-on means
A product counts as tested when we have logged in and used it on a real task, not when we have read the sales page or watched the demo video. If we could not get in, or could not get it to work, the review says so.
The three steps
01. Use it
We log in and use the product on a real task, the kind of job the sales page says it does.
02. Record it
We record the results with our own screenshots. The screenshots in a review come from our login, not from the vendor's sales page.
03. Call it
We publish a keep-or-skip call, the total cost, and who should skip the product.
How we count the total cost
A digital product rarely costs only its base price. Many add upsells, upgrades and bundles after checkout.
- We list every upsell we were shown, with its price.
- We add them up so you see the total if you buy everything.
- If a price changes after we publish, we update the table and the date.
Keep or skip
Keep means the base product did what the sales page said for the buyer it suits, and the upsells are optional.
Skip means it did not do what was promised, it needs upsells to be useful, or a cheaper option does the same job. Every review also names who should skip it, even when the verdict is Keep.
How we get access
We test each product either on a copy we bought or with access the seller gave us. If a seller gave us free access, the review says so, and our disclosure explains why that matters.
What we will not claim
- We never repeat a vendor's income or earnings claims as fact.
- We do not publish results, testimonials or screenshots we did not produce ourselves.
- A product listed in new releases is not a recommendation until it has been tested.
If a review is wrong, tell us. Corrections are handled under our editorial policy.
Testing our Claude skills
The Tested Stack also makes Claude skills. A skill reaches the library only after it has been used on real jobs, not demo prompts, works on the current Claude model, passes our Plain-English Copy Checker, and holds no client data. When Anthropic updates Claude, we re-run affected skills and ship fixes to Pro members.