How we score AI tools
Every tool on ToolHund gets a single 0–100 ToolHund Score. It is not a popularity contest and it is not paid for. Here is exactly how it is calculated and what it does — and does not — measure.
The five signals
- Review quality — 45 points. Weighted average of community ratings once a tool has cleared the review threshold. Below the threshold we use editorial baseline only.
- Popularity — 25 points. Logarithmic scale of active users (public sources, vendor claims we could verify, or third-party traffic data). Log scale so a 200M user tool does not crush a great niche one.
- Feature depth — 15 points. Number and breadth of core capabilities that materially change what the tool can do.
- Value — 10 points. Pricing transparency and the presence of a usable free tier, freemium plan or open-source option.
- Freshness & trust — 5 points. Editor's picks, recently updated tools and tools with a clear changelog earn the ceiling here.
Review threshold
A tool must have at least 5 community reviews before its aggregate community rating counts toward the review-quality signal or is exposed as structured data to search engines. Under the threshold, we clearly show "Editorial rating — awaiting community reviews" and disclose the sample size.
Freshness policy
Tool records show the date they were last verified by a human editor. Pricing that has not been re-checked in 90 days is flagged as "Verify latest". Broken links are removed within 7 days of the next crawl.
What the score does not measure
- Ad spend, affiliate rates, or whether a tool is a sponsor.
- Vendor-provided marketing copy.
- Twitter buzz or influencer coverage.
- Whether the founders are our friends.
Sponsored placements
Tools can pay to appear in clearly labelled "Sponsored" or "Featured" slots. Those slots never change a tool's ToolHund Score, category ranking, or comparison outcome. See our full disclosure.
Sponsorship transparency
Sponsored placements never change the ToolHund Score, category ranking, Matchmaker output, or the winner of a comparison page.
- Featured Tool / Homepage sponsors: always labelled with a "Sponsored" or "Featured" badge.
- Affiliate links: some outbound "Visit" buttons are affiliate links, marked
rel="sponsored". Commission never affects score, order, or verdict. - Editorial firewall: the person editing a tool's page is never the person selling its sponsorship.
- Rejections: we routinely decline sponsorships from tools whose ToolHund Score would embarrass the placement.
Corrections
If a score, price, or feature is wrong, tell us on the tool's page or email hello@toolhund.com. Verified corrections are applied within 48 hours.
How ToolHund compares to other directories
Curious how our approach differs from Futurepedia, Toolify and TAAFT? Read the honest side-by-side →