Scoring Methodology v2.1
Every tool on ScoreMyStack is scored across 7 dimensions with persona-weighted composites. No sponsored rankings. No pay-to-play. We pick winners.
7 Scoring Dimensions
Value
Default weight: 22%Price per feature, free tier generosity, cost predictability at scale. A tool with a generous free tier, low starter price, and predictable scaling scores high. Per-operation billing and hidden costs score low.
Capability
Default weight: 22%Feature depth, differentiators, AI features, and meeting category requirements. Deep feature sets with unique differentiators score high. Missing core features for the category scores low.
Experience
Default weight: 17%Setup time, documentation quality, UX polish, and learning curve. Fast setup (<5 min), great docs, and beautiful UX score 90+. Complex configuration and poor documentation score below 50.
Reliability
Default weight: 13%Security certifications, uptime SLA, data portability, and company maturity. SOC2 + HIPAA + open source + established company scores high. New startups with proprietary lock-in score lower.
Support
Default weight: 10%Documentation completeness, community responsiveness, support channel quality. Comprehensive docs with active community forums and fast ticket response score high. Sparse docs with email-only support score low.
Ecosystem
Default weight: 10%Integration catalog size, API quality, and community size. Massive integration ecosystems with well-documented APIs and large communities score high. Few integrations with minimal community score low.
Momentum
Default weight: 6%Recent funding, release velocity, and community growth. Recent large funding rounds, fast release cadence, and growing community score high. Stagnant development and declining community score low.
4 Personas
Different users value different things. A hobbyist cares about free tiers and simplicity. An enterprise buyer cares about reliability and security certifications. Persona weights are grounded in Gartner, Spendflo, and G2 buyer survey data. No dimension drops below 5% for any persona.
| Dimension | Hobbyist | Indie Builder | Startup | Enterprise | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 35% | 27% | 18% | 8% | 22% |
| Capability | 8% | 18% | 23% | 28% | 22% |
| Experience | 25% | 20% | 17% | 8% | 17% |
| Reliability | 7% | 8% | 13% | 25% | 13% |
| Support | 8% | 10% | 10% | 13% | 10% |
| Ecosystem | 10% | 10% | 14% | 13% | 10% |
| Momentum | 7% | 7% | 5% | 5% | 6% |
Momentum Circuit Breaker
A tool can score well on features and pricing today but be in decline. The momentum circuit breaker flags tools that may not be around in 2 years.
Tool shows significant decline. Active warning displayed on all pages.
Tool showing signs of stagnation. Caution notice displayed.
No warning. Tool is actively maintained and growing.
Per-Category Scoring
Scores are per-category. Notion scored for Project Management is different from Notion scored for Documentation. A tool's Value score changes based on the persona's expected usage tier - a hobbyist uses the free tier, an enterprise evaluates the Team plan.
Stack Scoring
When you score your full stack, we apply three adjustments to the simple average:
- -5Overlap penalty per duplicate category. Two PM tools in your stack means you are paying for redundancy.
- +2Integration bonus per connected pair. Tools that work together compound value.
- 1.5xWeak link penalty - your lowest-scoring tool gets extra weight. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Independence & Transparency
- All scores are calculated using the same methodology. No tool gets special treatment.
- Affiliate links do not influence scores or rankings.
- We update scores monthly to reflect pricing changes, new features, and market shifts.
- The scoring engine source code is deterministic - same inputs always produce the same outputs.
- We pick winners. Every comparison has a verdict. No "it depends" conclusions.