Our editorial process & review methodology

Our independence commitment

Compare Bazaar earns revenue through affiliate commissions when readers purchase software through our links, and through clearly labelled “Featured Partner” placements. Neither influences our editorial rankings. Vendors cannot pay to improve their position in our comparison tables. Sponsored placements are always marked “Advertisement” and appear separately from editorial content.

Our editorial team operates independently of our commercial team. No reviewer sees affiliate commission data for the products they review.

Our 12-point scoring criteria

Each platform is independently scored by at least one subject-matter expert across these criteria. Scores are normalised to a 5-point scale and weighted based on category importance.

Our testing process

1. Account creation and initial setup

Our reviewer creates a real account using our own business details — no vendor demo accounts. We document time-to-setup and any friction in the onboarding process.

2. Hands-on feature testing

We follow a structured test protocol for each category. For CRMs: we import a 500-contact list, build a pipeline, run an automation, and test reporting. For payroll tools: we run a complete payroll cycle including a mix of employees and contractors. All protocols are documented and version-controlled.

3. Pricing verification

We verify all pricing directly with vendors via their website, live chat, or sales call. We note the date pricing was confirmed and flag any discrepancies from published rates. Pricing is re-verified every 90 days.

4. Independent scoring

The reviewing editor scores each criterion independently before any discussion with the editorial lead. Scores are then reviewed for consistency against our rubric.

5. Cross-referencing with verified user reviews

We aggregate ratings from verified-user review platforms to cross-check our scores, with heavier weighting on reviews from the past 12 months.

Update policy

High-traffic comparison pages are reviewed and updated at least every 90 days. If a vendor makes major pricing, feature, or policy changes, we update the relevant page within 5 business days. Every page displays a “Last reviewed” date.

Our editorial team

All reviews are written and edited by named experts with verifiable professional experience.

Corrections policy

If you believe any information on Compare Bazaar is inaccurate, please contact our editorial team with supporting evidence. We investigate and correct factual errors within 48 hours.