Frequently asked questions

StakZest is a software intelligence platform. We research, rate, and rank business software across 40+ categories so that teams can make confident buying decisions without spending weeks on evaluation.

Yes. Browsing the directory, reading reviews, comparing products, and accessing deals is completely free for buyers. We generate revenue through content partnerships and sponsored placements that are always clearly labelled — they never influence editorial scores.

Vendors can pay to have enhanced profiles, be featured in category newsletters, and participate in co-marketing programmes. These are clearly marked as 'Sponsored' or 'Partner'. They do not affect our editorial ratings or rankings.

We update product reviews on a rolling basis — at minimum annually, and immediately when a major product change occurs (new pricing, feature overhaul, acquisition). Deals are verified weekly.

Every product is evaluated across five dimensions: feature depth, ease of use, pricing value, integration ecosystem, and customer support quality. Scores are determined by our editorial team based on direct product testing, vendor documentation, and aggregated user feedback.

No. Ratings are editorially independent. Vendors can pay for visibility (enhanced profiles, sponsored positions) but cannot influence their score. This is a hard policy — no exceptions.

StakZest ratings are generated by our editorial team using a consistent scoring framework. User reviews are self-reported by real customers and displayed separately. Both are useful; StakZest ratings offer consistency while user reviews offer lived experience.

Use the contact form to flag inaccuracies. Include the product name and specific claim you believe is incorrect. We investigate all substantiated reports and update content within 5 business days.

Deals come from two sources: directly from vendors who partner with StakZest to promote offers to our audience, and from our team's own monitoring of vendor pricing pages and affiliate programmes. All deals are verified before publication.

Some deals are exclusive — these are negotiated directly with vendors and are not available elsewhere. Others are curated from publicly available promotions. Exclusive deals are clearly labelled.

Expired deals should be flagged via the contact form. We aim to remove expired deals within 48 hours of expiry. If a deal link isn't working, the promotion has likely ended.

We define AI agents as software capable of taking autonomous, multi-step actions towards a goal — not just generating text or completing a single prediction. This includes coding agents, research agents, sales agents, and workflow automation agents with goal-directed behaviour.

Agent reviews assess task completion accuracy, context retention, tool use, cost efficiency, and ease of deployment. We test agents against standardised task sets relevant to each category (e.g. code generation accuracy for coding agents, lead enrichment quality for sales agents).

Use the contact form and select 'List your software'. Include your product URL and a brief description. Our editorial team reviews all submissions and will reach out within 5 business days if the product meets our inclusion criteria.

Products must be: actively maintained, commercially available (free tier or paid), business-facing, and relevant to at least one of our 40+ categories. We don't list products that are no longer under development or that serve only consumers.

Yes. Contact us with the updated information. For major changes (new pricing, significant feature updates, rebrand) we prioritise fast turnaround. Routine updates are processed within 5–7 business days.

We offer enhanced profile pages, category newsletter sponsorships, co-authored buying guides, and deal promotions. All are clearly marked as sponsored and do not influence editorial ratings. Contact us for a media kit.

The StakZest Weekly is a curated briefing delivered every Thursday. Each issue includes new software reviews, deal alerts, category deep-dives, and AI agent updates. It's free and sent to thousands of subscribers.

Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Click it to be removed immediately. You can also contact us directly and we'll unsubscribe you manually.

StakZest content is copyrighted. Short excerpts (under 100 words) may be quoted with attribution and a link back to the original article. Full reproduction requires written permission. Contact us to discuss licensing.