Why Most Tool Reviews Can’t Be Trusted

Search for a review of almost any AI tool and you'll find glowing writeups that all sound suspiciously alike. Here's why: most reviews are written by people who earn a commission if you buy, many are written by people who never used the tool past the signup screen, and a growing number are written by AI itself, summarizing the tool's own marketing page.

That doesn't make every review worthless — this site earns commissions on some links too, and says so. The difference to look for is whether the reviewer shows real use: actual screenshots of their own work, specific complaints, things the tool is bad at. A review with no downsides is an ad. Every real tool has downsides.

So the first filter is simple: discount any review that lists only strengths, and weight the ones that tell you who the tool is not for. The sentence “don't buy this if…” is the most trustworthy sentence in any review.

Takeaway: trust reviewers who show their work and name the flaws. A review without a single complaint is marketing with extra steps.