How we rate software
Every score on Sonary is built the same way: five factors, equal weight, applied identically to every product in a category. This page shows you the whole calculation — what we measure, what earns a 1 and what earns a 5, how expert and user scores combine, and where money does and doesn't enter the picture.
We publish this because a rating you can't interrogate isn't worth much. If you disagree with a score after reading this, you'll at least know exactly which factor to argue with.
Who does the rating
Our reviewers research the category, test the product, and score it against the rubric below. Every review on Sonary carries a named byline, and every byline links to that person's background and full body of work.
Reviewers score the same features across every product in a category, so a comparison is like for like rather than one reviewer's favourite feature set measured against another's.
Rating methodology: The five factors
Each factor is scored from 1 to 5 and carries 20% of the total. No factor outweighs another.
1. Price — 20%
What we evaluate: affordability against competitors, including pricing tiers, free plans, trials, and what you actually get at the entry-level price.
How we score it:
1 — Overpriced, no free trial or free plan, limited value at the entry-level price.
2 — Above-average pricing with a limited trial (e.g. under 7 days), or few features at the base price.
3 — Competitively priced with a reasonable free trial (e.g. 7–14 days), but no free plan.
4 — Good value: affordable tiers and/or a generous free trial (e.g. 14–30 days).
5 — Excellent pricing: a free plan and a free trial (e.g. 14+ days), with feature-rich paid tiers.
E.g. -- A product with a free plan, a 14-day trial, and affordable pricing scores 5. A product with no trial and expensive pricing scores 1.
2. Ease of use — 20%
What we evaluate: how intuitive the interface is, and how much effort the product asks of you before it becomes useful.
How we score it:
1 — Complicated interface, hard to learn, unintuitive for most users.
2 — Somewhat confusing; takes significant effort to understand and use.
3 — Usable, with a few minor usability problems (cluttered menus, for instance).
4 — Easy to navigate, clear structure, minimal learning curve.
5 — Extremely user-friendly; no prior experience needed to get started.
E.g. -- Drag-and-drop functionality and a clean, simple design scores 5. Outdated design and poor navigation scores 1.
3. Features — 20%
What we evaluate: the range, quality, and uniqueness of what the product does.
How we score it:
1 — Very basic; missing tools that are essential for the category.
2 — Limited, with significant gaps in core functionality.
3 — Meets the standard expectations for its category.
4 — Above average: additional features or genuinely useful innovation.
5 — Outstanding: unique or advanced tools competitors don't offer.
E.g. -- A project management tool with task tracking, Gantt charts, and collaboration features scores 5. One missing basic task tracking scores 1.
4. Support — 20%
What we evaluate: the quality, responsiveness, and availability of customer support. Our reviewers contact support directly as part of the review.
How we score it:
1 — Poor support: response times of 72+ hours, or no help offered at all.
2 — Support exists but is slow or unhelpful (over 24 hours to respond).
3 — Decent: meets basic needs, acceptable response times.
4 — Reliable and helpful, with live chat, email, or phone support during working hours.
5 — Exceptional: 24/7 availability, live chat, responses in under an hour.
E.g. -- 24/7 live chat and email support answering in under an hour scores 5. Email only, with responses over 72 hours, scores 1.
5. Performance — 20%
What we evaluate: speed, reliability, and whether the product holds up in real use.
How we score it:
1 — Frequent bugs, crashes, or slow response times; unreliable.
2 — Below average, with occasional bugs or downtime.
3 — Acceptable, with minor delays or rare issues.
— Smooth; meets expectations with no major issues.
5 — Exceptional: consistently fast, stable, and reliable under load.
E.g -- A product that loads instantly, has no bugs, and holds up under heavy use scores 5. Frequent downtime and crashes scores 1.
How the expert score is calculated
Each factor is scored 1 to 5, then weighted at 20%:
Expert Score = (Price × 0.2) + (Ease of use × 0.2) + (Features × 0.2) + (Support × 0.2) + (Performance × 0.2)
Which is the same as averaging the five.
Worked example:
Factor | Score |
|---|---|
Price | 5.0 |
Ease of use | 4.0 |
Features | 4.5 |
Support | 4.0 |
Performance | 4.5 |
(5.0 × 0.2) + (4.0 × 0.2) + (4.5 × 0.2) + (4.0 × 0.2) + (4.5 × 0.2) = 4.4
User reviews
Anyone with a Sonary account can review a product and rate it from 1 to 5. Those ratings are averaged into a User Score. They represent real-world experience from people running the software day-to-day, which is something no reviewer can fully substitute for.
How the overall rating is calculated
When a product has user reviews, the overall rating is an equal split:
- User Score: 50%
- Expert Score: 50%
Example: A User Score of 4.2 and an Expert Score of 4.5 average to 4.35, which rounds to an overall rating of 4.4.
When a product has no user reviews, the overall rating is 100% the Expert Score.
Example: an Expert Score of 4.7 gives an overall rating of 4.7.
Rounding. Scores are shown to one decimal place, rounded to the nearest tenth — 4.67 becomes 4.7, 3.43 becomes 3.4.
Where money fits in
Sonary is free to use. We're paid advertising fees by some of the brands we review, and that's what funds the research.
Here is the line, and it matters:
Advertising fees and conversion rates affect where a brand appears in a comparison table. They do not affect the scores. Position in a table can be affected by commercial arrangements. The 1-to-5 numbers come from the rubric above and nothing else.
We also review products from companies that pay us nothing, and we won't list a brand we don't trust regardless of what it's willing to pay.
What this page doesn't promise
Rating software is not an exact science, and we'd rather say so than pretend otherwise.
We work hard to keep this information accurate and current, but pricing, features, and terms change without telling us, and we don't cover every provider in every market. Treat Sonary as one input into your decision, not the whole of it — read the provider's own terms in full before you commit to anything, because those terms, not our summary of them, are what you'll be bound by.
User reviews are subjective and we can't independently verify them.
Everything here is provided as-is. Your use of the site is at your own risk, and our → Terms of Use govern it.
Think we got a score wrong?
Tell us. If a rating doesn't match the evidence on the page, or a price is out of date, it goes straight to our editorial team, and we'll look at it.