If you have searched for software lately, you may have noticed that the first page of Google is full of listings not from the software companies themselves but instead from software review sites.
Review sites can be handy to find a list of products for a particular segment. The reviews themselves can also be helpful, although the quality of listings and reviews is mixed.
Here are some of the top sites:
- G2.com
- Capterra
- SourceForge
- Crowdreviews.com
- Software Advice
- Technology Advice
- SaaS Genius
- GetApp
- SoftwareSuggest
- TrustRadius
Review sites take pains to ensure that reviews are genuine, but some fake reviews seem to get through. In some cases reviewers are paid for reviews which could affect their authenticity.
Software review sites are financed by the companies with paid listings - this is not Consumer Reports. Paid listings are more prominently featured and can even pop up as ads on the free listing pages of competitors.
Some review sites earn extra revenue by taking your information as a software shopper and selling it as leads to the software vendors.
I have noticed that some categories contain products that have been misfiled, so you may have to cull through them carefully to find what you need.