A small desk that reviews software for small businesses
Choosing a CRM, an email tool or a website builder is a decision most owners make once, in a hurry, from a page written by a vendor. We wanted the page a knowledgeable friend would have written instead.
What the site is
OSI Affiliate covers 5 categories of business software: CRM & Sales, Email Marketing & Automation, Website & Funnel Builders, Project Management & Productivity, SEO & Marketing Tools. In each one we review and score the tools a solopreneur or a team under twenty is actually choosing between, keep one short shortlist, and write the comparisons that decide between the picks. There are 15 full reviews on the site today, and every one has a staff name on it.
It is written for the owner replacing a specific tool, not for a procurement team. So each review says who the tool is for, who should skip it, and what the bill looks like a year in, in plain words and without a login or a demo call.
How it started
The site began as a set of shortlists: two to four picks per category, with the reasoning shown and the affiliate model stated on the page instead of buried in it. That premise has not changed. What changed is who does the judging. Shortlists on their own are an opinion; a review is an opinion with the work shown. So the site now runs on staff reviews: a member of the desk signs up for the tool, tests it against the same five criteria as every other tool, and writes down what they found.
The methodology page is the full method, including its limits.
How we work
- Everyone on the desk has used the category of tool they review in a business of their own or for a client, before reviewing it here.
- We test in our own accounts, on the plan a reader would buy, and the review says when a vendor gave us a demo account instead.
- Every review is read by a second member of staff before it is published, and disagreements go in the review rather than being smoothed over.
- We say plainly which links pay us. The disclosure is on every page with a vendor link, at body size, and a commission has never moved a score or a position.
Meet the desk
The people who write, test and check what is published here. A profile marked as not filled in yet is exactly that: a slot on the desk waiting for its person.
OSI Affiliate Reviews DeskEditorial team
The staff desk behind every review, shortlist and comparison on this site. We sign up for the tools ourselves, read the pricing page rather than the press release, and say plainly which links pay us. Where a finding rests on documentation rather than our own daily use, the page says so.
34 articles
Reviews EditorLead reviewerProfile not filled in yet
Placeholder profile. Replace this entry in src/data/authors.json with the staff member who leads hands-on testing: their name, a two-sentence background, and a photo in src/assets/images/authors/. Articles they write set author: reviews-editor.
0 articles
Software TesterHands-on testingProfile not filled in yet
Placeholder profile. Replace this entry with the staff member who runs each tool through the scoring criteria on the methodology page: name, background, and photo. Articles they write set author: software-tester.
0 articles
Get in touch
A tool we should review, a pricing line that has gone stale, a caveat you think is unfair, or a comparison you wanted and could not find: all of it is worth a message, and all of it is read by a person.