Glossary
The words on the pricing page
Software vendors hide a lot behind jargon. This glossary defines the pricing, contract, and product terms you meet while comparing tools, plus the terms we use when we score and rank them. Plain language, no spin.
Pricing and contracts
What you actually pay for.
Term
What it means
SaaS
Software as a service. Software you rent and use in a browser, billed on a subscription, with the vendor hosting and maintaining it.
Per seat pricing
A price charged for each user, or seat. Five users on a 20 dollar plan costs 100 dollars per month.
Freemium
A free tier with real but limited features, meant to get you in the door before you upgrade to a paid plan.
Annual versus monthly
Paying for a year up front usually cuts the per month rate, but locks you in. Monthly costs more but lets you leave anytime.
Usage based pricing
A bill that scales with what you consume, such as contacts, messages, API calls, or storage, rather than a flat seat fee.
Gated feature
A capability locked behind a higher tier. The thing you came for often sits one plan above the one you priced.
Add on
An extra you pay for on top of the base plan, such as more storage, premium support, or an advanced module.
Seat minimum
A floor on how many seats you must buy. A plan advertised per user can still demand five or ten seats to start.
Overage
The charge for going past a plan limit, like extra contacts or storage. Often priced higher per unit than the base.
Auto renewal
A clause that renews your subscription automatically unless you cancel before a deadline. Read the notice window.
Product and technical
How the tool works.
Term
What it means
Integration
A built in connection to another tool so they share data. Native integrations are maintained by the vendor.
API
An application programming interface. A way for your own systems or other apps to send and pull data programmatically.
Webhook
A message a tool sends to another system the moment something happens, so workflows can react in real time.
SSO
Single sign on. One company login that opens many apps. Often reserved for higher tiers as an enterprise feature.
SLA
A service level agreement. The vendor commitment on uptime and support response, with credits owed if they miss it.
Uptime
The share of time a service is available. A figure like 99.9 percent still allows several hours of downtime a year.
Data export
The ability to download your own data in a usable format. Weak export is a sign of lock in, so check it before you commit.
Vendor lock in
How hard it is to leave a tool, through data formats, contracts, or workflows that are costly to move elsewhere.
Onboarding
The setup phase where you import data, configure, and train your team. Long onboarding is a real and hidden cost.
White label
A feature that lets you put your own brand on the product or its output, hiding the underlying vendor.
How we score
The terms behind our verdicts.
Term
What it means
The rubric
Our five weighted criteria: ease of use, features and depth, value for money, integrations, and support and onboarding. See methodology.
Score out of 100
The weighted total of the five criteria, on a fixed scale, so two tools can be compared on the same basis.
Editor's Choice
The top ranked tool in a category on current scoring. It is earned on the rubric and cannot be bought.
Best for
The use case a tool fits best. A lower overall score can still be the right pick for a specific need.
Affiliate link
A link marked rel="sponsored" that may pay us a commission if you buy. It never changes a score or a rank.
Paid placement
A clearly labeled listing an advertiser pays for. It buys visibility, never a rank. Details on advertise.
Last updated date
The visible date on every commercial page that tells you how current the prices and findings are.
Editorial independence
Our rule that no commercial relationship influences scores or rankings. The full policy is on disclosure.
Where to go next
Now that the vocabulary is clear, put it to work. Browse every cluster on categories, see how we turn these terms into a number on how we vet and methodology, or read head to head matchups on tool vs tool.
If a term you ran into is missing here, tell us through contact and we will add it. This page is dated below and grows as the catalog grows.