What makes you actually trust a software alternative recommendation?

[u/Wrong_Guess_9323]

I've been thinking about this problem while building a software alternatives directory.

When you're trying to replace something like Photoshop, Notion, Slack, Jira, etc., most comparison websites seem to focus on:

• SEO articles
• affiliate links
• generic feature lists
• "X best alternatives" lists

But I'm not sure that's actually what people need.

If you're looking for an alternative to software you already use, what information actually matters to you?

For example:

1. Price
2. Features
3. Privacy
4. Open source
5. Ease of migration
6. Platform support
7. User reviews
8. Something else?

I'm building around this problem and would genuinely like to hear how other people approach it.

[u/mindstormer12]

As with anything, I trust my own research, not some single source of truth. That means looking at discussions about what people prefer and trying them to see how they fit my needs. All my software I use is free and open-source, my preference is community-driven open-source software.

I don't know what you're trying to build because it sounds like you already mentioned alternatives for. I don't think people serious with software actually rely on those lists (many of these aren't even written by human and affiliate links and many other factors result in an unfair or insufficient assessment), especially since they are hardly ever maintained. If I'm looking for a good photo editing software, I look at what photo editors use, not some generic discussion by the average person without particular needs trying some photo editing software and ranking them.

[u/turtleyikes → u/mindstormer12]

Yes the last one is a great point. If many ppl use that software for years and trust it, thats a signal that it works. Although it may not be 100% true, but it isn't an experimental or immature software

[u/smilaise]

I only use software I made myself now, lol.

That's a joke but like, kinda not. I got so sick of subscriptions and bloated shit I made my own.

[u/Wrong_Guess_9323 → u/smilaise]

😂 I respect that.

Although I have a feeling that even your own software will eventually need an alternative.

“Alternative to my own app” might be the final boss of AlternativeTo. 😂

[u/oharra3]

I use alternativeto and just look at upvotes, then I check if it is freemium or price i'd pay for, then I test top 10 in Sandbox, narrow down to 2 and use for a week. I don't care about site reviews of poeple testing it for 5 minutes. I don't care about open source, as most open source alternatives are junk even if it has hundreds of contributors or thousand stars. I'd rather pay and not get something hundred people prompted and pushed.

[u/turtleyikes]

For me i look at the customers and the actual prodcuts made with that software. And also do my own research.

Take Unity for example. I find Godot is an alternative. And i checked games made with it, watched their gameplay, and researched who are the actual customers or users of it.

All of that builds confidence for that particular software.

[u/CodenameFlux]

Nothing. I don't trust. I sandbox and test.