How we test automation tools
Dated pricing, real cost-at-scale math, no paid placement.
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Every comparison on SelfHostFlow follows the same process.
What we do
- Dated pricing. Every price and task/operation limit is quoted from the vendor’s own pricing page with the date we verified it.
- Real cost-at-scale math. We model total monthly cost at 5,000 / 50,000 / 500,000 tasks, and for self-hosting we count the VPS cost and the realistic maintenance hours — not just “it’s free.”
- Real reports. We cite verbatim, attributed quotes from Reddit, GitHub, Hacker News, G2 and Capterra — positive and critical — with links.
- When to self-host, when not to. Self-hosting is cheaper in dollars and costs you in hours; we say which side of that line you’re on.
What we don’t do
- No paid placement. A commission never moves a verdict.
- No fabricated testimonials or invented numbers.
- No first-person “I migrated my Zaps” claims we can’t substantiate.
AI assists our drafting; a human checks every number against source. See our affiliate disclosure.