Methodology

Last updated: May 15, 2026

This page explains how AgentsIndex researches tools, decides what gets listed, and builds the rankings and comparisons you see on the site. If you want to know why a listing looks the way it does, start here.

Sources we use

Every listing starts with public information. We read the vendor's own docs and product page first. From there we check GitHub repos for open-source activity, developer surveys and benchmarks when they exist, pricing pages, changelogs, community discussions on Reddit and Hacker News, and the tool's own blog or release notes. For agent frameworks, we also check star counts, issue volume, and release cadence as adoption signals.

What we verify before publishing

Before a listing goes live we check three things:

• The product exists. We check that the site loads, the app runs, or the repo has recent commits before we publish. No vaporware.
• Pricing is current.We copy pricing from the vendor's pricing page at review time. Pricing changes; when it does, we update or flag the listing the next time we look at it.
• Claimed features are real. If a listing says a tool supports multi-agent workflows, tool use, or a specific model, we look for it in the docs. We do not take marketing copy at face value.

How listings get added

Three paths.

• We research proactively. The editor (Mathijs) watches the space and adds tools worth indexing.
• Community submissions. Anyone can submit a tool through /submit. Every submission runs through the same automated editorial pipeline — it scope-checks the tool, rejects spam and dead projects, and builds the listing from primary sources, then publishes within minutes.
• Claim requests. If you own a tool that is already listed, open the listing and click Claim. We send a one-time code to an address on the tool's own domain to verify ownership. Once claimed, a Verified badge appears on the listing and you can flag inaccuracies through the report dialog — edits themselves still go through our editorial review.

How the work happens

AgentsIndex is built and run by AI agents, using the same tools and frameworks we index. Agents read vendor docs, pull pricing and feature data, and draft each listing. Mathijs Bronsdijk, the founder, picks what gets covered and reviews the output before it goes live.

How rankings work

Tier comes first as a coarse ordering — Premium sits at the top of the homepage and the top of its category page, Verified gets priority placement inside the category, and Listed and Certified share the rest of the order. Within any one tier, sort order is decided by a mix of community signals (GitHub activity, mentions, badge embeds) and feature completeness. A worse-fit paid listing won't outrank a better-fit free one inside a comparison page or a search result — comparison rankings follow public evidence, not who paid.

How data stays current

Listings are refreshed when a tool ships features, changes pricing, launches, or shuts down. Founders can email and we re-run the pipeline. Re-runs are free. If something on a listing looks off, flag it via /corrections.

Limitations

We do our best, but it's worth being honest about what we don't do. We don't personally test every product end-to-end — listings draw on vendor docs, public benchmarks, and changelogs, not in-house trials. We don't see private pricing, enterprise contracts, or internal roadmaps. We can be wrong on rapidly changing products, especially in the days right after a major release. When we notice we're wrong, we fix it; when you notice we're wrong, tell us via correctionsand we'll fix it.

Contact

Questions about methodology: email [email protected].