# How we compare > Canonical: https://skedsocial.com/compare/methodology/ > Last updated: 2026-08-11 > Author: David Olsen Sked Social publishes comparisons that rank Sked Social first for most social media teams, and we also make Sked Social. This page shows exactly how that ranking works: the capabilities we score, the fixed rubric that turns public facts into numbers, how those numbers become an overall fit score for your kind of team, how we keep the data current, and how we handle the obvious conflict of interest. None of it is hidden, so you can judge the comparisons on their merits. ## What we score: eight capability groups We compare social media tools on eight groups of capability, the things a team actually feels day to day. Every detailed feature we track rolls up into one of these: - Publishing and scheduling: how posts get out, from queues and bulk uploads to native Instagram, Stories, Reels and Google Business Profile. - Collaboration and approvals: approval workflows, roles and permissions, per-client workspaces and audit trails. - Engagement and inbox: a unified inbox, assignment and routing, saved replies, comment moderation, and review management for responding to Google and Facebook reviews. - Analytics and intelligence: dashboards, custom and white-label reports, paid plus organic data, listening and competitor analysis. - Content and assets: link in bio, media library, image and video editing, and design integrations. - AI and agents: AI captions, image generation, reply and report help, and agentic AI. - Platform and access: mobile app, public API, workflow automations, account security and enterprise governance. - Support: the level of human support each tool offers. ## How each capability is scored Every capability is graded from a tool's own published features on a fixed four-point scale, so the same rule applies to Sked Social and to every competitor: - Included in the entry plan scores 3. - Included, but only on a higher-priced tier, scores 2. - A paid add-on, or a partial version, scores 1.5. - Not available scores 0. If a feature is technically included but locked to a pricier tier than the one a tool starts on, we score it as higher-tier rather than full marks, so a capability you cannot reach on the entry plan does not read as if it were free. A group's score is the average of the capabilities within it. Shipped agentic AI and a live connector for AI assistants each add a small bonus in the AI group, because both are real, current capabilities. Support is the one group graded from the level of human help a tool offers, from email only at the low end, through live chat and priority routing, up to a dedicated success manager at the top, and that same grade is what the support weighting uses in the overall fit score. ## The overall fit score, and why it includes price For each kind of team we combine the group scores into a single overall fit score out of five. The groups are weighted by what that kind of team tells us matters most, and the score also factors in price at that team's typical workload. Cheaper, for the seats and profiles you actually use, scores higher. When a tool does not publish a usable price for that workload, we leave price out of its score and weight the remaining criteria instead, so hiding pricing behind a sales call is neither rewarded nor punished. Because price is part of the score, the overall number tilts toward more affordable tools, and Sked Social is inexpensive at entry, so it benefits from this. We would rather say that plainly than hide it. Three things keep the number honest: Sked Social is scored on the same rubric as every rival, we show the per-group capability scores separately so you can weigh capability without price, and we name the teams and needs where a competitor is the better pick. ## What each kind of team weighs The weights come from what buyers in each segment consistently say drives the decision. They are published here in full: - Solo brands: price 30 percent, ease of use 25 percent, Instagram depth 20 percent, scheduling basics 15 percent, support 10 percent. - Growing teams: price 25 percent, ease of use 20 percent, approval workflows 15 percent, Instagram depth 15 percent, scheduling basics 10 percent, reporting 10 percent, support 5 percent. - Agencies: client workspaces 25 percent, approvals 25 percent, white-label reporting 25 percent, per-client inbox 15 percent, price per client 10 percent. - Multi-location brands: bulk scheduling 20 percent, Google Business Profile posting 20 percent, per-location approvals 20 percent, review management 15 percent, local customization 15 percent, reporting 10 percent. - Enterprise teams: roles and permissions 25 percent, security 20 percent, approvals at scale 20 percent, publishing volume 20 percent, reporting 15 percent. Solo brands and growing teams are weighted separately on purpose. A team of a few people starts to need sign-off before posts go out and shared reporting on what worked, in a way a solo brand does not, so the growing-team profile shifts weight from price toward approvals and reporting. ## How we break ties, and why Sked Social never wins one When two tools score the same, we break the tie by category search share first, then alphabetically. Sked Social carries no category search-share value, so in a tie it always sorts below the competitor, never above. The ranking can favour Sked Social on merit, but it can never do so by tie-break. ## Where the data comes from, and how current it is Every competitor fact starts from a public primary source: the vendor's own pricing page, product documentation, help centre or official changelog. We record the source link behind each claim and prefer the vendor's own words. Sked Social's own numbers come from the live product and current pricing, held to the same standard. Two things are worth being precise about. First, the scoring is live and fixed: the rubric above is exactly what runs, with no per-competitor hand-tuning. Second, keeping the data fresh is done by people today. A person checks each fact against its source, dates it, and approves it before anything ships. We are building automation to help flag when a competitor changes its pricing or features, but it is still in review and nothing publishes automatically. Where a fact is not yet verified, the page says so rather than guessing, and every comparison shows the date it was last checked. ## Our conflict of interest We make Sked Social, and our comparisons rank it first. That is a real conflict of interest, and pretending otherwise would not be honest. Here is how we keep the comparisons trustworthy despite it: - We publish the rubric, the weights and the underlying facts, so you can disagree with our conclusion and check the math. - We score Sked Social on the same rubric as every competitor, and it can never win on a tie-break. - We name the teams and needs where a competitor is the better choice, rather than claiming Sked Social wins everything. - We hold Sked Social's own claims to the same evidence and dating standard as our competitors'. - We fix errors in public, through the corrections channel below. ## Spotted something wrong? If you find a fact that is inaccurate or out of date, email [feedback@skedsocial.com](https://skedsocial.com/mailto:feedback@skedsocial.com). We review every flagged correction and respond within five business days. Corrections to the facts take priority over everything else on these pages. ## How a fact reaches the page - Find it in a public source: A vendor's own pricing page, docs or help centre. - Record the source: We keep the link behind every competitor claim. - A person checks it: Each fact is verified against its source by a human. - Date it: The comparison carries the date it was last checked. - Approve: A human signs off before anything changes or ships. - Publish: Nothing goes live automatically. ## Comparison methodology questions ### How do you decide which tool leads a comparison? We score every tool on eight capability groups using a fixed, published rubric, weight those groups by what your kind of team values most, and factor in price at your typical workload to produce an overall fit score out of five. The highest score leads. Sked Social is scored the same way as every competitor, can never win on a tie-break, and we name where a competitor is the better fit. ### Does the score include price? Yes. The overall fit score factors in price at your team's typical workload, so more affordable tools score higher. Sked Social is inexpensive at entry and benefits from this, which is why we also show each tool's capability scores separately and disclose the effect openly on this page. ### Do you get paid to rank Sked Social first? No. Sked Social is our own product, so we have an obvious interest in it doing well, but the ranking is not paid placement and no competitor pays to be included or excluded. We disclose the conflict of interest openly and publish the rubric, the weights and the facts behind every comparison so you can check it yourself. ### Where do the competitor facts come from, and how current are they? From public primary sources: each vendor's own pricing page, documentation, help centre and official announcements. We record the source for every claim, a person checks it before anything is published, and every comparison shows the date it was last checked. Where a fact is not yet verified, the page says so rather than guessing. ### How do I report a mistake? Email feedback@skedsocial.com. We review every flagged correction and respond within five business days.