What Tooltester does

Tooltester is a Barcelona-based, privately held content and affiliate review platform founded in 2009 (operating since 2010 per firmographic data) that helps small business owners, freelancers, ecommerce entrepreneurs, and creators select web tools such as website builders, ecommerce platforms, web hosting, email marketing services, live chat software, and AI tools. The platform publishes expert reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, a personalized 'Smart Quiz,' free ebooks, and a weekly newsletter, and has accumulated over 1,175 published posts, 20,000+ monthly readers, 6,000+ newsletter subscribers, and 7.70 million YouTube views. Its underlying technology stack is a standard content publishing platform (WordPress) with ConvertKit for email delivery, and no proprietary AI/ML infrastructure is disclosed.

The business model is a pure affiliate referral model: Tooltester's reviews and tools are free to users, and the company earns commissions when readers click through to purchase reviewed products. Affiliate relationships are explicitly disclosed on the site for transparency. The company operates globally through localized editions in seven European languages (English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese) and distributes content through organic SEO, its own website, YouTube, and a ConvertKit-powered newsletter.

Tooltester runs as a lean independent operation with 1–10 employees (the publicly named team includes Founder Robert Brandl, Content Manager Josep Garcia, SEO Manager Cai Ellis, plus Inka Wibowo, Raphaël Damain, Sarah Baxter, and Annika Müller). The business is part of a broader 'Tooltester Network' that includes EmailToolTester.com and related niche review properties, enabling cross-promotion and shared content resources. The company is privately owned with no disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, or parent company.

Name

Tooltester

Legal name

ToolTester Network

Website

https://tooltester.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tooltester is a Barcelona-based affiliate review platform that helps small businesses, freelancers, and ecommerce entrepreneurs choose website builders, hosting, email marketing, ecommerce, and AI tools through expert reviews and comparisons, monetizing via affiliate commissions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Commissions: Tooltester earns commissions when users purchase tools through affiliate links on their site. The site explicitly states 'Our work is supported by affiliate commissions' and they disclose this to maintain transparency with readers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Tooltester is a content-led web tools review and comparison platform that publishes in-depth reviews, side-by-side comparisons, interactive quizzes, ebooks, and a weekly newsletter covering website builders, ecommerce platforms, web hosting, email marketing, live chat, and AI tools. Its primary commercial mechanism is affiliate referral commissions earned when readers click through and purchase the reviewed third-party tools.

Product overview

Tooltester is a review and comparison platform for web tools, offering expert in-depth reviews of website builders, ecommerce platforms, web hosting services, email marketing tools, live chat software, and AI tools. The platform also provides interactive comparison tools, educational guides, and free ebooks. Key products include the Website Builder Smart Quiz, Website Builder Comparison Tool, and Ecommerce Comparison Tool. Tooltester publishes a weekly newsletter with tool recommendations to over 6,000 subscribers, and offers free digital ebooks on website creation and email marketing. The company positions itself as an unbiased reviewer with a team that tests all tools firsthand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Website Builder Reviews In-depth expert reviews and comparisons of website building platforms including Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Hostinger, Webnode, Jimdo, IONOS, Weebly, Webflow, WordPress, Strikingly, and Elementor One, aimed at small business owners, freelancers, and creators.
• Ecommerce Platform Reviews Comprehensive reviews of ecommerce solutions including Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Ecwid, Wix Ecommerce, Squarespace Ecommerce, and Weebly Ecommerce, targeted at ecommerce entrepreneurs and SMB founders launching online stores.
• Web Hosting Reviews Expert reviews and comparisons of web hosting providers including Hostinger, SiteGround, DreamHost, A2 Hosting, GreenGeeks, Cloudways, Namecheap, Kinsta, WP Engine, GoDaddy, HostGator, and Bluehost, for SMBs setting up business websites and ecommerce stores.
• Email Marketing Services Reviews Reviews and comparisons of email marketing platforms and services, helping small business owners and creators select newsletter and email automation tools.
• Live Chat Software Reviews Reviews of live chat solutions including LiveChat, Tidio, JivoChat, Userlike, and Olark, aimed at SMBs and ecommerce operators seeking customer chat tools.
• AI Tools Reviews Reviews and guides covering AI-powered tools including AI website builders, ChatGPT integrations, and top AI tools for small businesses, aimed at SMBs and creators adopting AI.
• Website Builder Smart Quiz An interactive quiz tool on Tooltester.com that helps users find the most suitable website builder for their specific needs, targeted at SMB owners and creators shortlisting builders.
• Website Builder Comparison Tool Side-by-side comparison tool enabling users to compare different website builders across features, pricing, and capabilities.
• Ecommerce Comparison Tool Side-by-side comparison tool for evaluating different ecommerce platforms across features, pricing, and capabilities, targeted at ecommerce entrepreneurs.
• Website Creation Ebook A free comprehensive guide covering website creation basics, including steps for business websites, ecommerce stores, and portfolios, used as a lead generation asset for SMB owners.
• Email Marketing Ebook A free email marketing crash course for beginners covering newsletter creation and professional email marketing fundamentals, used as a lead generation asset.
• Tooltester Newsletter Weekly newsletter delivered via ConvertKit delivering curated tool recommendations, AI hacks, productivity shortcuts, and exclusive SaaS deals to 6,000+ subscribers (creators, freelancers, and digital professionals).

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,175+ reviews and posts published
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Tooltester NetworkminorOthersTooltester is part of a larger 'Tooltester Network' that includes EmailToolTester.com and other niche review sites. The network provides cross-promotion and shared resources.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BestWebsiteBuilders: BestWebsiteBuilders is a niche review site focused exclusively on website builders, mirroring one of Tooltester's core verticals. It competes directly for the highest-value affiliate keywords in the category.
• EmailToolTester: EmailToolTester is part of the Tooltester Network and applies the same hand-tested review methodology to email marketing services. It is a sister site offering direct comparability on business model, content format, and audience overlap.
• HostAdvice: HostAdvice is a review and comparison site focused on web hosting providers, directly overlapping with one of Tooltester's core verticals (hosting reviews) and targeting the same SMB buyer.
• Website Planet: Website Planet runs an almost identical content model to Tooltester — long-form reviews, comparisons, and 'best of' rankings of website builders, hosting, ecommerce platforms, and other SMB web tools. It is the closest direct niche competitor and competes head-to-head for the same organic keywords.

Broad incumbents

• TrustRadius: TrustRadius is a B2B software review platform serving a similar buyer-research use case. It is a broader incumbent with overlapping audience intent and review-driven monetization, though it skews more enterprise than SMB.
• G2: G2 is the largest B2B software review marketplace, covering a far broader software catalog than Tooltester. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping monetization (vendor/affiliate revenue) and overlapping buyer segments for ecommerce and SMB tools.
• Capterra: Capterra (owned by Gartner) is a leading software review and lead-generation marketplace. While much broader in scope, it competes with Tooltester for organic search traffic on SMB software comparison queries and on affiliate/lead-gen economics.
• Software Advice: Software Advice (a Gartner company) is a software buyer's advisory and review platform targeting SMB and mid-market buyers. It overlaps with Tooltester on buyer intent, content format (reviews/comparisons), and monetization model.
• GetApp: GetApp is a Gartner-operated software discovery and review platform targeting SMBs, the same persona Tooltester serves. It competes for the same category-specific organic queries and operates a similar lead-gen + affiliate revenue model.

Emerging players

• Top10.com: Top10.com produces curated 'top 10' style reviews and comparisons across categories including web tools and SaaS. It uses a comparable content-and-affiliate model and overlaps with Tooltester's audience and SEO strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WebsiteToolTester
• Xx.com/tooltester
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2610742

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tooltester