Understand before you compare.

These notes explain what sits behind a software bill rather than a single product: why a free plan stops being free, and what it really costs to leave a tool. Each one ends on what our 59 records show about the subject.

Read one before a comparison when the price you see does not match the price you expect. The billing units and evidence levels that used to have their own notes now live in the research note on billing units and in the methodology.

When each note helps

Before you sign up for a free plan

The free-plan trap checklist: the unit that runs out first, collaboration limits, exports and the point where you will have to pay.

Before you switch tools

Calculate the cost of switching: the second subscription during the move, the time to rebuild and what does not come across.