The Computer Manual · 2026
Clear top lists of software, apps, services and companies
We write top 5, top 10 and top 20 style guides to software, apps, services and companies. Each guide opens with a direct answer, a comparison table and prices taken from vendor pages on a dated check. New guides sit at the top of the site. Historic how-to URLs from the old Computer Manual are recorded in the Archive.
Latest guides
New comparisons are listed first. Older recovered how-tos, when they exist, live in the Archive.
Best Live Chat Software for Support Teams in 2026
Seat and conversation prices for LiveChat, Tidio, Crisp, Intercom, Zendesk and Freshdesk.
14 Nov 2026Best AI Help Desk Software for 2026
Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom Fin, Help Scout Envoy, Tidio Lyro and Crisp AI credits.
14 Nov 2026Best Email Finder Tools for Sales Teams in 2026
Hunter and Snov public credit plans, with Apollo and Findymail pointed at official pages.
14 Nov 2026Best Lead Generation Software for Sales Teams in 2026
Snov and Hunter as priced starting points, with Apollo pointed at its official page.
14 Nov 2026Best Email Marketing Automation Software in 2026
Brevo from $9 a month, with MailerLite, Omnisend, Klaviyo and Mailchimp beside it.
14 Nov 2026Best A/B Testing Software for Product and Marketing Teams in 2026
GrowthBook from $40 a seat, Statsig from $150 a month, and PostHog's published free allowances.
14 Nov 2026Best SEO Software for In-House Teams in 2026
Semrush from $117.33 a month billed annually, Ahrefs from $129, and Screaming Frog from £199 a year.
14 Nov 2026Best LLM SEO Rank Tracking Software in 2026
Peec from $95 a month, Surfer Analytics at $82, and Ahrefs Brand Radar from $199.
14 Nov 2026Best ChatGPT Alternatives for Everyday Work in 2026
Claude Pro at $17 a month billed annually, with other assistants pointed at their official pages.
14 Nov 2026Best Observability Platform for Engineering Teams in 2026
Grafana Cloud Pro from $19 a month, New Relic's first full platform user at $10, and Honeycomb from $150.
14 Nov 2026Best Amazon S3 Alternatives for Object Storage in 2026
R2 at $0.015 per GB-month with free egress, Backblaze B2 at $6.95 per TB, and Spaces from $5 a month.
14 Nov 2026Best RPC Providers for Blockchain Apps in 2026
QuickNode Build at $34 a month billed annually, Infura Developer at $50, and Alchemy's $0.52 per million CU rate.
14 Nov 2026Best AI Image Generator Software in 2026
A shortlist of major AI image tools, with official pricing pages and no invented rates.
14 Nov 2026Best Animation Software for Beginners in 2026
Animaker from $10 a month, Powtoon Lite at $15 a month billed yearly, and Vyond from $58.
14 Nov 2026Best PTO Tracking Software for Small Teams in 2026
Timetastic from $1.50 a user, Vacation Tracker from $2, Factorial from $8, and BambooHR from $10.
14 Nov 2026Best Event Registration Platforms in 2026
Ticket Tailor from £0.60 a ticket, Humanitix at 2.1% plus $0.99, and Eventbrite at 3.7% plus $1.79.
14 Nov 2026Best Product Configurator Software for Online Stores in 2026
Teeinblue from $49 a month, Kickflip from $59 plus a percentage, and Zakeke from $59 billed annually.
14 Nov 2026Best Platforms to Build an Online Community in 2026
Skool from $9 a month, Heartbeat from $40 a month billed annually, and Circle from $89.
14 Nov 2026Best Ecommerce Subscription Platforms in 2026
Seal from $24.95 a month with 0% transaction fees, Loop from $99 plus 1%, and Recharge from $149.
14 Nov 2026Best User Research Tools for Product Teams in 2026
Hotjar from $39 a month, Lyssna Growth at $166, and Dovetail Bronze at $4,800 a year.
Categories
Customer support software
Live chat, help desks and AI support agents. 2 guides.
Sales and marketing software
Email finders, lead tools, lifecycle email, tests and user research. 5 guides.
SEO and AI search tools
Crawlers, rank tools and AI visibility trackers. 2 guides.
Developer and data platforms
Object storage, observability and blockchain RPC. 3 guides.
AI and creative software
Chat assistants, image tools and beginner animation. 3 guides.
Operations and commerce software
PTO, events, communities, configurators and subscriptions. 5 guides.
Guides are written by The Computer Manual Editorial Team. Read how we score, our editorial policy, and the disclosure.