How we research and score companies

Which companies we cover

We cover security companies that buyers often find hard to research: mostly private, mostly mid-market, with annual revenue under about $500 million. The current reviews span seven areas of security. Household-name vendors that already get extensive analyst and press coverage are left to others.

What we use as evidence

• Vendor pricing pages, product documentation and terms, read on the date shown on each review.
• Cloud marketplace listings such as AWS Marketplace, which often publish contract prices vendors do not show on their own sites.
• Funding announcements, investor disclosures and acquisition records.
• Public procurement records, such as county or agency contracts, which can reveal real prices paid.
• Reporting from established news and trade publications.

Homepage screenshots are captured directly from each company's website on the date shown, and logos are official marks taken from each company's own site.

How scores work

Each company gets a whole-number score from 1 to 10 on five criteria, judged from the evidence cited in its review. The overall score is the average of the five, rounded to one decimal place, and each review shows all five.

• Pricing transparency. A 9 or 10 means full list prices are public on the vendor's site. A 6 to 8 means a public price for the main product, such as a starting price or a cloud marketplace listing. A 4 or 5 means only a partial reference, such as one marketplace tier or a public contract. A 3 means prices are available only by quote.
• Product scope and fit. How completely the product covers the problem it targets for the buyer the review describes, and how clearly it differs from alternatives.
• Company durability. Funding, disclosed revenue or growth, years in market and leadership stability. Layoffs, a recent change of chief executive or a long gap since the last funding round lower the score.
• Evidence of adoption. Disclosed customer counts, customers the company lists publicly, partner networks and marketplace reviews.
• Ease of adoption. How much work it takes to deploy, whether there is a free tier or trial, and contract terms such as minimum seats, setup fees and term length.

A higher score means a stronger overall case for the typical buyer the review describes.

Research reports

Research articles use primary sources first, with US data ahead of other countries. Each chart and table cites the report its figures come from, and each article ends with a methodology note explaining how the numbers were compiled and where sources differ. All money is in US dollars.

Updates

Each review shows the date it was last checked. We recheck a company's review after a funding round, an acquisition, a new CEO or a price change.