How long does the audit take?

Around four minutes. 22 questions, mostly multiple-choice. You'll see your score, peer benchmarks, savings estimate, and three vendor recommendations on the next page. No email required.

How is this different from G2 or Gartner?

Vendors pay G2 and Gartner. They don't pay us. We test the tools ourselves, publish the scoring rubric, and ship the methodology in plain sight so any buyer can check our work.

What if my business spans multiple industries?

Use the Mixed Industry version. The audit benchmarks you against a cross-industry baseline and the recommendations skip industry-locked vendors that wouldn't fit a hybrid stack.

Why one-time pricing instead of a subscription?

You don't buy a Yardstick Report on subscription. You buy it when you're at a buying decision. Each report is keyed to your specific audit answers (industry, stage, score, CRM, team size, stack), so a report you bought a year ago is a snapshot of your business a year ago. When you're at the next decision point, take the four-minute audit again and buy a current report tied to your new answers. No auto-renew, no upsells, no follow-up sales calls.

Where do affiliate links appear?

Where the guide links to a vendor's product, that link may earn us a commission. Disclosed on every page where it appears. Affiliate revenue does not change rankings; vendors do not pay for inclusion or placement.

Independent by Design

The yardstick for AI tools.

Take the free 4-minute audit See our methodology

Score, gaps, and three tool recommendations tailored to your stack. No email required to see your score.

600+vendors evaluated 15+industries covered 6dimension rubric 0paid placements

Same rubric across every vendor we score. 600+evaluated and counting

The rubric

Six dimensions, public weights.

Vendor decks sell features. We score outcomes, and publish every weight, so you can buy with confidence.

Personalization quality 25%

Ease of data integration & accuracy 25%

Email reputation 20%

Cost-per-seat efficiency 15%

UI heuristics 10%

Setup time 5%

Weights sum to 100%. Bar widths are proportional. Data integration & accuracy is the frontier dimension that runs across every Yardstick cohort.

Two scoring rules outweigh the weights. A tool that can't connect to your stack drags the 25% data dimension to the floor, and that floor cascades into the other dimensions. A tool that can't handle your scale gets penalized hard. Both rules are why our recommendations differ from G2's.

Read the full methodology to

vs. Other Research

Built differently.

Typical vendor research

Vendor pays for placement
Methodology behind paywall
No vendor reply window
Buyers pay just to see a score

Yardstick

Zero paid placements
Methodology fully public
7-day right-of-reply on every Report
Free 4-minute audit, no email

Yardstick Report

Three depths. One-time payment.

Each tier is personalized to your industry and your readiness stage. PDF + PPT delivered immediately after checkout.

Tier 1 / One-time

Quick-Start Playbook

When you already know your stage and just need the focused next move.

The top three plays for where you sit
Your dimension score breakdown
Three vendor picks, with the reasoning
The vendors we did not pick, and why
A 15-page PDF and a 12-slide PowerPoint

Tier 2 / One-time

Strategic Roadmap

When you want the full plan, not just the next move.

Everything in Quick-Start Playbook
The four-stage plan mapped to your stack
The full cohort scorecard, not just your top three
A workforce-impact analysis for your industry
Stack-fit matrix and annual savings estimate
A 30-page PDF and a 22-slide PowerPoint

Most chosen

Tier 3 / One-time

Full AI Deployment

When you are presenting this to a CFO, a board, or procurement.

Everything in Strategic Roadmap
A three-scenario ROI model (Conservative, Base, Aggressive)
A 3×3 sensitivity grid and a 36-month NPV chart
The real cost of each vendor, not just the license
One executive-ready summary slide for the board deck
A 45-page PDF and a 32-slide PowerPoint

Take the audit first. Your score points you at the right tier. Pricing shown at checkout.

Start here

Pick your industry.

Each version of the audit is calibrated for the industry's sales motion, CRM, deal size, and vendor landscape. Don't fit cleanly into one? Mixed Industry is the cross-industry version.

SAB2B SaaS FTFinTech INInsurance PHPharma & Life Sciences CLClinical Workflow RTRetail CNConsulting MFManufacturing REReal Estate CTConstruction TRThe Trades EDEducation MDMedia NPNon-Profit LGLogistics MXMixed Industry

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How long does the audit take?: Around four minutes. 22 questions, mostly multiple-choice. You'll see your score, peer benchmarks, savings estimate, and three vendor recommendations on the next page. No email required.
How is this different from G2 or Gartner?: Vendors pay G2 and Gartner. They don't pay us. We test the tools ourselves, publish the scoring rubric, and ship the methodology in plain sight so any buyer can check our work.
What if my business spans multiple industries?: Use the Mixed Industry version. The audit benchmarks you against a cross-industry baseline and the recommendations skip industry-locked vendors that wouldn't fit a hybrid stack.
What's in each tier, and which one fits me?: Quick-Start Playbook answers "what should I do in the next 90 days?": the three plays that move your score most for your current stage, three vendor picks that survive the stack-fit filter, and the excluded-vendor list with reasons. Best for buyers who already know their stage and just need the focused move. Strategic Roadmap answers "how do I plan the next two years?": every Foundation-to-Optimization stage mapped to your stack, the full vendor scorecard across the cohort, a stack-fit matrix, an industry-specific workforce-impact analysis, and the annual savings estimate with the math shown. Best for revenue leaders planning a multi-quarter rollout. Full AI Deployment answers "how do I get this funded?": everything in Strategic Roadmap plus a three-scenario ROI model (Conservative / Base / Aggressive), a 3x3 sensitivity grid, a 36-month NPV calculation, a vendor cost-of-ownership comparison, and a single exec-ready summary slide built for the CFO. Best for leaders walking the case into a budget conversation. All tiers ship as a personalized PDF + PPT immediately after checkout. Pricing shown at checkout.
Why one-time pricing instead of a subscription?: You don't buy a Yardstick Report on subscription. You buy it when you're at a buying decision. Each report is keyed to your specific audit answers (industry, stage, score, CRM, team size, stack), so a report you bought a year ago is a snapshot of your business a year ago. When you're at the next decision point, take the four-minute audit again and buy a current report tied to your new answers. No auto-renew, no upsells, no follow-up sales calls.
Where do affiliate links appear?: Where the guide links to a vendor's product, that link may earn us a commission. Disclosed on every page where it appears. Affiliate revenue does not change rankings; vendors do not pay for inclusion or placement.

Ready to see your score?

Four minutes. No email. Real recommendations.

Take the free audit