The briefing

A short list, not another tool pile

The Solo Stack Verdict is a free weekly newsletter for people who left a company job and now run a business on their own. You answer the customer email. You send the invoice. You do not have a team to sit through demos.

Each issue looks at a handful of new AI tools and gives one plain-English verdict. We write the way a careful operator would talk to a friend: what it costs, what time it might return, and what you are handing over to use it.

What the words mean

• ADOPT

  Use it. The job is real, the cost is clear, and the risk is small.

• TRY

  Test it on one job, on the free plan or a short trial. Keep it only if the numbers work.

• SKIP

  Leave it for now. The risk, the lock-in, or the missing facts aren't worth your week.

How we check

Prices and product claims come from the company's own website, and every issue says the date we checked them. Time and money savings are labeled as our estimates. If a number comes from the vendor, we say that, and we do not treat it as our test.

If a privacy policy is missing, a pricing page disagrees with itself, or we could not confirm a feature, the issue says so. "We couldn't confirm" is a finding, not a footnote to hide.

What we won't do

• We don't sell a verdict. A sponsor can buy a labeled note. A sponsor cannot buy ADOPT, TRY, or SKIP. The rules are on the sponsor page.
• We don't hide affiliate links inside a review. If a link ever pays us, the sentence will say so.
• We don't recommend putting a brand-new vendor in charge of your books, your customer list, or your inbox without saying what that costs you if they disappear.

Who writes it

The briefing is written in the voice of the publication: a former corporate operator who now runs a one-person business and is tired of tool advice written for people with a staff. There is no outside editorial board.

Questions and corrections: hello@solostackverdict.com.