Every service on this site gets the same twelve checks, and every check is scored from facts we can point to: the service's own pages, its published samples and public review sites. We save a dated screenshot of each page we read. The score is computed from the facts with fixed weights; nobody types a score.
The twelve checks and their weights
| Check | Weight |
|---|---|
| Price of the full gift | 15 |
| Speed (their claim) | 10 |
| Hear it before you pay | 15 |
| What arrives | 10 |
| Emotion and sound (samples + reviews) | 15 |
| Schedule the gift | 5 |
| Voice input | 5 |
| Revisions | 5 |
| Streaming release | 5 |
| Gifting | 5 |
| Trust (public reviews) | 5 |
| Transparency | 5 |
| Total | 100 |
How the score is worked out
Each check gets a band from 1 to 5. Each band is multiplied by the check's weight, and the total is divided by the best possible total (every band at 5). That share of 5 is the score, rounded to two decimals. For example, a service with every band at 4 scores 4.00.
Public reviews count in two checks: emotion and sound (with published samples), and trust. A service with no public review profile scores 1 on trust, and 2 or 3 on emotion and sound depending on whether it publishes samples.
How each check scores
- Price: the price in USD of the service's fullest one-time gift package, as shown on its site. $10 or less scores highest, over $150 lowest. Every service is scored on its fullest one-time gift package, at that package's price: The Songai at $29, DearSong at $89, everyone else at their single package. Separate add-ons and subscriptions are not counted. Where tiers differ only in song length or speed, the lowest-priced one is used. The lowest "from" price is still shown everywhere.
- Speed: the service's own delivery claim. Minutes scores highest, more than a week lowest. "Not stated" scores low and is flagged.
- Hear it first: whole song before paying scores highest, a sample in the middle, pay-first lowest.
- What arrives: how many of audio file, video, artwork, lyric sheet, share page and physical item come with that package.
- Emotion and sound: from the service's public review score and whether it publishes samples. We have not bought a song from every service; where we have not, the review says so.
- Schedule the gift, revisions, streaming release, gifting: stated yes scores highest; "not stated" scores low, because a buyer cannot rely on it.
- Voice input: telling the story by voice instead of typing it. Stated yes scores 3; not stated scores 1. A 5 is kept for a service that also lets you sing on the song yourself; none does yet.
- Trust: public review score and count, from Trustpilot where it exists. A service's own badges do not count.
- Transparency: whether price, delivery, hear-first and how the song is made are stated plainly.
Company statements
Occasionally a company tells us about a feature before it appears on its site. We record those facts as company statements, with the date and who told us, and we say that the site did not state it at the time of our check. We re-check them on the next review and replace the statement with the site's own words once they exist.
Words we never use
We never say how a service makes its songs unless the service says it. We never call a service "AI" or "human" on our own authority. Where a site contradicts itself, the review says so and shows both quotes.
Money
Rankings and reviews are never paid for. No service can buy a place, a score or a mention. We link to services directly; there are no referral codes at launch.
Re-checks
Prices and claims were last checked 28 October 2026. We re-check every service monthly and keep the date on every table and every check. Each month's ranking stays on its own page, so you can see what moved: monthly rankings.