INDEX / AI TOOL COMPARISON WEBSITE WITH AFFILIATE MONETIZATION / BUILT
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Try Tested
BY TAMAS KALMAN · FROM THE IDEA AI TOOL COMPARISON WEBSITE WITH AFFILIATE MONETIZATION (VERDICT: SKIP)
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THE STORY
I built Try Tested as an AI tools directory for people comparing tools before they buy. Instead of another generic affiliate list, every tool is scored by an independent agent panel: Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, and Grok. The site publishes tool pages, category pages, comparison pages, pricing, verdicts, score history, and outbound affiliate CTAs.
The first version shipped with 40 tools across 12 categories, an admin dashboard, affiliate scanning/editing, dynamic sitemap, llms.txt, analytics, and a daily/monthly evaluation pipeline. The surprising part was the affiliate reality: the biggest AI tools often have no affiliate program, so the product had to lean harder into original agent-panel testing and no-pay-to-rank trust.
LESSONS LEARNED
The affiliate thesis only works after checking the actual programs. Many high-search tools do not monetize directly, and recurring commissions are less common than the idea sounded. The durable wedge is not “AI tools list”; it is original, repeatable testing with transparent methodology.
Want to build this idea too? Read the full analysis.