The research landscape is broken for buyers

Every source you'd normally use has a conflict of interest. Review sites are gamed. Analysts take vendor money. Colleagues give generic recs because they don't know your company. Vendors are — obviously — selling.

The result: you walk into demos blind, vendors know it, and you make a $50,000 decision on incomplete information. And if it doesn't work, it's your name on it.

A sheet with various charts and graphs, illuminated amidst torn and overlapping sheets with similar data visuals, in a dark setting.

The only evaluation service funded entirely by the buyer.

Most research services take money from vendors — through advertising, sponsored placements, or paid analyst programs. That creates a structural conflict of interest that's almost impossible to eliminate once it exists.

Fide is funded 100% by the buyers we serve. We have no commercial relationship with any vendor we evaluate — not now, not in the future. That's not a policy. It's the model.

“It covers everything.” - Lisa, Enablement Specialist

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. Never. Fide is funded entirely by the buyers we serve. We have no commercial relationship with any vendor we evaluate — not through advertising, referral fees, sponsored placements, or anything else.

  • You can, but understand what you’re working with. These sites are vendor funded, with incentivized reviews and categories that are defined by the vendors themselves. In January 2026, G2 acquired Capterra, Software Device, and GetApp from Gartner, consolidating the four biggest review platforms under one company that vendors pay to be on. The conflict of interest isn’t getting better; it’s getting worse.

  • Most vendors pay to appear in the analyst reports by companies like Gartner or Forrester. Just because they are included does not mean these companies are endorsing them.

  • You can, but be prepared to receive generic recommendations. Those colleagues don’t know your stack, your team, your KPIs, or your actual requirements.

  • Right now, sales and revenue technology, including sales enablement, RevOps, conversation intelligence, and coaching tools. We are expanding quickly. If you are evaluating something outside of that, reach out and we’ll tell you if we can help.

  • A consultant typically comes with vendor relationships, preferred partners, and a methodology built around billable hours. Fide is funded entirely by you, has no vendor relationships, and delivers a fixed-scope deliverable in 5–7 days — not a multi-week engagement.


  • A complete evaluation document which includes: a shortlist of vendors with detailed profiles, market intelligence, 3-year TCO modeling, structured demo scripts, contract terms to negotiate, and a stakeholder brief you can share directly with your VP or CFO. Not a slide deck. Not a summary email. A document you can act on.


  • $7,500 per evaluation, paid upfront. That includes the intake call, the full research and vendor evaluation, the complete deliverable, and one revision. Turnaround is 5–7 business days. No retainer, no ongoing fees. One evaluation, one price.

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