Tool discovery

I need an app that does X. There are 400 that come up in a search. Which one is best? Getting good recommendations for commercial products is a tricky incentive design problem, and various sites solve it with differing success.

Alternativeto crowdsources recommendations for software on the basis of being “like” some other software except better (cheaper, more maintained, different OS). Handy when your favourite app is suddenly discontinued or has a price hike. Although I have used this the most, I am no longer as enthusiastic because if I try to submit apps, the experience is icky and spammish. I might have more success with one of the listed alternatives to Alternativeto such as Product Hunt or Slant. These alternatives are organised by category of product rather than alternatives to particular products.

Much buzz attaches to Yourstack, a virally popular peer review site with distressingly ugly pastel rainbow design, spun off by Product Hunt. It looks similar to Turtle, which comes from the previous buzz cycle and focuses, as far as I can see, purely on web-dev/dotcom-related tools. Do not go there for reviews of chainsaws.

There are more traditional consumer guides out there. Comparitech offers a number of good focused roundups on mostly software stuff. Makeuseof is some kind of reviews site. I am unclear about their editorial policy. Choice magazine is probably still operating somewhere out there.