DEV Community: BenchTested

How We Test Software: Same Script, Clean Windows VM, Published Weights

BenchTested — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 02:03:49 +0000

This is a republished copy of our methodology page. The original, with the live score receipt and every category's script, lives at benchtested.app/how-we-test.

Every app in a category goes through the same written script on the same clean Windows machine. Same inputs, same steps, same measurements, so a score of 8 means the same thing for every app.

The four steps

A clean machine. Every app is installed on a fresh Windows 11 virtual machine restored from the same snapshot. Nothing from the last test is left behind.
The same script. All apps in a category run identical tasks, pasted word for word, with answers we collected before the test so results can be graded.
Measured and logged. Each step is timestamped and screenshotted. We record time, cost, memory, prompts and anything the app leaves on your PC.
A weighted score. Each axis is scored from 0 to 10 and combined with fixed, published weights. Apps that have not finished the script get no score.

Skip one step and the app stays "in testing".

Our test machine


Host	VMware Workstation virtual machine
Operating system	Windows 11 Pro, English (US) interface
Hardware	4 virtual CPU cores, 8 GB RAM, no GPU passthrough
Display	1920 × 1080 at 100% scaling, light theme
Starting point	Restored from the same clean snapshot before every app
Accounts	Separate test accounts; free plans or trials unless stated

We test on a virtual machine so every app starts from an identical, clean Windows install, and so nothing an app installs can reach a real computer. After each test the machine is rolled back. A virtual machine has no graphics card, so animation-heavy apps can look slower than on a typical laptop; when that affects a result we say so next to the number.

How a score is calculated

Each category has five or six axes, such as task success, speed, privacy and value. After the script has run, every axis gets a score from 0 to 10 based on what we measured. The axes are combined with fixed weights: what matters most for that kind of app counts three times, minor things once. The overall score is the weighted average, rounded to one decimal. An axis we could not measure is marked "not scored" and left out rather than guessed.

Example: Airtable, tested October 31, 2026

Axis	Score	Weight
Ease of use	7.0	×3
Views & flexibility	7.0	×2
Speed	7.5	×2
Automation & AI	7.0	×2
Integrations	7.5	×1
Value for money	5.0	×2
Overall	6.8	Σ(score × weight) ÷ 12

What the verdicts mean

Top pick: the best overall result in its category, usually 8.5 or higher.
Recommended: a strong choice for most people who match its "best for".
Situational: good at the job, with a drawback you should know about first.
Avoid: failed core tasks or put your data or PC at risk.
In testing: has not finished the script. No score, no ranking.

Test scripts by category

AI browsers (6 tested)

T1 Install from the official site and reach the first agent task; count steps, prompts and minutes, and note anything installed outside the browser.
T2 Run the same 8 scripted tasks on a free test account, pasted word for word: research from official sources, a form fill, a price comparison, a multi-tab extraction, a scheduled routine, a request to buy a book on a demo shop, a five-slide deck and a tricky multi-step form.
T3 Check what the agent may do without asking: purchases, sending messages, entering passwords, and whether every action can be reviewed afterwards.
T4 Measure cold start, idle and under-load RAM/CPU against Microsoft Edge on the same 10 tabs.
T5 Check where chats and page data are processed and stored, training opt-outs, and what is left behind after uninstalling.

Weights: task success ×3, privacy & control ×3, speed & resources ×2, ease of use ×2, value for money ×2, everyday browsing ×1.

Project management (12 tested)

T1 Build the same 40-task product launch project from a written brief; count steps and minutes.
T2 Set up a recurring task, a dependency and a status automation.
T3 Import a 200-row CSV and check what survives.
T4 Measure page-load time for a 500-task board.
T5 Invite a second test user and check permissions.

Weights: ease of use ×3, views & flexibility ×2, speed ×2, automation & AI ×2, value for money ×2, integrations ×1.

Evidence and screenshots

Every review includes a timestamped test log, a checklist of everything we checked, and screenshots taken straight from the test machine; nothing is mocked up or taken from vendor marketing. Screenshots carry a small badge and a faint BenchTested pattern. Personal data that appears on screen is blurred before publishing. Facts taken from a vendor's documentation rather than seen ourselves are labelled "Vendor-stated", and prices come from the vendor's pricing page with the date we checked it.

AI-assisted, human-checked

We test with the help of an AI agent and say so openly. A human editor creates accounts and handles passwords, payments and trials; the AI agent runs the script, times steps, measures and takes screenshots; the agent and then the human editor check every answer against the source; the agent drafts the write-up and scores; the human editor decides the final verdict and publishes.

Rules we never break

No score without a test. Apps that have not finished the script are shown as "in testing", with no score and no rank.
No paid rankings. Affiliate links never change a score, a rank or a verdict, and vendors cannot pay to be reviewed.
No made-up results. If a test went wrong on our side, we say so and mark it "not measured" until we rerun it.
Retests on major versions. When an app changes significantly, we run the script again and update the date on the review.

See the method in action: the AI browser ranking and the project management ranking.

BenchTested tests software on a clean Windows PC with the same script for every app. We may earn a commission through some links on the site; it never changes a score.

12 Best Project Management Tools (2026): Tested on Windows & Ranked

BenchTested — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 23:48:01 +0000

This is a republished copy of our ranking. The original, with a team-cost calculator, a slider to re-weight the scores and every screenshot, lives at benchtested.app/best/project-management.

Project management tools all promise boards, lists and a free plan. We installed twelve of them on a clean Windows 11 virtual machine and ran each through the same eight-step script. The order below comes from those results only.

How we tested

Build the same 40-task product launch project from a written brief; count steps and minutes.
Set up a recurring task, a dependency and a status automation.
Import a 200-row CSV (then 500 rows) and check what survives.
Measure load time for a 500-task board.
Invite a second test user and check permissions.
Ask the built-in AI for a summary, subtasks and "what is overdue?"; export everything and uninstall.

Weights: ease of use ×3, views & flexibility ×2, speed ×2, automation & AI ×2, value for money ×2, integrations ×1.

The ranking

#	Tool	Score	Best for
1	ClickUp	7.4	Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app
2	Notion	6.9	Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup
3	Airtable	6.8	Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out
4	Asana	6.7	Teams ready to pay for Starter or Advanced who want a polished, fast-to-learn project tool with strong import and export
5	Linear	6.5	Software and product teams who live on the keyboard and want a fast issue tracker with a capable free AI agent
6	monday.com	6.5	Teams ready to pay for a polished, flexible work-management tool with strong imports, automations and AI
7	Smartsheet	6.0	Teams who already think in spreadsheets and want Gantt charts, dependencies and automation on top, and are happy to pay and use it in the browser
8	Trello	6.0	Small teams and individuals who want a simple, visual Kanban board with a few automations
9	Wrike	5.8	Larger teams that need strict roles, Gantt planning and reporting, and will pay for Business or above
10	Basecamp	5.6	Small teams and client work that need one calm place for to-dos, messages, files and a calendar, without fields and charts
11	Todoist	5.5	Individuals and very small teams who want a fast, tidy task list with dates and repeats
12	Taskade	5.3	Individuals and pairs who want lists, boards and simple automation for free and are happy in the browser

1. ClickUp — 7.4/10

ClickUp passed every step of our project-management test on the free plan: all the views, a working automation, dependencies, recurring tasks, a 500-row import and an AI that got the facts right and asked before changing anything. It is heavy, though: the Windows app needs about 14 seconds and up to 2 GB of memory, and the import and setup make you do more by hand than they should.

Full ClickUp test log →

2. Notion — 6.9/10

Notion was the fastest app in our project-management test: it started in about 5 seconds, imported 200 rows in 10 and drew a 500-task board instantly, and all four views, including a timeline, are free. But it is a database tool more than a task manager: there are no automations on the free plan, recurring tasks are scheduled templates, its AI turned our subtasks into untitled pages, and the free plan is built for one person.

Full Notion test log →

3. Airtable — 6.8/10

Airtable is a database that makes a capable project tracker: our 40 tasks pasted in one go, CSV import and export kept every value, imports took seconds, automations fired quickly and its AI got everything right and asked before adding records. The trade-offs: no recurring tasks or real subtasks, dependencies that only flag conflicts, Gantt and timeline on paid plans, a free plan capped at 1,000 records per base, and a desktop app that greeted us with a firewall prompt and a bot check.

4. Asana — 6.7/10

Asana is the smoother tool to work in: pasting builds tasks, the CSV import understood all our columns and finished 200 rows in about 10 seconds, its AI was accurate, and the export keeps dependencies. But a new account runs on a 14-day trial, and much of what impressed us, from Gantt charts and rules to custom fields and the AI, is paid. The free plan is for two people and has list, board and calendar views.

Full Asana test log →

5. Linear — 6.5/10

Linear is the fastest and lightest app we have tested in this category, and its AI agent is free and got everything right. But it is a tool for software teams, and it shows: there is no calendar view or task-level timeline, no rule builder, no plain CSV import, and the free plan makes every invited person an admin.

6. monday.com — 6.5/10

monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying.

7. Smartsheet — 6.0/10

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet that runs projects: pasting or importing our data was the easiest of any app we have tested, dependencies rescheduled tasks properly, and its AI was the only one to get everything right and create subtasks on request. But there is no free plan, recurring tasks are missing, the interface switches between a new and a classic look, and the Windows app we tested is being retired in January 2027.

8. Trello — 6.0/10

Trello is still the quickest way to put a list of tasks on a board, and its free automation rules work well. But it is a Kanban tool first: on the free plan you get the board only, priorities have to be colour labels, there are no dependencies, no CSV import and no project-wide AI, and adding hundreds of cards is slow and capped at 100 at a time.

9. Wrike — 5.8/10

Wrike is a deep, enterprise-style tool: five user types, real recurrence, dependencies, a Gantt chart and a fast importer for hundreds of tasks. But everyday work takes more effort than in the other apps we tested: no multi-line paste, weekend due dates moved to Monday by default, and an importer that only takes its own Excel template. Its AI got the task count wrong and could not create subtasks, and the free plan is limited to a board and a table.

10. Basecamp — 5.6/10

Basecamp is calm and quick: the Windows app opened in about 3 seconds, used the least memory of any app we tested here, and kept due dates, weekend days and weekly repeats exactly as entered. But it is not a task manager in the usual sense. There are no priorities, custom fields, dependencies, automation rules, Gantt chart or built-in AI, it imports only Markdown or plain text, and the free plan is a single project.

11. Todoist — 5.5/10

Todoist is the quickest way we found to type a project in: one paste turned 40 lines into dated, prioritised tasks, repeating tasks are effortless, and the Windows app is light and starts in under two seconds. But it is a task list, not a project tool. The free plan stops at 5 projects and 300 tasks per project, our ordinary CSV was rejected, there is no automation, Gantt or dependencies, the calendar layout and AI are paid, and every free-team invitee becomes an admin.

12. Taskade — 5.3/10

Taskade's free plan does more than you might expect: a pasted Markdown checklist built our phases in one go, repeating tasks and a fast automation worked without paying, and CSV import took seconds. But the Windows app was the heaviest we have tested, froze once, and added itself to startup without asking. Imported dates become plain text, the project's own CSV export dropped every due date, Gantt and dependencies are paid, and the free plan has no AI credits at all.

What it costs

Cheapest paid plan for a 5-person team, per year at list price: Todoist and Trello $300, Taskade $360, ClickUp, monday.com and Smartsheet $540, Linear, Notion and Wrike $600, Asana $659, Airtable $1,200, Basecamp $1,740. All except Smartsheet also have a free plan.

Verdict

ClickUp has the highest score in our tests, 7.4/10. Notion suits teams whose tasks live next to docs, Airtable teams who want a database behind their projects, and Asana or monday.com teams who will pay anyway. See the full ranking for every pro, con and screenshot.

BenchTested tests software on a clean Windows PC with the same script for every app. We may earn a commission through some links on the site; it never changes a score. Tests run in October 2026; each step was run once.

ClickUp Review 2026: Free Plan Tested on Windows (8 Steps, 7.4/10)

BenchTested — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:27:02 +0000

This is a republished copy of our review. The original, with all 25 screenshots, the full pass/fail checklist and pricing, lives at benchtested.app/apps/clickup.

Verdict: 7.4/10, Recommended. Best for small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app. Ranked #1 of 5 project management tools we have tested.

How we tested

Windows 11 Pro in a clean virtual machine (4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 1920×1080), ClickUp desktop app 3.5.402 for Windows, a new account on Free Forever and a second test account for permissions. Eight steps, the same for every project management tool:

Step	Task	Result
P1	Build a 40-task product launch project from a written brief	Pass, ≈ 200 actions
P2	Show it as list, board, calendar and Gantt	Pass, ≈ 2 min
P3	Status automation, dependency, weekly recurring task	Pass, ≈ 7 min
P4	Import a 200-row CSV with tricky characters	Partial, ≈ 12 min
P5	Import 500 rows, open a 500-task board	Pass, import < 2 min
P6	Invite a second user, then restrict them	Pass, ≈ 5 min
P7	AI: summarise, write subtasks, "what is overdue?"	Pass, ≈ 1–1.5 min each
P8	Export everything, delete the workspace, uninstall	Partial, ≈ 7 min

What works

Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
500-row CSV import in under two minutes, and the 500-task board opened in under a second (0.7 s)
Brain² summarised our project accurately, answered "what is overdue?" correctly and asked before adding subtasks
Full CSV export in under a minute: all 771 tasks, with comments and subtasks
Removing someone's access took effect immediately

What falls short

Heavy: about 14 seconds from launch to a usable list and 1.7–2.2 GB of memory
The CSV import matched none of our seven columns automatically and needed status values mapped by hand
The import offers to invite everyone whose email is in the file
Starts with Windows by default and leaves about 275 MB and a broken startup entry after uninstalling
Free AI chat is a one-off trial that does not reset
The export drops dependencies and recurrence settings
Busy setup: nine onboarding screens, a phone-number request, an invite nudge and an AI pop-up for every new list

Scores

Category	Score	Why
Ease of use	6.5	Bulk paste and typed dates are quick; busy setup, an easy-to-misuse priority menu and manual CSV mapping
Views & flexibility	9.0	List, board, calendar and Gantt all free, more a click away
Speed	6.5	Fast imports and a 0.7 s board; ~14 s to become usable, up to 2 GB
Automation & AI	7.5	Rules worked and the AI was accurate and asked first; 100 automation actions/month, non-resetting AI trial
Integrations	7.0	Importers for a dozen tools and a complete CSV export; app integrations not tested
Value for money	8.0	The free plan covered the whole test; paid from $9/user/month billed yearly

Pricing (checked Oct 29, 2026)

Free Forever $0: unlimited tasks and members, 60 MB storage, 5 Spaces, 100 automation actions a month, an AI trial with 500 credits
Core $9/user/month billed yearly
Business $17/user/month billed yearly; premium AI models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google start here
Enterprise custom

Verdict

ClickUp did everything our test asked on the free plan: four free views, rules that work, a large import that kept every character, a fast 500-task board, and an AI that was right and asked before acting. The costs are weight and friction: a slow start, up to 2 GB of memory, a startup entry added without asking and left behind after uninstalling, and a CSV import that makes you do the matching.

If your team wants one free tool with lists, boards, Gantt charts and automation, ClickUp is a strong choice. If you only need a simple task list, it is more app than you need. See how it compares with Notion, Asana, Linear and Trello in our project management ranking.

BenchTested tests software on a clean Windows PC with the same script for every app. We may earn a commission through some links on the site; it never changes a score. Tested on Oct 29, 2026; each step was run once. We did not test integrations, docs, whiteboards, chat, time tracking, the mobile and Mac apps or paid plans.

6 AI Browsers Tested on Windows 11: Same 8 Tasks, Ranked (2026)

BenchTested — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 20:02:00 +0000

This is a republished copy of our ranking. The original, with a slider to re-weight the scores, a team-cost calculator and all screenshots, lives at benchtested.app/best/ai-browsers.

AI browsers promise an assistant or agent that reads pages, fills forms and carries out multi-step tasks. We installed six of them on a clean Windows 11 virtual machine and gave each the same eight tasks, pasted word for word, on a free test account. The order below comes from those results only.

How we tested

Install from the official site and reach the first agent task; count steps, prompts and minutes, and note anything installed outside the browser.
Run the same 8 scripted tasks: research from official sources, a form fill, a price comparison, a multi-tab extraction, a scheduled routine, a request to buy a book on a demo shop, a five-slide deck and a tricky multi-step form. Each is scored done, partly done or failed, with time and credits used.
Check what the agent may do without asking: purchases, messages, passwords, and whether actions can be reviewed afterwards.
Measure cold start, idle and under-load RAM/CPU against Microsoft Edge on the same 10 tabs.
Check privacy and leftovers: where chats and page data go, and what stays after uninstalling.

Weights: task success ×3, privacy & control ×3, speed & resources ×2, ease of use ×2, value for money ×2, everyday browsing ×1.

The ranking

#	Browser	Score	Best for
1	Polar	7.0	An AI browser that fills forms, opens tabs, builds files and runs scheduled tasks on its own
2	BrowserOS neo	6.3	People who already use Claude Code, Codex or Cursor and want their agent in a separate browser
3	Dia	6.3	Accurate, sourced answers across tabs and an assistant that asks before it acts
4	Strawberry	6.2	Hands-on users comfortable reviewing what it installs
5	Comet	5.2	A normal Chromium browser with a fast answer panel
6	Genspark	5.0	A free agent on a spare profile with no important logins

1. Polar — 7.0/10

Polar's own agent did seven of our eight tasks and half of the eighth, quickly and with honest reports, on a free plan that barely noticed the cost.

Most tasks took 15 to 45 seconds; the five-slide deck about 50 seconds
Our eight tasks used 52 of the 1,000 starting credits, and 50 more are added every day
2.4 GB of memory with our ten test tabs, the same as Edge
No admin rights, no services, no startup entries
But: an account is required even for plain browsing, the agent's prompts and screenshots go to Polar's servers and unnamed AI providers, and it ran on Chromium 153 while Chrome was at 156

Full Polar test log →

2. BrowserOS neo — 6.3/10

No AI of its own: it is a free, open-source (AGPL-3.0) browser built for an outside agent to drive over MCP. With Claude connected it completed all eight tasks and reported every result accurately, but that score belongs to the pair, and you need a paid AI agent and some setup.

Each task runs in its own named tab group; every session is recorded locally and can be replayed
One-click connection for Claude Code; works with Codex, Cursor and other MCP clients
But: listens on two ports on every network interface, telemetry is on by default, and 752 MB of profile data and recordings stay after the default uninstall

3. Dia — 6.3/10

The most careful AI browser we tested: it asks before it reads or opens anything, got every research task right and built a real, sourced slide deck. But it cannot click or type, so both form tasks failed, and it cannot create scheduled routines.

Asks permission with Allow once, Always for this chat or Deny
Uninstalls cleanly in under two seconds
But: onboarding pre-ticks content-data sharing and more, and it adds a firewall rule that allows outbound traffic for any program

4. Strawberry — 6.2/10

Seven of eight tasks fully right, from quick research to a sourced slide deck and an 11-field tricky form.

But: it creates two enabled local Windows accounts via an admin "sandbox helper" that stay after uninstalling, used 5.3 GB of memory for ten tabs against 2.4 GB in Edge, and clicked "Add to basket" without asking

5. Comet — 5.2/10

On the free plan, a fast, well-behaved Chromium browser with a quick answer panel, but not an agent: in eight tasks its Assistant never once clicked, typed or opened a tab.

Answers in 2–5 seconds with sources; 3.0 GB for ten tabs
But: slide decks need Pro, it installs three Windows services for the whole PC, and two updater services stay after uninstalling

6. Genspark — 5.0/10

Its free side-panel agent really does drive the browser: it researched, filled a form and compared prices well.

100 free credits a day covered all eight tasks with 29 to spare
But: built on Chrome 141 while Chrome was at 156, it left two fields empty on the tricky form while reporting them filled, and it clicked "Add to basket" without asking

Verdict

Polar scored highest in our tests. If it doesn't fit: BrowserOS neo for Claude Code/Codex/Cursor users, Dia if you want an assistant that never acts without asking, Strawberry for hands-on users, Comet as a plain browser with fast answers, Genspark on a spare profile.

Head-to-head pages: Polar vs Dia · Polar vs BrowserOS neo

BenchTested tests software on a clean Windows PC with the same script for every app. We may earn a commission through some links on the site; it never changes a score. Each task was run once, on free plans, in October 2026.