How Alt Score works
Alt Score orders alternatives within a category. Verified evidence determines 90% of the score; a limited on-site Visibility signal supplies the remaining 10%.
The share of the category checklist the app verifiably supports. A sourced “yes” earns 1 point and “partial” earns 0.5; “no”, unknown, and pending earn 0. Only human-verified answers count.
The app's page views on AltCatalog relative to the most-viewed app in the same category over the last 30 days. It is a small secondary signal that helps distinguish products with similar verified coverage.
Alt Score = (Verified coverage × 0.90) + (Visibility × 0.10)
Visibility measures comparison interest observed on this site. It does not measure product quality, satisfaction, market share, or a decision to switch. A view may come from price, privacy, missing features, news, or simple research.
Popular products can naturally draw more searches, so Visibility can favor name recognition. Capping it at 10% means it can change the total by at most 10 points; verified coverage still does nearly all the ranking work.
Until a category records 500 app-page views in 30 days, every app receives the same neutral Visibility value of 100. That adds the same 10 points to each score, so it cannot change the order. Above the threshold, a 20-view smoothing allowance reduces sudden swings from thin data.
Payment, votes, vendor opinions, and sponsorship. Sponsors can buy a clearly labeled slot, never a position in the ranked list. Suspicious traffic and incorrect pairings can be reviewed by a human.
Common questions
Because it has stronger Verified coverage. Sourced yes and partial answers on the category checklist determine 90% of the score. Visibility contributes only 10%, and only begins to separate apps after the category reaches its traffic floor.
No. Sponsors get a labeled slot above the list; the ranking underneath is untouched. Money buys visibility, never position.
Before a category reaches 500 app-page views in 30 days, Visibility counts the same for everyone, so only Verified coverage can change the order.
No. Visibility measures views of an app on AltCatalog, not satisfaction, market share, or a decision to switch. Interest in alternatives can come from price, privacy, an acquisition, a shutdown, missing features, or simple research.
Open the score breakdown and flag it. Enough flags and a human reviews the pairing.
Every published fact links to a source and a checked date. A value only shows as verified after a human moderator reviews the evidence; anything unconfirmed shows as "?" rather than a guess.