# AltCatalog

> An independent software alternatives directory where published claims show
> their source URL and checked date, values are accepted by human moderators,
> and on-site visibility is measured first-party. Money buys a labeled slot, never a
> ranking position.

## How to read this site

- Unverified values render as "?". Treat "?" as unknown, not as "no".
- Every claim on an app page is listed with its source link under the "Sources" heading.
- Ranking is the Alt Score: Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%).
  Verified coverage comes from sourced yes and partial answers in the category
  checklist; Visibility is first-party app-page views within the
  app's category over 30 days and stays neutral below 500 category views.
  Sponsorship never affects it. See /how-alt-score-works/
- Per-app change history is public at /app/<slug>/history/

## Markdown

Every app and category page has a markdown twin carrying the same data and sources:

- /alternatives/<slug>.md
- /category/<slug>.md

The canonical URLs also honour content negotiation: send `Accept: text/markdown`
to /alternatives/<slug>/ or /category/<slug>/ and you receive the markdown twin.

## Key pages

- /categories/ — every category hub
- /category/<slug>/ — apps in a category, ranked by verified data
- /alternatives/<slug>/ — ranked alternatives to an app, with sourced facts and a comparison checklist
- /about/ — why AltCatalog exists, who operates it, and how vendors can contribute
- /trust/ — the editorial rules this data is held to
- /how-alt-score-works/ — the ranking methodology and its limitations
- /sitemap.xml — every indexable URL

## Structured data

Public pages carry schema.org JSON-LD: SoftwareApplication, ItemList,
BreadcrumbList, and FAQPage where a FAQ exists.