Evaluate · Interactive Checklist
Evaluate the tool, not the pitch.
Every SaaS pricing page is written to be signed, not audited — this checklist is the audit. Work through fourteen checks across five clusters during your actual trial period, watch the score move as you go, and you will have read the contract, not just the demo.
The checklist below saves its state only in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.
01 — The Checklist
Tick each one honestly.
Only check a box once you have actually done the thing, not once you intend to. The score is for you alone.
Pre-signing scorecard
Fourteen checks · five clusters
Early days — most checks still open.
Data & portability
Cost & contract
Security & compliance
Support & reliability
The India angle
02 — How To Run It
Six steps, across the trial window.
- Run the trial like an audit, not a demo. Use the actual trial period to test the checks above, not just the headline features.
- Export your data once, for real. Confirm the format is usable, not just present.
- Read the security and SLA pages before the pricing page. Certifications, residency and the uptime number, first.
- Time one real support question. Send it through the channel your tier includes and time the reply.
- Model three years of cost, not one month. Seats × price × years, plus the likely renewal change — the audit calculator on this site does this math for you.
- Decide, then diarise the renewal notice window. Whatever you decide, the contract's notice-period deadline goes on a calendar today.
03 — FAQ
Real questions, short answers.
Do I need to clear all fourteen checks before signing?
No — it is a diagnostic, not a gate. Some checks matter more for some tools; security depth matters less for a personal note-taking app than for a tool holding customer data.
Does checking a box save anywhere?
Only in your own browser, using local storage. Nothing is sent to a server and nobody sees your answers but you.
What if the vendor won't answer a security question?
Treat silence as the answer. A vendor confident in its security posture publishes it; reluctance to answer a direct question is itself useful information.
Where do the fourteen checks come from?
They expand the seven-point evaluation on the AFG SaaS homepage into five concrete clusters with pass/fail language you can actually act on during a trial.
Is this legal or procurement advice?
No — educational information only. Route anything contractually material through your own legal or procurement process.
04 — Sources
Where this checklist comes from
- AFG SaaS — “Before You Sign,” the seven-point homepage ledger this checklist expands.afgsaas.allfrontierglobal.com/#checksInternal · companion page · accessed 25 Jul 2026
- AFG SaaS — “GST on SaaS in India,” the sourced guide behind check 14.afgsaas.allfrontierglobal.com/india/Internal · companion page · accessed 25 Jul 2026
About this page: the fourteen checks are original editorial synthesis of common SaaS evaluation practice, grouped for a trial-period workflow. No vendor is named, scored or rated anywhere on this page.
The Concierge
Stuck on one check?
Describe what a vendor told you — or did not tell you — and the concierge will help you read it, point at the right check above, and tell you what to ask next.