console.dev Selection Criteria
Console is the place to discover the best tools and beta releases for developers. We're always trying out new tools - whether brand new releases, updates, or things we've rediscovered - but we only feature the most interesting. This page explains our selection criteria for how we choose.
Interesting tools
Each week we feature and review 2-3 interesting developer tools in the Console newsletter and on our website.
Our selection criteria are explained below. The more of these questions we can answer positively, the more likely a tool is to be featured. We try to be objective but there is always a subjective element to deciding what we think is the best, most interesting set of tools each week:
Is this interesting and useful to developers?
Is the primary user a developer? A developer might use it, but is it built specifically with developers in mind?
Is there a self-service signup? A demo or speaking to sales may be an option, but an individual developer should be able to try it themselves without speaking to anyone.
Would this form part of a regular-use set of developer tools? Does it fit into the development cycle? Is it a part of the development flow?
Does it make me a better developer? Does it help me reduce/manage bugs, improve build times, get code to production faster, reduce/manage errors, etc?
Would this be used by advanced power-users? Does it support dark mode, is there an API and/or CLI, are there keyboard shortcuts, what about accessibility?
Is the tool high quality? Does it work on multiple platforms and/or browsers? Is it easy to install/deploy? Does it do the job it claims?
Is it being actively maintained with regular bug fixes and updates?
Does it have good documentation?
Is it fast?
Does it have any negative impact on security or privacy?
How would I feel recommending this to my friends? Would I share a link to it?
Betas
We only list early access, alpha, or beta releases of tools where developers are the primary user.
To determine whether something falls under this definition, we use Semver version numbers i.e. the release must be pre 1.0 and/or have an appropriate label in the version number e.g. 1.0.0-beta. Alternatively, the word "beta", "preview" or similar should appear somewhere easily discoverable on the website, release notes, and/or documentation. Any GA or stable releases are not eligible.
Sponsors
Console works with advertisers who want to reach our audience of experienced developers. These are run as a sponsored text ad clearly marked in the newsletter. We do not do sponsored reviews.
Submit a tool
Email hello@console.dev with the details and we'll happily take a look.