The Shop Guide is an independent publication about the things people actually buy. We research categories one at a time, compare what is available, and write up what we find in plain language.
What we publish
Buying guides and side-by-side comparisons. Each guide takes a single category, sets out the handful of things that genuinely separate one product from another, and explains what those differences mean for someone deciding what to buy.
We would rather cover a narrow subject properly than a broad one loosely, so the catalogue grows slowly and on purpose.
How we work
We start from the specifications a manufacturer publishes and from what owners report over time. Where a claim cannot be checked, we say so instead of repeating it. Where the sensible answer is that two products are much the same, we say that too.
Our comparisons are written before any commercial arrangement is considered, and a product is never ranked higher for commercial reasons. When a guide is supported commercially, that is disclosed on the guide itself.
About this site
This is the home page of the publication. Individual guides live at their own addresses and are reached from where they are published, not from a directory here.