The PixelCrayons
Index.
By The PixelCrayons team · Updated 12 October 2026
Five pillars, fixed weights, one score out of 100 for every firm. Client evidence carries the most weight, then depth in the discipline, then transparency, track record and recent activity. The same code scores every firm, PixelCrayons included, and every input is a public figure with a source and a date.
What earns
the points.
Every rule below is the code that scores the lists, written out.
- Client evidence
- 35 points
- Up to 25 points from the firm's Clutch rating after the review-count adjustment: 4.0 or below earns nothing and 5.0 earns all 25. Up to 10 more from how many reviews it has, on a log scale that reaches full marks at 100 reviews. A firm with no Clutch reviews is scored at the typical rating with no volume points, 7.5 of 35.
- Discipline depth
- 30 points
- 8 points for a page on the firm's own site dedicated to this exact service. Up to 22 more for case studies in the discipline published on its own site, at 2.75 points each up to eight. We count only studies that clearly show this discipline.
- Transparency
- 15 points
- 7 points if the firm's own site publishes prices or rate bands. 4 points each for showing a minimum project size and an hourly band on Clutch. We score whether a firm tells you its prices, never what they are.
- Track record
- 10 points
- Up to 7 points for years in business, reaching full marks at 20 years. Up to 3 for team size by Clutch's employee band: 250 or more earns 3, 50 or more 2.5, 10 or more 1.5, 2 or more 1.
- Recent activity
- 10 points
- 10 points for a dated case study, post, news item or client review in the last 12 months. 5 points if the latest is 12 to 24 months old.
Few reviews,
less certainty.
A perfect rating from three clients is weaker evidence than a slightly lower one from two hundred. So before scoring, each firm's Clutch rating is blended with a typical rating of 4.3, counted as if it were 10 extra reviews.
adjusted = (rating × reviews + 4.3 × 10) ÷ (reviews + 10)
With many reviews the adjustment barely moves the rating. With few, it pulls the rating toward the middle until more clients have reviewed the firm.
Our own score,
step by step.
PixelCrayons on Best SEO Companies (October 2026): a Clutch rating of 4.9 from 18 reviews adjusts to 4.69. With 3 case studies counted in the discipline, it scores 74.8 and places number 13 of 13.
- Client evidence
- 23.5/35
- Discipline depth
- 16.3/30
- Transparency
- 15.0/15
- Track record
- 10.0/10
- Recent activity
- 10.0/10
How a firm
gets on a list.
- We start each list from Clutch's category for the service and market, the firms named in current search results for the list's phrase, and known specialists in the discipline.
- A firm needs at least one case study in the list's discipline on its own site. Reputation alone doesn't place a firm on a specialist list, and PixelCrayons is held to the same rule.
- A list is published only when at least eight firms qualify. A shorter list waits for the next edition.
- If a firm's own site or Clutch profile can't be read when we check, we leave the firm out for that edition rather than score it on half its evidence.
- US lists include firms that serve US clients, wherever they are based. India lists include firms headquartered in India. Worldwide lists include firms anywhere.
- Country editions exist only where buyers in that country search for their own firms. We don't make a page for every country.
- Nobody applies and nobody pays. PixelCrayons is listed where it offers the service; ValueCoders, our sister company in the Vinove group, never is.
Public pages,
checked monthly.
We read two kinds of source: each firm's Clutch profile, and the firm's own website (service pages, case studies, pricing and dated posts). We read only pages anyone can open, and we never estimate a missing figure. If we can't find it, the firm gets no points for it.
Every month we check each figure again and rescore every list. The list's changelog says what moved, and each firm's profile keeps its past scores. Every list can be downloaded as CSV with all the inputs, so anyone can re-run the scores.
A listed firm can correct its data: email hello@pixelcrayons.com with Rankings correction in the subject line and a source. We check it, rescore and log the change.
What the score
can't tell you.
- It can't see the team you'd actually get. Two projects at the same firm can go very differently, so meet the people before you sign.
- It reads only what is public. Firms that keep their best work under NDA score lower on discipline depth than their work deserves.
- Clutch is one review platform. A firm with most of its reviews elsewhere is under-counted on client evidence.
- A score ranks firms in general. Your budget, timeline and market decide which firm fits you.
Frequently
asked.
A 5.0 from three reviews tells you less than a 4.8 from two hundred. We blend each firm's rating with a typical rating, weighted as if it had ten reviews, so small samples move toward the middle until more clients have spoken.
A lower price isn't better and a higher one isn't either. We score whether a firm tells you its prices, not what they are, and show each firm's minimum project and hourly band so you can filter for your budget.
Yes, by doing things that help buyers: getting reviewed by clients, publishing case studies in the discipline, publishing prices and showing recent work. None of it can be bought from us.
We check the source it sends. If the figure was wrong, we fix it, rescore the list and note the change on the list and on the firm's profile, with the date.
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