Verify as a Licensed Contractor
Same trade. Same opinions. Stronger voice. Verified votes carry 70% weight on every product review.
Curated by Steven Risher — Louisiana tradesman
- No SSN or DL Public license DB only
- ~24-hour review Manual + state DB check
- Past votes promoted Anonymous → verified
- Revoke anytime Your data, your call
How verification works
- 1
Submit the form
Email, name, business, state, license number, trade. Takes 60 seconds. You'll get a confirmation link in your inbox right after.
- 2
Click the email link
One click confirms you own the email address. Your votes start counting immediately as anonymous-tier while we verify the license.
- 3
License check (~24 hours)
We look up your license number on your state's public CSLB website to confirm it's active and matches your business name. We email you when it's approved. Past anonymous votes auto-promote to verified-tier (70% weight).
What you get when verified
- 70% vote weight on every category and product (vs 30% for anonymous votes)
- Public quote attribution with your business name + state + license number on product pages — opt-in only
- Past votes auto-promoted the moment your license is approved
- Verified badge next to your name on every quote we feature
- Real influence over which tools rank where on this site — your trade, your voice
"The mobile app finally lets my crew log materials without stopping work."
What we never do
- We don't run credit checks. No background-check service, no Equifax pull, no soft inquiry on your file.
- We don't call your customers. We never reach out to anyone you've worked with for "verification." Your customer list stays yours.
- We don't sell your email. Your email is used for verification + (optional) the monthly newsletter you opted into. That's it.
- We don't penalize your business. Verifying or not verifying has zero effect on how your own business ranks anywhere on this site.
- We don't display your license unless you opt in. If you keep the "display quotes publicly" box unchecked, your license number stays in our database, never on a public page.
Frequently asked questions
Will my license number appear publicly?
Only if you check the "display quotes publicly" box AND submit a quote with a vote. If both happen, your first name + last initial, business name, state, trade, and license number appear on the product page in our verified-quote rotation. Skip the box, skip the quote, or skip both, and nothing about you appears publicly.
What if I'm in a state you don't auto-verify?
Same flow. We currently auto-pull from public license databases in CA, FL, TX, AZ, OR, WA, NJ, MA. For other states, including Louisiana, our team manually looks up your license on the state's public board website and approves you within 24 hours. The process is identical from your side.
What if my business name doesn't exactly match my license?
That's normal — DBA filings, LLC name changes, and "doing business as" variations are common. We approve as long as the license is active and the business connection is reasonable. If we can't confirm the match, we'll email you for clarification before rejecting.
Can I verify but keep my quotes private?
Yes. The "Allow my quotes to appear publicly" checkbox is independent. Uncheck it and your quotes stay private — they still inform our internal sentiment analysis but never display anywhere with your name attached.
Will you send me marketing emails?
Only if you check the newsletter box. Verification confirmation, license approval, and license rejection emails are transactional — those go out regardless. The monthly newsletter is opt-in only and includes an unsubscribe link in every email.
How do I revoke verification later?
Email info@contractortoolstack.com from your verified address. We flip a flag in the database within 24 hours and your verified attribution disappears from every product page immediately. Past votes revert to anonymous-tier weight.
Why does this exist?
Because the contractor software space is full of vendor blogs ranking themselves #1 and pay-to-play "review" sites accepting placement money. We score products editorially based on real testing and add a separate community score from verified contractors so you can see the gap between marketing and reality. Read our methodology →
Who's behind this?
Steven Risher, a Louisiana tradesman from a multi-generational framing family. He came up through GC labor work across every residential trade, then estimating, roofing project management, contractor marketing, and insurance appraisal/adjusting work. These days he builds AI integrations between JobNimbus, QuickBooks, CompanyCam, EagleView, and the rest of the stack he reviews here. More about Steven →