Help me decide between two things

The ten-minute method

1. Write the one thing you most need this choice to get right. One thing. Not three.
2. For each option, write how well it does that one thing — from its own website or terms, not from memory.
3. If one clearly wins, choose it. You are done.
4. If they tie, write the one thing you would most regret getting wrong, and repeat.
5. If they still tie, choose the cheaper, the simpler, or the easier one to undo — and stop. Two options that tie on everything that matters to you are close enough that more research will not change your life, only your evening.

When it is not a shopping decision

Two jobs, two cities, two courses. The method is the same, but write down how easily each choice can be reversed. A choice you can undo in a month deserves a month's worth of thought, not a year's. A choice that is hard to undo deserves a conversation with someone who has made it.

Three things instead of two

Do not compare three in pairs. Remove the one that fails your most important need, then decide between the two that remain. Why removing works better than ranking.

Let something do the research

The slow part of the method is step 2. On compare⁄io, type both options and write your one most important need in the box beneath. It searches the web for each, writes a verdict for that need, fills a sourced table — including what owners most often complain about — and you can ask it anything afterwards: "and if I care more about resale value?"