Our methodology

The problem we exist to fix

Search "[any chain] prices" and you'll find pages of confident-looking numbers with no dates and no sources — many invented to catch your click. Meanwhile, several chains deliberately publish no menu at all. So we track prices the way it should be done, and show our work.

Three rules for every number

• Dated. Every price shows the month we observed it. Undated prices are guesses — including everyone else's.
• Sourced. Ranges come from chain-published prices and plan pages where they exist, and cross-checked national price-tracking publications where they don't. For hyperlocal categories like storage, where operators quote only by zip code, we show the observed national band and say plainly that no chain publishes a fixed number — rather than inventing one. When a chain hides its menu, we say so instead of faking precision.
• Refreshed. Every category is re-checked on a monthly cycle. Old data gets updated or clearly marked, never silently left to rot. Each category page now opens with a dated "what changed since the last check" note — including the chains that did not move, and the ones we could not re-verify this cycle, which are labelled as carried forward rather than quietly re-dated.

Why ranges instead of exact prices

Because exact national prices don't exist. Location, vehicle or service specifics, and week-to-week promotions move real prices constantly. A dated range tells you what's normal — which is exactly what you need to spot an unfair quote. False precision would be easier to sell and less true.

Coupon reality

At several chains, standing coupons are so permanent that menu price is effectively fictional. We track that too — because "what it costs" should mean what an informed customer actually pays, not the sticker nobody should accept.

Check our work — the data is yours

Methodology claims are cheap; the test is whether we'll hand you the numbers. We will. The complete dataset — every chain, every price band, every observation date, every source — is published as a free CSV and per-category JSON under CC BY 4.0. Republish it, chart it, or audit it. Get the open dataset →

And if we got something wrong, tell us: corrections@everydaypriceindex.com. We correct in public and date the correction — see corrections & contact.

Independence

We are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any company we track. All trademarks belong to their owners; we reference them only to report observed pricing. If this site ever carries advertising, it will never change a number.