The five checks
1. Si Hua source — does it say which table (Flying Star / Three Harmonies / month-stem)? 2. Timezone handling — can you set where you were born? 3. Brightness (庙旺陷) — readings without star brightness are half a reading. 4. Interpretation depth — template text, or palace-aware analysis? 5. Pricing model — free forever, or a paywall after the hook?
Red flags
A calculator that won't show its conventions is asking you to trust a black box. Doom-laden readings ('certain disaster in 2027') are a sales technique, not a system feature. And any tool that hides its paywall until after you've invested in your chart is telling you how it will treat you later.
Where FateZiwei stands (our honest scorecard)
Si Hua: all three tables, switchable. Timezone: full support plus true solar time. Brightness: complete, color-coded on the chart. Interpretation: a 14-star × 13-palace classical digest library plus AI-assisted readings, labeled as generated content. Pricing: six reading themes free forever; Pro unlocks the rest. We built the checklist first and the product second — but you should verify us against it like anyone else.