I had just moved to a rural property and owned a generator I grabbed on impulse. I saw the wattage rating on the box, figured it would handle whatever I needed, and didn't really think about it again until the power went out and stayed out. Turns out that generator had a really high total harmonic distortion rating, which basically meant I couldn't trust it to run anything with sensitive electronics. I spent five days juggling extension cords, rotating what I could plug in, and generally just trying to keep things running.
While I was sitting there waiting for the power to come back I started doing research. I wanted to compare generators the way you'd compare any other piece of equipment. Spec for spec, apples to apples. But the information was all over the place. Every manufacturer presented their specs differently. Wattage ratings weren't consistent. Noise levels were tested under different conditions. Some brands didn't even publish their THD numbers. Just trying to get a real comparison between two similar generators meant opening a bunch of tabs and pulling data into my own spreadsheet.
So that's exactly what I did. And the spreadsheet just kept growing. More models, more brands, more specs. At some point it got big enough that a spreadsheet didn't really make sense anymore and I figured other people were probably dealing with the same problem I was. That's how RightGenerator became a website.
How this site actually works
Every generator on this site is scored using a system that is completely transparent. We normalize specs across wattage bands and product types so you're always comparing similar generators against each other. The scoring looks at running and starting watts, noise, weight, runtime, inverter quality, warranty, and price. Nothing is hidden and nothing is sponsored. If we recommend something you can see exactly why it scored the way it did.
We pull real pricing from multiple retailers so you're looking at what things actually cost right now, not some MSRP from six months ago. And our comparison tools have rules built in so we're not putting a little 2000 watt inverter generator next to a 10,000 watt open frame unit and pretending that's a useful comparison.
Who I am
I'm AJ Quick. I'm a mechanical engineer living in Colorado. I built this because when I needed to make a real decision about a generator I couldn't find the tools that would actually help me do it. If you have feedback or questions or just want to share your own power outage story feel free to reach out.