7 HOW TO: Choose a link party service

Since both big link party services just recently went to paid subscriptions I have had a lot of people asking me my opinion on who to use. To start, you will see that I use Linky Tools, but to be honest, the only reason I went with them was because I have two years of link lists that would have been erased (unless I took the time to download each invidual list)!  I did not have the time to go through and download the lists plus get the html back into each post - it would have been a nightmare, so I stuck with Linky Tools.  Linky Tools does not offer any free options, but you can sign-up for a free month trial. (NOTE: If you have used Linky Tools in the past and did not pay for a subscription once they switched to a paid service, your list is GONE, never to be recovered again). Inlinkz on the other hand gave me the option of keeping my old lists EVEN if I didn't pay.  Doesn't seem fair that the good guy gets ousted, but I really just didn't have the time!  Inlinkz also offers statistics on the party -such as how many clicks each link received.  I asked Linky Tools if they could provide this service but apparently the way they are set-up would not allow it unless each person linking had an account and signed in prior to linking.  Inlinkz does offer FREE list parties (no images) so that is a great option as well.  They are also only $19.99 per year (or $1.99/month) and they also offer a referral service - once you receive 3 referrals you can trade them in towards payment of your service. Both services provide the traditional thumbnail service, and both work pretty well. So in short, I think it is obvious that I would recommend using Inlinkz, and if anyone has lots of time on their hands to download all my Linky Tools parties, I would switch over myself! HA HA. This is my opinion.  I understand some people may disagree with me.  If you have thoughts to add to this discussion, feel free to leave a comment!