: The challenge of finding services or resources in Web services and Grid environments has recently been the subject of a lot of attention. Different solutions to this problem were proposed, each with its specific model and realization. Although all solutions address the same problem, it is very difficult for a non-expert and even for an expert in the field to decide if one solution is better then another and why. In this paper we propose a systematic set of criteria, a framework, that can help in the evaluation of different discovery approaches. We exemplify the use of our framework on some of the most relevant discovery approaches in Web services and Grid areas.