---
name: research-competitors-prompt
description: A prompt for researching the competitors and alternatives to an app idea, comparing pricing, features, reviews and gaps in a sourced table, so you can find a niche before you build. Use when the user wants competitor research, market research, to find similar apps or alternatives, or to check if an idea already exists.
license: CC-BY-4.0
metadata:
  category: research-prompts
  tags: "research,competitors,pricing"
  author: johnny-bravo
  version: "1.0"
  updated: "2026-10-31"
  status: published
---

# Research competitors (prompt)

## When to use
- Before building, to check whether the idea already exists and where the gap is.
- Works best in an AI with web search turned on. Without it, the answers come from training data and can be out of date.

## Prompt
```text
You are a careful market researcher. My product idea: {{IDEA}}. Target users: {{USERS}}. Region: {{COUNTRY or "global"}}.

1. Find 5-8 direct competitors and 2-3 indirect alternatives (spreadsheets, agencies, doing nothing).
2. For each, give: name, URL, who it is for, core features, pricing (cheapest paid plan, free tier yes/no),
   and the top 2 complaints from real reviews (app stores, G2, Reddit). Quote the complaint and link the source.
3. Put it all in one table, then list 3 gaps no competitor covers well.
4. Recommend one niche I could win first and say why in 3 sentences.

Rules: cite a source URL for every price and complaint. Write "unknown" instead of guessing.
Say which facts you could not verify and the date you checked.
```

## How to adapt
- For a feature rather than a product, replace step 1 with "find 5 apps that already have {{FEATURE}}" and compare how each one does it.
- Paste the gaps into the PRD prompt (write-prd-prompt) as the "problem and goal".
- Ask for the table as CSV if you want to sort it in a spreadsheet.

## Example prompt
"Who else makes apps for booking dog walkers, and what do their users complain about?"