Competitive Research Tools
Every successful startup founder needs to spend time researching the landscape of competitors and alternatives their startup will operate within. A generation ago, that would have meant hiring a market research firm. Today, there are incredibly powerful tools available, many of them free.
Here’s my quick list of some resources you should be aware of:
🔍 General Competitor Analysis
- SimilarWeb – See competitors’ traffic sources, top referring sites, audience demographics, and engagement metrics.
- Crunchbase – Get funding history, key personnel, and business overview for startups and tech companies.
- CB Insights – Track competitors’ funding rounds, market maps, and tech landscapes.
- Owler – Basic profiles, news tracking, and estimated revenue of competitors.
💻 Web & SEO Analytics
- SEMrush / Ahrefs / Moz – Deep insights into competitors’ SEO strategy, backlink profiles, top keywords, and paid ads.
- SpyFu – See what keywords competitors are buying on Google Ads and how well they rank organically.
📱 Social Media & Content Tracking
- BuzzSumo – Identify the most shared content from competitors and see which influencers are amplifying it.
- Brandwatch / Sprout Social / Hootsuite Insights – Track brand mentions, sentiment, and engagement across platforms.
📦 Product & Feature Intelligence
- Product Hunt – Discover new products and see how your competitors are launching or iterating.
- Canny / Trello Boards / Notion Public Roadmaps – Some companies publish public roadmaps or user feedback forums—great for spotting upcoming features.
🛒 Pricing and E-commerce Intelligence
- Prisync / Price2Spy / Competera – Automatically track pricing and availability of competitors’ products.
- BuiltWith / Wappalyzer – Analyze tech stacks and tools used by competitors on their websites.
🗣️ Customer Reviews & Feedback
- G2 / Capterra / Trustpilot – See what users love or hate about competitors’ products.
- Reddit / Quora / Forums – Great for unfiltered opinions and use-case-based discussions.
🧠 Market and Strategic Insights
- Gartner / Forrester (if budget allows) – High-level reports on industry trends and competitive positioning.
- Google Alerts – Free way to monitor news and updates about competitors.