phase 1 · understand
Market research
Go deeper
Before the ICP is drawn: list the competitors, map every channel they distribute through, and note where their customers talk and complain. The gaps in that map are where you start.
step 1 · who counts as a competitor
Four kinds of competition
Most founders only list the first kind. The other three are usually what the buyer is actually doing today.
Direct — Same job, same buyer, similar product. · VibeDraft: OpenTweet, PumpGTM
Alternative — A different kind of product the buyer uses for the same job. · VibeDraft: X schedulers like Typefully, Hypefury, Tweet Hunter
Do it yourself — Spreadsheets, a VA, an agency, a script they wrote. · VibeDraft: posting by hand, DMing from a Google Sheet
Do nothing — Living with the problem. Often the biggest competitor. · VibeDraft: launching and hoping
step 2 · competitive analysis
Eleven fields each
| field | where to find it | feeds |
|---|---|---|
| One-line positioning | their homepage headline | positioning; how buyers compare you |
| Price and plans | their pricing page | your price band; the 'too expensive' complaint |
| Who they target | homepage, 'for X' pages, case studies | the ICP when you have no payers |
| Channels they distribute through | the channel map below | open lanes; where to compete |
| What they rank for | their comparison, alternative and free-tool pages | which comparison pages you need |
| Communities they run or sponsor | their Discord or Slack, sponsored newsletters and podcasts | where their customers gather |
| Launch history | Product Hunt and other launch sites | how they got their first users |
| Top complaints | low-star reviews, 'leaving X' threads | opening lines; the unhappy-with-tool moment |
| Where their customers talk | review sites, subreddits, their community | detector sources |
| Switching cost | import tools, contracts, data lock-in | what your offer has to remove |
| What they do better | reviews, your own trial of their product | honest comparison pages; what not to compete on |
step 3 · where they distribute
Channel analysis and white space
For each competitor, check every channel below and mark how hard they work it. A channel nobody works, in a place your buyers gather, is white space: an open lane. A channel everyone works heavily is a fight you need a different angle for.
| channel | how to check it |
|---|---|
| SEO content guides, glossaries, templates | search site:theirdomain.com; read their footer and sitemap |
| Free tools calculators, generators, checkers | their footer's tools section |
| Comparison pages 'vs' and 'alternative to' pages | search 'theirname vs' and 'alternative to theirname' |
| Own social the company account | post frequency and replies over the last month |
| Founder account the founder posting as themselves | the founder's profile; building in public? |
| Community Discord, Slack, subreddit | links in their footer; member count |
| Launch sites Product Hunt, Uneed, PeerPush, Show HN | search each site for their name and dates |
| Directories and stores app stores, marketplaces, 'best tools' lists | search their name plus 'directory' |
| Integrations partner marketplaces, plugins, APIs, MCP | their integrations or developers page |
| Referral and affiliate paid referrals, partner programs | a 'referral' or 'affiliates' page |
| Paid ads Meta, LinkedIn, Google | Meta Ad Library, LinkedIn Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center |
| Sponsorships newsletters, podcasts, YouTube | search their name with 'sponsored by' |
One row is filled from OpenTweet's public site as read on Oct 13, 2026. The rest are marked "?" until someone checks them. Hover a cell for the evidence.
| competitor | SEO content | Free tools | Comparison pages | Own social | Founder account | Community | Launch sites | Directories and stores | Integrations | Referral and affiliate | Paid ads | Sponsorships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| direct | ◐ | ? | ◐ | ? | ? | ◐ | ? | ? | ||||
| direct · not researched | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| alternative · not researched | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| alternative · not researched | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| alternative · not researched | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| checked so far | 1/1 heavy | 1/1 heavy | 1/1 heavy | 0/1 heavy | ? | 0/1 heavy | ? | ? | 1/1 heavy | 0/1 heavy | ? | ? |
works it heavily
present
·
checked, not there
?
not checked yet
What the one filled row says
OpenTweet wins on volume: a template library, 20+ free tools, comparison pages against every scheduler, and agent integrations (an MCP server, a Claude Desktop extension, an API). Copying that is a content arms race.
What to check before deciding
Fill the other four rows, then look for columns that stay empty while your buyers gather there (launch sites, founder communities, replies to people posting their launch). Those are the open lanes.
direct competitor
OpenTweet
- positioning
- "The posting layer for X. For your agents, your code, and you."
- price
- $11.99 to $19.99 a month on different pages, 7-day free trial
- targets
- founders, developers, SaaS marketers, content creators, agencies, AI agent builders
- checked
- their public site, Oct 13, 2026. Complaints, launch history and ads not checked yet.
- SEO content
- template library (11 categories), how-to guides, best-time-to-post pages, glossary
- Free tools
- 20+ free tools: tweet generator, shadowban checker, character counters, viral checker
- Comparison pages
- vs Typefully, Hypefury, Buffer, Tweet Hunter; an alternatives hub; 'best scheduler for' pages by role and industry
- Own social
- @opentweetio linked in the footer; posting activity not checked
- Community
- a Discord linked in the footer
- Integrations
- MCP server, Claude Desktop extension, REST API, CLI, Chrome extension, connectors (RSS, GitHub, Stripe)
- Referral and affiliate
- a referral program page
Source: opentweet.io, read during this research on Oct 13, 2026.
step 4 · where it goes
How research feeds the rest of the pipeline
ICP — ← · With no paying customers yet, the competitors' customers are the ICP's evidence: who reviews them, who appears in their case studies and logo walls. Marked as a guess until payers confirm it.
Moments — ← · Three moments only exist because competitors do: unhappy with their current tool, comparing options, and a competitor shake-up (a price rise, shutdown or outage).
Detectors — ← · Competitors' review pages, "alternative to X" searches, their own community, and their pricing and changelog pages (to catch shake-ups the day they happen).
Playbooks — ← · Comparison pages for each direct competitor; community answers in the places their customers ask for help; and extra effort on the channels the map shows nobody works.
Positioning — ← · What each competitor does better, said honestly, and the one thing you do that none of them do. That line becomes your offer.
keeping it current
When to redo it
once before the first ICP · monthly: re-check the matrix · immediately: a competitor changes price · immediately: a competitor launches or shuts down · when a detector starts catching a new competitor's name
A competitor map per product — Nothing stores the four kinds, the eleven fields or the channel matrix yet.
Pricing and changelog watching — Needed for the competitor shake-up moment.
Review and ad-library reading — Check each review site's terms before collecting from it; ad libraries are public by design.