Your app's real competitor is a group chat.
Strategy · 4 min read
Every client I work with does the same thing early in the process. They search the App Store for competitors. They screenshot everything. They come to the meeting and say "look, there are already three apps doing this." And sometimes there are. But most of the time, those apps aren't the real competition.
The real competition is whatever people are using right now to solve the problem you're trying to solve. And usually, that's not an app at all.
The workaround is the competitor
I worked on a project where the app was designed to help people coordinate tasks with a team. When we looked at how people were currently managing it, the answer was group texts. WhatsApp groups. Shared notes. The occasional email. Sometimes just shouting across the room.
These workarounds are messy. Things get lost. Nobody knows who's doing what. Messages scroll past and nobody reads them. But they work well enough that people keep using them. And that's the problem. "Well enough" is your real competitor. Not the slick app with 200 reviews on the App Store.
If your app can't clearly beat the WhatsApp group, people won't switch. They'll stick with what they know. Not because it's better. Because switching has a cost, and your app has to justify that cost within the first few minutes of use.
You're not replacing a product. You're replacing a behaviour.
This changes how you think about your app. If your competitor is another app, you compete on features. If your competitor is a behaviour, you compete on ease. Your app needs to be so much easier than the current workaround that switching feels like relief, not effort.
That means understanding the workaround in detail. What tools are they using? How many steps does it take? Where does it break down? Where do things fall through the cracks? The answers to those questions tell you more about what your app needs than any competitor analysis ever will.
Make the switch feel free
The biggest barrier to adoption isn't price. It's friction. If someone has to manually set up everything from scratch, re-enter all their data, and learn a new interface, they'll go back to the group chat. Every time.
Your app should acknowledge that people already have a system, even if it's messy. Import what you can. Pre-populate what you know. Make the first five minutes feel like the app already understands the user's situation. The easier the switch, the more likely it sticks.
Stop worrying about the other apps in the store. Start worrying about whether you're better than a group chat.
Know exactly what you're replacing?
Book a free 20 minute call. Tell me about your idea. I'll be honest about whether this is the right fit. And if it is, we can start within the week.
Book a free 20 minute call