Imagine this: you’ve spent months building a new email marketing tool, only to find a competitor launched first – with automated segmentation, built-in A/B testing, and a sleek dashboard your users rave about. And to top it off? They’ve included a special email deliverability tracker – the very idea you’d been pushing for months. Damn it.

But here’s the thing: with a solid product competitive analysis, you can avoid head-slapping (and bank-sapping) surprises like this. 

You’ll know what your competitors are offering, where they’re falling short, and exactly how your product can stand out.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Spot direct and indirect competitors (and why both matter).

• Compare features like pricing models, integrations, and user experiences.

• Analyze customer feedback to uncover pain points and opportunities.

• Use tools like live website testing to compare competitor pages side-by-side.

Plus, we’ll walk you through examples in action, tool recommendations, and expert tips to help you sharpen your strategy and deliver a product that wins over your audience.

Ready to gain the edge your product deserves? Let’s dive in!

What is a competitive product analysis?

A competitive product analysis is when you evaluate similar products in your market to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and unique features. By comparing pricing, functionality, and customer feedback, you can uncover opportunities to refine your offering and stand out. 

Product competitive analysis vs UX competitive analysis

While product competitive analysis looks at what your competitors offer – from features to pricing – UX competitive analysis focuses on how they offer it. Think of it this way:

• Product competitive analysis compares features, pricing models, and value propositions. It’s about understanding your competitor’s offering.

• UX competitive analysis digs into the user experience – how intuitive, fast, and accessible those offerings are. It’s about understanding the journey your users take.

Example in action: While a product analysis might tell you that your competitor offers a free trial, a UX analysis will show you if signing up for that trial is easy or complicated. Together, they provide a complete view of your competitive landscape. But, pardon that brief segue – this guide will focus very much on product competitive analysis and how it shapes your product strategy.

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Why product competitive analysis matters

Product competitive analysis isn’t just about keeping tabs on the competition – it’s about making smarter decisions that shape your product’s success. By analyzing your competitors, you’ll uncover market trends, identify gaps to fill, and learn from their missteps to avoid wasting time and resources.

For example, let’s say you’re launching a new project management tool. By breaking down features from competitors like Asana or Trello, you might discover that Asana excels at team collaboration, but users find its interface overwhelming. Meanwhile, Trello’s simplicity is praised, but users complain about limited reporting features. 

With these insights, you could prioritize an intuitive dashboard with built-in reporting tools, directly addressing those pain points and guiding your product development strategy.

Competitive analysis also helps you understand what messaging resonates with your audience. Are competitors positioning themselves around simplicity, affordability, or enterprise-level power? Knowing this lets you sharpen your own value proposition and stand out with a clear, compelling angle.

Ultimately, a strong product competitive analysis isn’t just research – it’s your blueprint for designing a product that solves real problems, delights users, and claims its space in a crowded market.

Key components of product competitive analysis

A strong product competitive analysis covers several key components to give you a complete picture:

• Identifyies direct and indirect competitors: Look for companies offering similar products and those solving the same problems differently. 

• Analyzes competitor strengths and weaknesses: Create a SWOT analysis for each competitor to clearly see their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

• Compares product features and differentiators: Build a feature matrix to compare usability, functionality, and innovation side by side.

• Breaks down pricing and value propositions: Document each competitor’s pricing model and highlight what makes each offering appealing or costly to users.

• Evaluates customer feedback and sentiment: Use tools like G2 or Capterra to gather real user opinions, focusing on recurring themes in praise and criticism. Market research can also reveal broader industry trends and user preferences.

• Assesses market positioning and brand perception: Analyze competitor marketing materials, social media presence, and customer loyalty to understand how they're perceived. Incorporating user research insights and usability testing into your analysis ensures a well-rounded understanding of both competitors and user needs.

How to conduct a product competitive analysis 

A successful product competitive analysis follows a structured process. You’ll need to gather the right data, compare key aspects, and use your findings to strengthen your product. Discovery research plays a key role here, helping you explore market needs and refine your approach. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started.

Step 1: Define your objectives and scope

Before you dive in, ask yourself: What do you want to achieve with this analysis?

Are you aiming to:

• Refine your product’s features to address unmet needs?

• Adjust your pricing to compete more effectively?

• Improve your marketing strategy with clearer positioning?

Defining your objectives keeps your analysis focused and actionable. For example, if your goal is to iterate your product for continuous improvement, you’ll want to compare competitor features, customer pain points, and release patterns. If you’re refining pricing, you’ll analyze competitors' tiers, discounts, and perceived value.

Next, set your scope: Will you compare products across the entire market or just the key players?

If, say, you’re launching a fitness tracking app, you might analyze popular apps offering step counting, heart rate monitoring, and sleep tracking. But you’d also want to look at niche solutions, like those focusing on guided workouts or habit coaching.

This clear focus – on both objectives and scope – ensures your competitive analysis delivers results you can act on to shape your product and strategy.

Step 2: Identify your key competitors

Make a list of your top competitors. Start with direct competitors – those offering similar products to the same audience. Next, identify indirect competitors who might solve the same problem differently. 

Example in action: If you’re building a customer support tool, direct competitors might include Zendesk and Freshdesk, while an indirect competitor could be an AI chatbot platform. Identifying the right mix ensures you don’t miss any threats or opportunities.

Step 3: Gather data from multiple sources

Ruben Portz, founder of TractionPad, says: “There's no substitute for customer feedback when it comes to honest insights into your competitors' weaknesses. Customer reviews offer a treasure trove of information about potential opportunities for your business. What do the customers say about the product, what do they wish to have, what are they frustrated about, and why do they decide to move on to another one? Having a closer look at those will sharpen your unique selling point.”

You’ll need accurate, up-to-date data to make informed comparisons. But don’t stop there. Industry reports, social media feedback, and even conducting user interviews that focus on competitors can provide deeper information. Think of it like assembling a puzzle – the more pieces you collect, the clearer your competitive landscape becomes.

Step 4: Analyze product features and pricing

Compare each competitor’s product features side by side. What do they offer that you don’t? Where do their products shine? Pay close attention to usability, unique features or tools, and overall user experience. 

Pricing matters too. Are competitors offering tiered plans, free trials, or discounts? Understanding their pricing models helps you position your product competitively – whether that’s through better value, unique features, or a more flexible plan.

Step 5: Evaluate competitor marketing and branding

“Your target audience must need you in a way nobody else does”, says Ontogen Digital, “You can position yourself in such a way that your target audience will have no option but to come to you. This can be easily done if you analyze your competitor's market positioning. For this, you need to study how your competition differentiates themselves on social media, press releases, website copies, and product descriptions. Finding their Unique Selling Points will help you differentiate your brand.

For example, a competitor emphasizing “simplicity for small teams” might leave an opening for you to target enterprise clients with more advanced needs. Understanding their marketing helps you refine your own message and stand out.

Step 6: Identify gaps and opportunities

What are the competitors missing that you can offer? Maybe their onboarding process is clunky, or their pricing is too steep for startups. Pinpoint these gaps and think about how your product can fill them.

Example in action: If reviews mention slow customer support, you could highlight your rapid response times. Finding these opportunities helps you carve out a unique space in the market and deliver more value to your users.

Step 7: Summarize your findings and take action

Once you’ve gathered all your data, summarize your findings into clear insights. What strengths can you build on? Where do you need to improve? Use these insights to refine your product, adjust your pricing, or enhance your marketing strategy.

Remember, this process isn’t just about observation – it’s about driving your product forward.

Example of a competitor product analysis

Okay, let's go back to that new email marketing tool of yours ... Here’s an example of how you might break down your competitor analysis.

Challenges of conducting a competitive analysis

Competitive analysis isn’t without its challenges. Here are some common hurdles you might face and how to handle them.

Finding accurate data 

Not every competitor openly shares pricing, product features, or roadmaps. You may need to rely on:

• Customer reviews and forums for real-world feedback.

• Competitor blogs, press releases, or social media for product updates.

• Third-party tools like G2, Capterra, or BuiltWith for feature comparisons.

Managing time constraints 

Collecting, organizing, and analyzing data from multiple sources can be overwhelming. To manage the workload:

• Use competitive analysis templates to structure your research.

• Automate data collection with tools like Crayon or Similarweb.

• Focus on your most relevant competitors first before expanding your scope.

Keeping your analysis current 

The market moves fast – competitors add new features and adjust their pricing regularly. Stay ahead by:

• Setting regular review cycles (e.g. quarterly or bi-annually).

• Using real-time monitoring tools for updates.

• Revisiting your analysis before major product decisions or launches.

Despite these challenges, the effort pays off. A well-maintained competitive analysis offers invaluable information you can use to shape your product strategy and keep you one step ahead.

Best tools for conducting a product competitive analysis

The right tools make competitive analysis easier and more effective. Whether you’re tracking competitors’ updates, gathering user feedback, or analyzing product features, here are some top tools to consider.

Lyssna - Gather user feedback about your competitors

Need deeper feedback about your competitors? These Lyssna features can help you understand your market:

• Live website testing: Compare your site against competitors side-by-side to discover which experiences users prefer and why.

• User Interviews: Uncover detailed information about competitor products, including what features users value most and where they encounter frustrations.

• Surveys: Gather qualitative and quantitative data at scale about competitor strengths, weaknesses, and positioning directly from your target market.

These research approaches help you:

• Identify competitive gaps where user needs remain unmet.

• Understand preference patterns that drive customer decisions.

• Validate product improvements with real user feedback.

• Make data-driven strategy decisions instead of relying on assumptions.

Our compare competitor pricing pages template is a good place to start with competitive analysis – you can use it to understand how customers evaluate your pricing against competitors.

G2 & Capterra – Customer reviews and competitor sentiment analysis

G2 and Capterra give you direct access to customer opinions on competitor products. You’ll see what users love, what frustrates them, and where competitors excel or fall short. These platforms make it easy to gather real feedback.

Crayon – Real-time competitive intelligence platform

Crayon tracks your competitors in real-time, so you’ll never miss a product update, pricing change, or marketing shift. Imagine getting alerts when a competitor launches a new feature or runs a campaign – giving you time to respond strategically. Crayon’s insights help you stay agile, refine your product roadmap, and adjust your messaging to remain competitive without the manual effort.

Klue – AI-powered competitor tracking and analysis

Klue uses AI to monitor competitor activity, from product launches to marketing campaigns. You’ll get curated insights that help you anticipate competitor moves and adjust your strategy. Think of it as having a digital assistant that keeps an eye on the competition while you focus on building your product. Klue’s automation saves you time and ensures you’re always in the loop.

Pendo – Product analytics and feature adoption tracking

Pendo helps you understand how users interact with products – both yours and your competitors. You’ll see which features drive engagement, where users drop off, and what improvements are needed. For competitive analysis, you can track how well competitor features are adopted and use that data to refine your own product strategy.

Google Trends – Market trends and product demand analysis

Google Trends helps you track search interest over time, showing which products or features are gaining traction. You’ll see how competitor products are performing in terms of search volume and identify emerging trends. 

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Take your product strategy further with user feedback

Competitive analysis isn’t just about watching your rivals – it’s about uncovering what truly resonates with your audience. When you understand your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, you can make sharper product decisions, craft messaging that connects, and deliver experiences your users love.

Pete Martin is a content writer for a host of B2B SaaS companies, as well as being a contributing writer for Scalerrs, a SaaS SEO agency. Away from the keyboard, he’s an avid reader (history, psychology, biography, and fiction), and a long-suffering Newcastle United fan.