| name | competitive-analysis |
| description | Market and competitive analysis toolkit. Research competitors, analyze market positioning, identify differentiation opportunities, and create comprehensive competitive landscape assessments for software projects. |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Write","Edit","Bash","WebFetch","WebSearch"] |
Competitive Analysis
Overview
Competitive analysis is a systematic process for understanding the market landscape, identifying competitors, and finding differentiation opportunities. Research existing solutions, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, understand market positioning, and inform product strategy with evidence-based insights.
When to Use This Skill
This skill should be used when:
- Researching competitors before starting a new project
- Analyzing market positioning and differentiation opportunities
- Understanding feature landscapes across competing products
- Identifying market gaps and opportunities
- Creating competitive analysis documents for stakeholders
- Informing product strategy and roadmap decisions
Visual Enhancement with Project Diagrams
When documenting competitive analysis, always include visualizations.
Use the project-diagrams skill to generate:
- Competitive positioning maps (2x2 matrices)
- Feature comparison charts
- Market segment diagrams
- SWOT analysis visualizations
- Competitor landscape maps
python .claude/skills/project-diagrams/scripts/generate_schematic.py "diagram description" -o diagrams/output.png
Competitive Analysis Framework
Analysis Components
| Component | Purpose | Key Questions |
|---|
| Market Overview | Understand the market | What is the market size? Who are the players? |
| Competitor Profiles | Deep dive on competitors | What do they do? How are they positioned? |
| Feature Analysis | Compare capabilities | What features exist? What's missing? |
| Positioning Analysis | Understand market positions | Where do competitors position themselves? |
| Differentiation Strategy | Find your angle | How can we be different and better? |
Research Process
Phase 1: Market Discovery
Identify the market landscape:
-
Define the market category
- What problem space are we in?
- What are adjacent categories?
- How do customers describe this space?
-
Search for competitors
- Use
research-lookup to find existing solutions
- Search product directories (G2, Capterra, Product Hunt)
- Review industry reports and analyst coverage
- Search for "[category] alternatives" and "[competitor] vs"
-
Categorize competitors
| Category | Description | Priority |
|---|
| Direct | Same problem, same solution approach | High |
| Indirect | Same problem, different solution | Medium |
| Potential | Could enter this space easily | Monitor |
| Substitute | Alternative ways to solve the problem | Awareness |
Phase 2: Competitor Profiling
For each significant competitor, research:
competitor_profile:
name: "Competitor Name"
website: "https://..."
category: "direct | indirect | potential | substitute"
priority: "primary | secondary | tertiary"
company_info:
founded: YYYY
headquarters: "City, Country"
funding: "Series X / Public / Bootstrapped"
employees: "Range"
valuation_revenue: "If known"
product:
description: "What they do in 1-2 sentences"
target_market: "Who they serve"
positioning: "How they position themselves"
pricing:
model: "SaaS / Usage / One-time / Freemium"
tiers: ["Free", "Pro: $X/mo", "Enterprise: Custom"]
strengths:
- "Key strength 1"
- "Key strength 2"
weaknesses:
- "Key weakness 1"
- "Key weakness 2"
market_presence:
estimated_customers: "If known"
notable_customers: ["Company A", "Company B"]
geographic_focus: "Global / Regional"
technology:
platform: "Web / Mobile / Desktop / API"
tech_stack: "If known"
integrations: ["Integration 1", "Integration 2"]
recent_developments:
- date: "YYYY-MM"
event: "What happened"
sources:
- "URL where information was found"
Phase 3: Feature Analysis
Create a feature comparison matrix:
feature_comparison:
categories:
- name: "Core Features"
features:
- name: "Feature A"
description: "What this feature does"
importance: "critical | important | nice_to_have"
competitors:
"Competitor 1": "full | partial | none"
"Competitor 2": "full | partial | none"
"Our Plan": "full | partial | none | future"
- name: "Feature B"
- name: "Advanced Features"
features:
- name: "Platform & Integration"
features:
Feature rating definitions:
- Full: Complete implementation
- Partial: Limited or basic implementation
- None: Not offered
- Future: Planned for our product
Phase 4: Positioning Analysis
Map competitors on positioning dimensions:
Common positioning axes:
- Price (Low ↔ High)
- Complexity (Simple ↔ Advanced)
- Target Market (SMB ↔ Enterprise)
- Focus (Generalist ↔ Specialist)
- Approach (Self-serve ↔ High-touch)
Positioning Map:
High Price
│
┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
│ Premium │ Enterprise │
│ [Comp C] │ [Comp A] │
│ │ │
Simple ───┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─── Advanced
│ │ │
│ Budget │ Power User │
│ [Comp D] │ [Comp B] │
└─────────────┼─────────────┘
│
Low Price
Identify white space:
- Where are there gaps in the map?
- Which positions are crowded?
- Where could we uniquely position?
Phase 5: SWOT Analysis
For each major competitor:
swot_analysis:
competitor: "Competitor Name"
strengths:
- factor: "Strong brand recognition"
impact: "high"
evidence: "Top-of-mind in category, high search volume"
- factor: "Extensive integrations"
impact: "medium"
evidence: "500+ integrations listed"
weaknesses:
- factor: "Complex pricing"
impact: "medium"
evidence: "Frequent complaints in reviews about unexpected costs"
- factor: "Poor mobile experience"
impact: "high"
evidence: "2.5 star app store rating"
opportunities:
- factor: "Underserved SMB segment"
impact: "high"
evidence: "Pricing starts at $50/user, reviews mention 'too expensive for small teams'"
threats:
- factor: "Strong network effects"
impact: "high"
evidence: "Viral adoption within organizations"
Aggregate into market SWOT:
- Industry-wide strengths and weaknesses
- Market opportunities
- Competitive threats
Phase 6: Differentiation Strategy
Identify differentiation opportunities:
-
Feature Gaps
- What do customers want that no one offers?
- What's done poorly by everyone?
- What new capabilities are becoming possible?
-
Market Segment Gaps
- Which customer segments are underserved?
- Where is pricing misaligned with value?
- Which use cases are ignored?
-
Experience Gaps
- Where is UX frustrating?
- What's overly complex?
- Where can we simplify?
-
Technology Gaps
- What's outdated?
- What new tech enables better solutions?
- Where is performance lacking?
Differentiation Strategy Options:
| Strategy | When to Use | Risk |
|---|
| Cost Leadership | Can sustainably be cheaper | Race to bottom |
| Differentiation | Clear unique value | Hard to communicate |
| Focus (Niche) | Specific segment underserved | Limited market |
| Innovation | New approach is possible | Execution risk |
| Experience | Can be significantly better UX | Easily copied |
Output Templates
Competitive Analysis Report
# Competitive Analysis: [Market Category]
## Executive Summary
- Market overview (2-3 sentences)
- Number of competitors analyzed
- Key insights (3-5 bullets)
- Recommended positioning
## Market Overview
### Market Size and Growth
[TAM, SAM, SOM if available]
### Market Segments
[Key customer segments and their characteristics]
### Market Trends
[Important trends affecting the market]
## Competitor Landscape
### Primary Competitors
[Detailed profiles of direct competitors]
### Secondary Competitors
[Brief profiles of indirect competitors]
### Competitive Positioning Map
[Visual representation of market positions]
## Feature Comparison
[Feature matrix comparing capabilities]
## Analysis and Insights
### Market Opportunities
[Where gaps exist]
### Competitive Threats
[What to watch out for]
### Differentiation Opportunities
[How to stand out]
## Recommended Strategy
[Positioning recommendation with rationale]
## Appendix
- Detailed competitor profiles
- Data sources
- Feature comparison data
Competitor Profile Template
# Competitor Profile: [Name]
## Overview
**Website:** [URL]
**Category:** Direct / Indirect
**Founded:** [Year]
**Funding:** [Amount or status]
**Employees:** [Range]
## Product Description
[What they do and who they serve]
## Pricing
| Tier | Price | Key Features |
|------|-------|--------------|
| | | |
## Strengths
- [Strength 1]
- [Strength 2]
## Weaknesses
- [Weakness 1]
- [Weakness 2]
## Key Features
[List of notable features]
## Customer Reviews Summary
**Positive themes:**
- [Theme 1]
**Negative themes:**
- [Theme 1]
## Recent News
- [Date]: [Event]
## Sources
- [URL 1]
- [URL 2]
Research Best Practices
Do's
- Use multiple sources (don't rely on competitor's marketing alone)
- Include customer reviews (G2, Capterra, Reddit, Twitter)
- Look for recent news and funding announcements
- Document all sources for credibility
- Update analysis regularly (market changes)
- Talk to actual users when possible
Don'ts
- Don't just copy competitor marketing claims
- Don't ignore indirect competitors
- Don't assume feature lists equal actual capabilities
- Don't skip pricing research
- Don't make analysis too long (focus on insights)
- Don't let analysis replace customer research
Finding Information
Product information:
- Company websites and blogs
- Press releases and news
- Crunchbase, PitchBook for funding
- LinkedIn for employee counts
Customer sentiment:
- G2, Capterra, TrustRadius reviews
- Reddit discussions
- Twitter mentions
- App store reviews
Market data:
- Industry analyst reports
- Market research firms
- Trade publications
- SEC filings (public companies)
Feature details:
- Product documentation
- Help centers
- YouTube demos
- Free trials
Quality Checklist
Before completing competitive analysis:
