How Do You Map Your App's Competitive Landscape?

A small team spent two years building what they thought was a revolutionary photo editing app. They poured everything into complex filters and professional-grade tools—only to launch and discover Instagram had just released similar features to its billion users. Their app got buried before it even had a chance. Sound familiar? This happens more often than you'd think, and it's exactly why understanding your competitive landscape isn't just helpful—it's absolutely critical for survival.

When I work with clients on app development, one of the first things we do together is map out who they're really competing against. And I mean really competing against, not just the obvious players. Sure, everyone knows about the big names in their industry, but what about the indirect competitors? The apps that solve the same problem in a completely different way? Or the new startups that are quietly gaining traction while flying under the radar?

The biggest mistake app developers make is assuming they know their competition without actually doing the research

Competitive landscape mapping isn't about copying what others are doing—it's about finding your unique position in a crowded market. It's about understanding user expectations, pricing strategies, and feature gaps that you can fill. When you truly understand the competitive landscape, you can make smarter decisions about everything from your app's core features to your marketing strategy. You'll know where to compete head-to-head and where to differentiate yourself completely.

In this guide, we'll walk through the exact process I use with clients to map their competitive landscape systematically. By the end, you'll have a clear picture of your market position and a solid foundation for making strategic decisions about your app.

Right, let's talk about understanding your competition—because if you think your app idea is completely unique with zero competitors, you're either the next Steve Jobs or you haven't looked hard enough. And honestly? It's usually the latter.

I've had countless clients walk into meetings convinced they've found some magical gap in the market that nobody else has spotted. But here's the thing—competition isn't necessarily bad news. Actually, it's often good news because it means there's a proven market for what you're trying to build. No competition can sometimes mean no demand.

When I start mapping out the competitive landscape for a new app project, I'm not just looking for apps that do exactly the same thing. That's the obvious bit. I'm looking at anything that solves the same problem or fulfills the same need, even if it does it in a completely different way. Take Uber, for example—its competition wasn't just other ride-hailing apps (there weren't many when they started). It was taxis, public transport, car ownership, even walking. That's the kind of thinking you need.

You see, understanding your competition is about more than just features and pricing. It's about understanding the entire ecosystem your app will live in. What are people currently using to solve this problem? How satisfied are they? What complaints keep showing up in app store reviews? Where are the gaps that nobody's filling properly?

The goal isn't to copy what everyone else is doing—it's to understand the playing field so you can find your own winning position.

Identifying Direct and Indirect Competitors

Right, let's get into the nitty-gritty of who you're actually up against. When I start mapping out the competitive landscape for a new app, I always tell clients there are two types of competitors they need to worry about—and most people only think about one of them.

Direct competitors are the obvious ones. These are apps that do exactly what yours does, target the same users, and solve the same problems. If you're building a fitness tracking app, then other fitness trackers are your direct competition. Simple enough, right?

But here's where it gets interesting—indirect competitors are often the ones that'll catch you off guard. These are apps that solve the same user problem but in completely different ways. Let me give you an example: if you're building a meditation app, sure, other meditation apps are direct competitors. But what about sleep podcasts? YouTube relaxation videos? Even that person's favourite Netflix series they use to wind down? They're all competing for the same "help me relax" need your users have.

Start by listing every app or service that could prevent someone from downloading yours. This includes non-app solutions like websites, physical products, or even old-fashioned pen and paper methods.

Mapping Your Competitive Categories

I usually break competitors down into these categories when doing market analysis:

• Direct competitors - same solution, same target users
• Indirect competitors - different solution, same user need
• Substitute competitors - alternative ways to solve the problem
• Adjacent competitors - apps that might expand into your space

That last category? Those are the ones that keep me up at night. They're apps with similar user bases who might decide to add features that compete with yours. Instagram didn't start as a shopping platform, but look at it now—it's competing directly with e-commerce apps.

The key is being honest about what job your app is really hired to do. Because that's exactly what your real competitors are doing too.

Right, let's talk about actually doing the research—because knowing you need to research your competition and actually doing it properly are two very different things. I've seen too many clients skip this step or do it half-heartedly, then wonder why their app didn't perform as expected in the market.

The App Store and Google Play are your starting points, obviously. But here's what most people get wrong—they just search for their main keyword and call it a day. That's not research, that's barely scratching the surface! You need to dig deeper. Search for related terms, check out the "customers also viewed" sections, and look at what apps are ranking in adjacent categories.

Free Tools That Actually Work

Google Trends is brilliant for understanding search volume over time. You can see if interest in your app category is growing or declining, which is pretty crucial information when you're planning a launch. App Annie (now data.ai) offers free insights too, though their premium data is where the real gold lives.

Don't overlook social media research either. Reddit, Twitter, and industry forums are goldmines for understanding what users actually think about existing apps. People are brutally honest in reviews and social posts—use that to your advantage.

When to Invest in Premium Tools

If you're serious about your app (and I hope you are!), tools like Sensor Tower, AppTweak, or Mobile Action are worth the investment. They'll show you download estimates, revenue data, and keyword rankings that you simply can't get anywhere else. Yes, they cost money, but launching an app without proper market intelligence is like driving blindfolded—you might get lucky, but probably not.

The key is combining multiple research methods. Free tools give you the broad picture; premium tools add the details; social listening gives you the human element. Together, they paint a complete picture of your competitive landscape.

Analysing Competitor App Features

Right, so you've identified your competitors—now comes the fun part where we actually dig into what they're doing. I mean, this is where you get to play detective with their apps, and honestly? It's one of my favourite parts of the whole market analysis process.

Start by downloading every single competitor app you can get your hands on. Yes, even the ones that look rubbish at first glance—sometimes they'll surprise you with a clever feature tucked away somewhere. Create accounts, go through their onboarding flows, and actually use the apps like a real user would. Don't just poke around for five minutes; spend proper time with each one.

Core Functionality Deep Dive

Look at what features they consider most important—these usually get prime real estate in the navigation or homepage. Take screenshots of everything; you'll want to reference these later when you're planning your own feature set. Pay attention to what they're doing differently from each other too—that's where you'll spot gaps in the market.

The apps that succeed aren't necessarily the ones with the most features, but the ones that execute their core features better than anyone else

Here's something most people miss: check how they handle edge cases and error states. What happens when there's no internet connection? How do they deal with empty states? These seemingly small details can make or break user experience, and they're often where you can find opportunities to do better.

Feature Mapping Exercise

Create a simple spreadsheet listing all the features you've found across competitors. Mark which apps have which features—you'll start seeing patterns emerge. Some features will be table stakes (everyone has them), while others might only appear in one or two apps. Those unique features? That's where the real competitive intelligence lies.

User Experience and Design Analysis

Right, let's talk about something I'm genuinely passionate about—how your competitors are actually treating their users. You can learn more from spending an hour using a competitor's app than from reading a hundred market reports. I mean it.

Download their apps. All of them. Create accounts, go through their onboarding process, try to complete actual tasks. Pay attention to how you feel during each step because that's exactly what your potential users are experiencing too. Are you confused? Frustrated? Delighted? Those emotions matter more than any feature list.

What Actually Matters in UX Analysis

Look at their navigation patterns first—how many taps does it take to get to core features? I've seen apps fail simply because users couldn't figure out how to do the main thing the app was supposed to help them with. Check their loading times, especially on slower connections. Notice how they handle errors; do they explain whats gone wrong or just show a generic "something went wrong" message?

Pay special attention to their onboarding flow. How do they introduce new users to the app? Do they ask for permissions upfront or wait until they're needed? Most importantly, how quickly can a new user get value from the app? The best apps I've built get users to their "aha moment" within the first 30 seconds.

Design Patterns That Actually Work

Document the visual patterns your competitors use—not to copy them, but to understand user expectations in your market. Users develop mental models based on apps they use regularly, so fighting against established patterns usually backfires. However, look for gaps where competitors are all doing the same thing poorly. That's often where you'll find your biggest opportunity to stand out and genuinely improve the user experience.

Pricing and Monetisation Strategies

Right, let's talk money. Because honestly, understanding how your competitors make their cash is just as important as knowing what features they offer. I've seen too many brilliant apps fail because their creators didn't properly research the monetisation landscape in their market—and that's a mistake you can't afford to make.

When you're mapping your competitive landscape, you need to dig deep into how each competitor generates revenue. Are they using freemium models? One-time purchases? Subscription tiers? In-app advertising? Most apps actually use a combination of these strategies, and the devil is really in the details.

Common Monetisation Models to Track

• Free with ads (and what kind of ads they're running)
• Freemium with premium features locked behind paywalls
• Subscription models (monthly, yearly, or both)
• One-time purchase apps
• In-app purchases and microtransactions
• Affiliate marketing and partnerships

Here's what I always tell my clients: download your competitors apps and actually try to spend money in them. What's the user journey like? How aggressive are their upselling tactics? Do they offer free trials, and if so, how long? Some apps make it ridiculously easy to upgrade while others seem to hide their premium features—both approaches tell you something about their strategy and user base.

Pay special attention to pricing tiers too. If most apps in your space charge £4.99 monthly but one competitor is successfully charging £19.99, that tells you something about perceived value and market positioning. Different market segments may require completely different pricing approaches, especially when targeting premium users.

Create a spreadsheet tracking each competitor's pricing structure, trial periods, and monetisation methods. Update it quarterly because pricing strategies change more often than you'd think, especially in competitive markets.

Red Flags and Opportunities

Look for gaps in the market too. If everyone's using the same monetisation approach, there might be room for a different strategy. I've worked on apps that succeeded partly because they offered lifetime purchases in markets dominated by subscriptions—users were genuinely grateful for the alternative.

Market Positioning and Brand Analysis

Right, so you've done your homework on what the competition is doing feature-wise and pricing-wise. Now comes the really interesting bit—figuring out where your app fits in the market and how you're going to make people care about it. This is where a lot of apps get it wrong, honestly.

Market positioning isn't just about saying "we're better than everyone else." Its about finding a specific spot in people's minds that you can own. I've seen too many apps try to be everything to everyone and end up meaning nothing to no one. The apps that succeed? They pick their lane and own it completely.

Finding Your Brand Position

Start by looking at how your competitors position themselves. Are they the "premium" option? The "simple" one? The one for "professionals"? What you're looking for are gaps—spaces where no one's really claiming territory. Maybe everyone's focused on being feature-rich but nobody's talking about being the easiest to use. That could be your opening.

Your brand analysis needs to cover both what competitors say about themselves and what users actually think about them. Check their app store reviews, social media mentions, and how they describe themselves on their websites. The disconnect between brand promise and user perception? That's where opportunities live.

• What emotional benefit does each competitor promise?
• How do they talk about their users in marketing materials?
• What visual style and tone of voice do they use?
• Which problems do they emphasise solving?
• What values do they claim to represent?

Once you've mapped out where everyone else sits, you can see where the white space is. Defining your app's unique positioning in this competitive landscape is crucial for standing out and connecting with your ideal users.

Creating Your Competitive Action Plan

Right, you've done all this research—now what? This is where the rubber meets the road, honestly. All that competitive landscape mapping means nothing if you don't turn it into actionable steps. I've seen too many clients get stuck in analysis paralysis mode; they know everything about their competitors but can't figure out what to do next.

Start with the gaps you've found. Where are your competitors weak? Maybe their onboarding is rubbish, or they're missing a feature users keep asking for in reviews. That's your opening. But here's the thing—don't just copy what everyone else is doing. Sure, you need to match the basics, but winning apps find ways to be different.

Setting Your Positioning Strategy

Your competitive action plan needs to address three main areas: features, positioning, and user experience. Features are obvious—what will you build that others haven't? But positioning is where most people get it wrong. You can't just say "we're better"—you need to own a specific space in users' minds.

The best competitive strategies don't just respond to what competitors are doing—they anticipate what they'll do next and position accordingly.

Execution Timeline

Break your plan into phases. Phase one should focus on getting to market parity—the must-have features users expect. Phase two is where you differentiate. And honestly? Don't try to do everything at once. I've watched brilliant app ideas fail because teams spread themselves too thin trying to out-feature everyone from day one. Pick three things you'll do better than anyone else, then execute brilliantly on those. The rest can wait until you've proven your core concept works in the real world.

Right, we've covered a lot of ground here—from spotting your direct competitors to understanding their monetisation strategies and everything in between. But here's the thing: mapping your app's competitive landscape isn't a one-and-done task. It's something you need to revisit regularly because the mobile app world moves fast, and I mean really fast.

I've seen too many app teams spend weeks putting together a comprehensive competitive analysis, then file it away and never look at it again. That's a mistake that'll cost you. Your competitors are constantly updating their features, changing their pricing, and shifting their strategies. What looked like a clear market gap three months ago might be completely filled by now.

The key is making this research part of your regular routine. Set up those Google Alerts, keep checking the app stores, and most importantly—actually use your competitors' apps regularly. You'd be surprised how many clients tell me they've never properly used their main competitor's app. Mental, really.

Your competitive research should inform everything from your feature roadmap to your marketing messages. But don't fall into the trap of just copying what everyone else is doing. The best apps I've worked on have taken insights from their competitive analysis and used them to do something different, something better.

Remember, you're not just trying to match your competition—you're trying to beat them by understanding what they're missing and what users actually need. That's where the real opportunities lie, and that's how you build an app that stands out in a crowded market.