# Competitive Analysis

> Use when making a product or business decision where knowing the competitive context changes the answer — before a launch, when writing strategy, or when articulating differentiation. Triggers on: "competitor analysis", "competitive landscape".

- Skill: `newkayak12/competitive-analysis` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add newkayak12/competitive-analysis`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/newkayak12/competitive-analysis/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: newkayak12 (https://skillmd.com/u/newkayak12)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/newkayak12/competitive-analysis

---

## Standing Mandates

- ALWAYS distinguish current state from trajectory — a competitor's momentum matters as much as today's position.
- ALWAYS identify the primary differentiation axis before listing feature comparisons.
- NEVER treat feature parity as the goal — parity is table stakes, not differentiation.
- NEVER present analysis without a 'so what' recommendation the team can act on.


## Purpose

Competitive analysis answers three questions:
1. **Who is already solving this problem?** (competitive map)
2. **How do they compare to us?** (feature/positioning matrix)
3. **Where is the whitespace we can own?** (differentiation opportunity)

This skill produces two artifacts: **Competitor Profiles** and a **Positioning Gap Summary**.

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## When to Use This

- Before writing a PRD — feeds Phase 4 (Strategic Context) in `../prd-development/SKILL.md`
- When `../product-discovery/SKILL.md` surfaces competitive gaps as an opportunity
- Before building a GTM plan in `../go-to-market-planning/SKILL.md`
- When pricing strategy requires market benchmarking — see `../pricing-monetization-strategy/SKILL.md`
- When a stakeholder asks "why would a customer choose us over X?"

## When NOT to Use This

- For internal-tool or back-office products with no external competitors
- As a substitute for actual user research (competitive analysis tells you what others built, not what users want)
- If you need a full market sizing exercise — use a TAM/SAM/SOM model instead

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## Step 1 — Define the Competitive Universe (15 min)

Before analyzing anything, define scope.

### Competitor Types

| Type | Definition | Example |
|------|-----------|---------|
| **Direct** | Same target user, same problem, similar solution | Figma vs Sketch |
| **Indirect** | Same problem, different solution or delivery model | Notion vs. Confluence |
| **Substitute** | Different framing, but competes for the same job-to-be-done | Excel vs. Airtable |
| **Emerging** | Early-stage or category-adjacent players to watch | New AI-native entrants |

**Action:** List 3-8 competitors across these types. Avoid the trap of only analyzing the most obvious direct competitor.

---

## Step 2 — Gather Competitive Data (30-60 min)

### Primary Sources (Do This First)
- **Product itself:** Sign up for free trials; walk through the core workflow
- **Pricing pages:** Capture tiers, value metrics, and packaging
- **G2 / Capterra / Trustpilot reviews:** Read 1-star and 5-star reviews — they reveal real pain and real value
- **Job listings:** Engineering and PM job posts reveal where a competitor is investing
- **Changelog / release notes:** Shows velocity and recent strategic bets

### Secondary Sources
- **Crunchbase / PitchBook:** Funding stage, investor narrative
- **Investor decks (if public):** How the company positions itself to capital markets
- **Press releases and blog posts:** Messaging and positioning language
- **LinkedIn:** Team size by function — signals priorities

### What to Capture Per Competitor

For each competitor, collect:
- Target user (stated and actual)
- Core value proposition (in their own words)
- Key features (top 5-7 that define the product)
- Pricing model and entry price
- Stated differentiators / positioning
- Known weaknesses (from reviews, forums, community complaints)
- Recent strategic moves (funding, M&A, product announcements)

---

## Step 3 — Build the Feature Matrix (20 min)

Create a table with competitors as columns and key capabilities as rows.

### Feature Matrix Template

| Capability | Us | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C |
|-----------|-----|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| [Core capability 1] | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| [Core capability 2] | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| [Core capability 3] | Partial | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| [Differentiating capability] | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| [Table stakes capability] | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | — | — | — | — |
| Entry price | — | — | — | — |
| Target segment | — | — | — | — |

**Reading the matrix:**
- Rows where everyone has ✓ = table stakes (you must have these; they won't differentiate you)
- Rows where only you have ✓ = your moat (protect and invest)
- Rows where competitors have ✓ and you have ✗ = gap to evaluate (build, partner, or consciously ignore)

---

## Step 4 — Build the Positioning Map (15 min)

A 2x2 positioning map shows where each player sits on two axes that matter to your target customer.

### How to Choose Axes

Pick axes that:
1. Represent genuine trade-offs (not "quality vs. low quality")
2. Are meaningful to your target buyer
3. Create visible whitespace you can occupy

Common axis pairs:
- **Complexity vs. Power** (for tools)
- **Self-serve vs. Enterprise** (for SaaS go-to-market)
- **Breadth vs. Depth** (all-in-one vs. best-of-breed)
- **Price vs. Integration depth**

### Positioning Map Output

```
HIGH [Axis Y]
        |
  [B]   |        [A]
        |
--------+--------
        |
  [C]   |   [D = Us]
        |
LOW     |        HIGH [Axis X]
```

Label each competitor's position and annotate why they sit there.

---

## Step 5 — SWOT-Lite (15 min)

A focused SWOT — skip generic platitudes, focus on actionable insights.

| | Internal | External |
|-|---------|---------|
| **Positive** | **Strengths:** What we do better than anyone in this space | **Opportunities:** Gaps competitors aren't serving; emerging needs |
| **Negative** | **Weaknesses:** Gaps in our current offering vs. market expectation | **Threats:** Competitor moves, commoditization risk, category shifts |

**Rule:** Each cell should have 2-4 specific, evidence-backed points. No vague statements like "strong team."

---

## Step 6 — Identify Differentiation Strategy (20 min)

Based on the feature matrix, positioning map, and SWOT-lite, answer:

### The Three Differentiation Questions

1. **What is the one thing we can be best at?** (your spike)
2. **What will we intentionally NOT do well?** (your trade-off — this is required for a position to be credible)
3. **What is our "only we" statement?** ("Only [Company] can [capability] for [user] because [reason]")

### Common Differentiation Strategies

| Strategy | When It Works | Risk |
|---------|--------------|------|
| **Feature superiority** | Competitors are weak in a critical area you can own | Easy to copy |
| **Segment focus** | Broad competitors ignore a specific segment's real needs | Small TAM |
| **UX/simplicity** | Incumbents are complex; your user wants ease over power | Hard to justify to enterprise |
| **Ecosystem / integrations** | Your user lives in a specific stack; you integrate better | Dependency risk |
| **Price disruption** | Premium market with underserved price-sensitive segment | Margin pressure |
| **Vertical depth** | Horizontal tools ignore domain-specific workflows | Niche ceiling |

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## Output Format

See `references/output-format.md` for the Competitor Profile and Positioning Gap Summary templates.