Competitor Teardown
Structured competitive analysis with research and screenshots via inference.sh CLI.
Quick Start
curl -fsSL https://cli.inference.sh | sh && infsh login
# Research competitor landscape
infsh app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{
"query": "top project management tools comparison 2024 market share"
}'
# Screenshot competitor's website
infsh app run infsh/agent-browser --input '{
"url": "https://competitor.com",
"action": "screenshot"
}'
Install note: The install script only detects your OS/architecture, downloads the matching binary from dist.inference.sh, and verifies its SHA-256 checksum. No elevated permissions or background processes. Manual install & verification available.
Teardown Framework
The 7-Layer Analysis
| Layer | What to Analyze | Data Source |
|---|
| 1. Product | Features, UX, quality | Screenshots, free trial |
| 2. Pricing | Plans, pricing model, hidden costs | Pricing page, sales call |
| 3. Positioning | Messaging, tagline, ICP | Website, ads |
| 4. Traction | Users, revenue, growth | Web search, press, funding |
| 5. Reviews | Strengths, weaknesses from users | G2, Capterra, App Store |
| 6. Content | Blog, social, SEO strategy | Website, social profiles |
| 7. Team | Size, key hires, background | LinkedIn, About page |
Research Commands
Company Overview
# General intelligence
infsh app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{
"query": "CompetitorX company overview funding team size 2024"
}'
# Funding and financials
infsh app run exa/search --input '{
"query": "CompetitorX funding round series valuation investors"
}'
# Recent news
infsh app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{
"query": "CompetitorX latest news announcements 2024"
}'
Product Analysis
# Feature comparison
infsh app run exa/search --input '{
"query": "CompetitorX vs alternatives feature comparison review"
}'
# Pricing details
infsh app run tavily/extract --input '{
"urls": ["https://competitor.com/pricing"]
}'
# User reviews
infsh app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{
"query": "CompetitorX reviews G2 Capterra pros cons 2024"
}'
UX Screenshots
# Homepage
infsh app run infsh/agent-browser --input '{
"url": "https://competitor.com",
"action": "screenshot"
}'
# Pricing page
infsh app run infsh/agent-browser --input '{
"url": "https://competitor.com/pricing",
"action": "screenshot"
}'
# Signup flow
infsh app run infsh/agent-browser --input '{
"url": "https://competitor.com/signup",
"action": "screenshot"
}'
Feature Matrix
Structure
| Feature | Your Product | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C |
|---------|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| Real-time collaboration | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| API access | ✅ | Paid only | ✅ | ❌ |
| SSO/SAML | ✅ | Enterprise | ✅ | Enterprise |
| Custom reports | ✅ | Limited | ✅ | ❌ |
| Mobile app | ✅ | iOS only | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free tier | ✅ (unlimited) | ✅ (3 users) | ❌ | ✅ (1 project) |
| Integrations | 50+ | 100+ | 30+ | 20+ |
Rules
- ✅ = Full support
- ⚠️ or "Partial" = Limited or conditional
- ❌ = Not available
- Note conditions: "Paid only", "Enterprise tier", "Beta"
- Lead with features where YOU win
- Be honest about competitor strengths — credibility matters
Pricing Comparison
Structure
| | Your Product | Competitor A | Competitor B |
|---------|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| **Free tier** | Yes, 5 users | Yes, 3 users | No |
| **Starter** | $10/user/mo | $15/user/mo | $12/user/mo |
| **Pro** | $25/user/mo | $30/user/mo | $29/user/mo |
| **Enterprise** | Custom | Custom | $50/user/mo |
| **Billing** | Monthly/Annual | Annual only | Monthly/Annual |
| **Annual discount** | 20% | 15% | 25% |
| **Min seats** | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| **Hidden costs** | None | Setup fee $500 | API calls metered |
What to Look For
- Minimum seat requirements
- Annual-only billing (reduces flexibility)
- Feature gating between tiers
- Overage charges
- Setup/onboarding fees
- Contract lock-in periods
SWOT Analysis
Create a SWOT for each competitor:
### Competitor A — SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|-----------|------------|
| • Strong brand recognition | • Slow feature development |
| • Large integration ecosystem | • Complex onboarding (30+ min) |
| • Enterprise sales team | • No free tier |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|--------------|---------|
| • AI features not yet shipped | • New AI-native competitors |
| • Expanding into mid-market | • Customer complaints about pricing |
| • International markets untapped | • Key engineer departures (LinkedIn) |
Positioning Map
A 2x2 matrix showing where competitors sit on two meaningful dimensions.
Choose Meaningful Axes
| Good Axes | Bad Axes |
|---|
| Simple ↔ Complex | Good ↔ Bad |
| SMB ↔ Enterprise | Cheap ↔ Expensive (too obvious) |
| Self-serve ↔ Sales-led | Old ↔ New |
| Specialized ↔ General | Small ↔ Large |
| Opinionated ↔ Flexible | — |
Template
Enterprise
│
Competitor C │ Competitor A
● │ ●
│
Simple ──────────────────────────── Complex
│
You ● │ Competitor B
│ ●
│
SMB
Generating the Visual
# Create positioning map with Python
infsh app run infsh/python-executor --input '{
"code": "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt\nimport matplotlib\nmatplotlib.use(\"Agg\")\n\nfig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 10))\n\n# Competitors\ncompetitors = {\n \"You\": (-0.3, -0.3),\n \"Competitor A\": (0.5, 0.6),\n \"Competitor B\": (0.6, -0.4),\n \"Competitor C\": (-0.4, 0.5)\n}\n\nfor name, (x, y) in competitors.items():\n color = \"#22c55e\" if name == \"You\" else \"#6366f1\"\n size = 200 if name == \"You\" else 150\n ax.scatter(x, y, s=size, c=color, zorder=5)\n ax.annotate(name, (x, y), textcoords=\"offset points\", xytext=(10, 10), fontsize=12, fontweight=\"bold\")\n\nax.axhline(y=0, color=\"grey\", linewidth=0.5)\nax.axvline(x=0, color=\"grey\", linewidth=0.5)\nax.set_xlim(-1, 1)\nax.set_ylim(-1, 1)\nax.set_xlabel(\"Simple ← → Complex\", fontsize=14)\nax.set_ylabel(\"SMB ← → Enterprise\", fontsize=14)\nax.set_title(\"Competitive Positioning Map\", fontsize=16, fontweight=\"bold\")\nax.grid(True, alpha=0.3)\nplt.tight_layout()\nplt.savefig(\"positioning-map.png\", dpi=150)\nprint(\"Saved\")"
}'
Review Mining
Where to Find Reviews
| Platform | Best For | URL Pattern |
|---|
| G2 | B2B SaaS | g2.com/products/[product]/reviews |
| Capterra | Business software | capterra.com/software/[id]/reviews |
| App Store | iOS apps | apps.apple.com |
| Google Play | Android apps | play.google.com |
| Product Hunt | Launches | producthunt.com/posts/[product] |
| Reddit | Honest opinions | reddit.com/r/[relevant-sub] |
What to Extract
| Category | Look For |
|---|
| Most praised | What features do happy users mention most? |
| Most complained | What do unhappy users say? (= your opportunity) |
| Switching reasons | Why do users leave? What triggers switching? |
| Feature requests | What's missing that users want? |
| Comparison mentions | When users compare, what do they say? |
# Mine G2 reviews
infsh app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{
"query": "CompetitorX G2 reviews complaints issues 2024"
}'
# Reddit sentiment
infsh app run exa/search --input '{
"query": "reddit CompetitorX alternative frustration switching"
}'
Deliverable Formats
Executive Summary (1 page)
## Competitive Landscape Summary
**Market:** [Category] — $[X]B market growing [Y]% annually
**Key competitors:** A (leader), B (challenger), C (niche)
**Our positioning:** [Where you sit and why it matters]
**Key insight:** [One sentence about the biggest opportunity]
| Metric | You | A | B | C |
|--------|-----|---|---|---|
| Users | X | Y | Z | W |
| Pricing (starter) | $X | $Y | $Z | $W |
| Rating (G2) | X.X | Y.Y | Z.Z | W.W |
Detailed Report (per competitor)
- Company overview (size, funding, team)
- Product analysis (features, UX screenshots)
- Pricing breakdown
- SWOT analysis
- Review analysis (top praised, top complained)
- Positioning vs. you
- Opportunity summary
Comparison Grid Visual
# Stitch competitor screenshots into comparison
infsh app run infsh/stitch-images --input '{
"images": ["your-homepage.png", "competitorA-homepage.png", "competitorB-homepage.png"],
"direction": "horizontal"
}'
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Problem | Fix |
|---|
| Only looking at features | Misses positioning, pricing, traction | Use the 7-layer framework |
| Biased analysis | Loses credibility | Be honest about competitor strengths |
| Outdated data | Wrong conclusions | Date all research, refresh quarterly |
| Too many competitors | Analysis paralysis | Focus on top 3-5 direct competitors |
| No "so what" | Data without insight | End each section with implications for you |
| Feature-only comparison | Doesn't show positioning | Include pricing, reviews, positioning map |
Related Skills
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@web-search
npx skills add inference-sh/skills@prompt-engineering
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