What is a competitor analysis?

A competitor analysis works out what a buyer is actually choosing between when they consider you, and what each option offers them. The useful frame is the buyer's, not the industry's: your real competitor is whatever they would do instead, which is often a spreadsheet, an agency, or nothing at all rather than the company you think of as your rival.

How do you do a competitor analysis?

List what a buyer would genuinely consider instead of you, then compare on the axes they decide by — what it costs, what it takes to get started, what it does not do — rather than on feature counts. Use what each option publishes about itself, and be explicit about what you could not find out. A comparison built on guesses about a competitor's pricing is a comparison that will be wrong in front of a customer.

Who counts as a competitor?

Anything the buyer would spend the same money and attention on to solve the same problem. That includes direct rivals, but also the substitute that is not in your category at all and the option of doing nothing — which is the most common choice and the one most analyses omit. A company selling to the same buyers but solving a different problem is not a competitor, however similar it looks.

How often should I redo a competitor analysis?

When the buyer's choice changes, not on a schedule. Prices moving, a new entrant winning deals you used to win, or the same objection appearing repeatedly in sales conversations are the signals worth acting on. Rebuilding the analysis quarterly out of habit mostly produces an updated document and no new decisions.

Free tool

Competitor analysis template

Compare yourself against rivals on six things you can verify by reading — no invented scores. Free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.

A competitor analysis is worth doing when it changes what you say and where you say it. This one compares you against up to three rivals on six things you can read off their own websites in an afternoon — no invented scores, no five-point ratings for "brand strength". Fill it in and copy the result.

Compare on
Who they say it is forStraight off their home page, in their words.
Their main promiseThe one headline claim, not the feature list.
How they chargeModel and rough level. 'Not published' is a real answer.
What proof they showLogos, numbers, case studies — or nothing.
Where you see themSearch ads, organic, social, events, nowhere.
Where a customer is let downThe opening. Answer this last, after reading the rest.

Nothing saved anywhere — this stays in your browser.

Why there are no scores in this template

Most competitor templates ask you to rate rivals out of five on market presence, brand strength or product quality. Those numbers are unfalsifiable — you invented them, and nobody can tell a month later whether they were right. Worse, they look like evidence, so they end up in a slide and then in a decision.

Every row here is something you can verify by reading: what they claim, who they claim it for, how they charge, what proof they offer, and where they show up. All of it is still a claim — their marketing describes the business they want you to see — but at least it is a claim you can quote rather than a score you made up.

How to fill each row

Who they say it is for — copy the words off their home page. If two rivals describe the same customer in the same words, that is a crowded position and a reason not to join them.
Their main promise — the single headline claim, not the feature list. If you cannot find one, that is itself a finding: an unclear rival is easy to be clearer than.
How they charge— model matters more than the number. "Not published" is a real and useful answer; it usually means enterprise sales, which is an opening if you can be self-serve.
What proof they show — logos, named numbers, case studies, or nothing at all. Rivals with no proof are beatable on credibility alone.
Where you see them — search ads, organic results, social, events. This is the row that decides whether a channel is contested or open.
Where a customer is let down — answer this last, once you have read the rest. It is the only row that points at a position you could take.

The trap to avoid: a gap is only an opportunity if someone is looking for what fills it. Plenty of gaps exist because nobody wants the thing — the market tested it and moved on. Before building a position on a gap, check that there is demand behind it.

What a competitor analysis cannot tell you

Three limits worth being blunt about, because they are where this exercise usually goes wrong:

It cannot tell you who is winning. A polished site and heavy advertising look like success and are equally consistent with burning money.
It cannot see the real alternative. For most small businesses the biggest competitor is the customer doing nothing, or doing it themselves — and that rival has no website to analyse.
It goes stale. Pricing and positioning change quietly. A table from last year describes companies that may no longer exist in that shape.

Which is why the output of this table should be one or two decisions, not a document. Take the gap you believe in, write it into a positioning statement, then check that anyone is actually searching for it before you build a quarter around it.

Common questions

How many competitors should I compare?

Three at most, and pick the ones your customers actually mention — not the biggest names in the category. The market leader is often irrelevant to a small business, because you are never in the same deals.

How often should I redo it?

Twice a year, or when something changes that you noticed without looking. Rebuilding it monthly is a way of feeling busy; the table rarely moves fast enough to justify it.

What if I have no direct competitors?

Then your competitor is the status quo, and the rows still work — what does doing nothing "promise", what does it cost, where does it let people down. That is usually a more honest analysis than inventing rivals to fill the table. The same reasoning runs through the small-business method.

Does this tool store what I type?

No. It stays in your own browser — no account, no upload, no email address. Clearing the table or your browser data removes it.

Common questions

What is a competitor analysis?: A competitor analysis works out what a buyer is actually choosing between when they consider you, and what each option offers them. The useful frame is the buyer's, not the industry's: your real competitor is whatever they would do instead, which is often a spreadsheet, an agency, or nothing at all rather than the company you think of as your rival.
How do you do a competitor analysis?: List what a buyer would genuinely consider instead of you, then compare on the axes they decide by — what it costs, what it takes to get started, what it does not do — rather than on feature counts. Use what each option publishes about itself, and be explicit about what you could not find out. A comparison built on guesses about a competitor's pricing is a comparison that will be wrong in front of a customer.
Who counts as a competitor?: Anything the buyer would spend the same money and attention on to solve the same problem. That includes direct rivals, but also the substitute that is not in your category at all and the option of doing nothing — which is the most common choice and the one most analyses omit. A company selling to the same buyers but solving a different problem is not a competitor, however similar it looks.
How often should I redo a competitor analysis?: When the buyer's choice changes, not on a schedule. Prices moving, a new entrant winning deals you used to win, or the same objection appearing repeatedly in sales conversations are the signals worth acting on. Rebuilding the analysis quarterly out of habit mostly produces an updated document and no new decisions.