There’s no single place to get a decent pulse of how competitors’ products are performing, or where gaps exist. However, there is the next best thing — Reddit, where the internet goes to complain!
Find out what people are talking about, which features evoke complaints and praise, which companies are controversial, who is recommending alternatives, etc. You’ll still typically only see the extremes (people who love or hate these products/companies), but it gives a sense of whether those views are widely held or more niche, based on the response from end-users.
Reddit’s on-site search tends to be poor, so the recommendation is a Google search with site:reddit.com instead. Seek out full subreddits first to get highly tailored information (e.g. /r/XboxSeriesX), but then broaden out to the more general examples (e.g. /r/gaming, /r/xbox, /r/microsoft, etc.) to cast a wider net.
There’s no strict rules of how to approach this — it’s very ad hoc. You may find some great ways to differentiate from your competitors or find amazing opportunities to improve your offering. You also might find nothing worthwhile other than some cranky people.
Also Great: Review Sites Where People Complain More Formally
Sometimes people want their complaints indexed and read by potential buyers. That’s where review platforms come in.
Capterra
Capterra is the Yelp of B2B software. It’s packed with detailed reviews from users who’ve been living inside these tools for months or years. You’ll often find gold here: not just what people like or hate, but how they describe those features. That language is incredibly useful when positioning your own product (or when explaining how you’re not like them).
It also gives you a clear sense of expectations in the space. Are users annoyed by clunky interfaces, missing integrations, unhelpful customer support? All of that becomes a punch list of potential opportunities.
Bonus: check the “Cons” section of reviews — that’s where competitors’ weak spots live.
G2
G2 is like Capterra, but tends to go even deeper with verified user reviews, competitive comparisons, feature scoring, and category rankings. You can often find head-to-head comparisons where users talk about why they switched from Product A to Product B — or why they didn’t.
Look at the “Compare” feature to stack your offering against competitors. And don’t sleep on the questions section — people often ask how certain features work (or don’t), which can give you a sense of user confusion or unmet expectations.
Pro tip: If you already know your competitors’ weak points, use them as keywords in G2’s search to find mentions quickly.
Trustpilot
Trustpilot casts a wider net — it’s not just software, but services, ecommerce companies, and anything with a customer experience worth talking about. Think of it like the public-facing complaint box that sometimes contains both angry rants and glowing praise.
It’s especially helpful for spotting recurring customer service or fulfillment issues. For example, if a competitor consistently gets dinged for slow response times or shady refund policies, that’s your chance to step in and be the hero.
It’s also worth checking how companies respond to negative reviews — it tells you a lot about their tone, their culture, and whether they’re truly listening.
Each of these platforms gives you a different lens on the same basic goal: finding gaps, pain points, unmet needs, and language that resonates. Combine what you learn across Reddit, Capterra, G2, and Trustpilot and you’ll be in a much better position to define a strategy that hits where others miss.
