12 Apr 2025
Messaging

SMS app like way 2 sms to send messages to other person

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.


Your are here

You're entering a crowded space for SMS apps, similar to 'way 2 sms.' We found 9 similar products, indicating high competition. Engagement (average comments) is low at 3 per product launch. There's no strong 'use' or 'buy' signal from similar products, suggesting lukewarm reception. Based on this data and the 'Swamp' category, the market has several mediocre solutions that nobody loves, so unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you'll likely struggle to stand out or make money. The prevailing sentiment suggests caution, and unless you can pinpoint a unique angle, it might be best to reconsider.

Recommendations

  1. Deeply research why existing SMS solutions haven’t achieved widespread success. Understand their limitations, user pain points, and unmet needs. Identify where they fall short to carve out a unique value proposition.
  2. If you decide to proceed, identify a specific, underserved niche. Broad SMS apps often fail to resonate. Focus on a specific industry, demographic, or use case where you can provide tailored features and value. For example, one of the similar products centralized SMS and WhatsApp to improve customer follow-ups, showing the value of integrations. Think through who the specific user is for your app!
  3. Instead of competing directly, explore building tools or integrations for existing SMS providers. This could be a less risky entry point, allowing you to leverage their established user base and infrastructure. Consider add-ons, plugins, or specialized features that enhance their offerings. For example, think about building features for products like 'SMS to Slack.'
  4. Carefully evaluate your go-to-market strategy. Given the competitive landscape, organic growth may be challenging. Explore partnerships, targeted advertising, or unique distribution channels to reach your desired audience. Remember that one of the criticisms of similar products was lack of pricing information, which can deter potential customers, so make sure to be fully transparent.
  5. Given the 'Swamp' category designation, seriously consider exploring adjacent problems that might offer more promising opportunities. Are there related communication challenges or workflow inefficiencies you could address with a different approach? Think outside the box and identify areas with less competition and higher potential impact.
  6. Before investing significant time and resources, conduct thorough user testing and validation. Create a minimum viable product (MVP) and gather feedback from your target audience to refine your concept and features. Iterate based on real-world usage and address any concerns or pain points.
  7. Explore a novel pricing model that differentiates you from competitors. Consider freemium, usage-based, or subscription options that align with the value you provide. Transparency is key, as highlighted by criticism of similar products lacking pricing information.
  8. Focus on automating some functionality for the user. As seen by the comments for Gh-sender, automation is a key feature for these types of apps. Really think through the user experience and how to make it as easy as possible for them to complete their task.

Questions

  1. What unique value proposition will set your SMS app apart from the numerous existing solutions, and how will you effectively communicate this to your target audience?
  2. Given the low engagement observed in similar product launches, what specific marketing strategies will you employ to generate significant user interest and adoption for your app?
  3. Considering the lack of strong 'use' and 'buy' signals in the market, how will you validate the demand for your app and ensure that it addresses a genuine need or pain point for your chosen niche?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space for SMS apps, similar to 'way 2 sms.' We found 9 similar products, indicating high competition. Engagement (average comments) is low at 3 per product launch. There's no strong 'use' or 'buy' signal from similar products, suggesting lukewarm reception. Based on this data and the 'Swamp' category, the market has several mediocre solutions that nobody loves, so unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you'll likely struggle to stand out or make money. The prevailing sentiment suggests caution, and unless you can pinpoint a unique angle, it might be best to reconsider.

Recommendations

  1. Deeply research why existing SMS solutions haven’t achieved widespread success. Understand their limitations, user pain points, and unmet needs. Identify where they fall short to carve out a unique value proposition.
  2. If you decide to proceed, identify a specific, underserved niche. Broad SMS apps often fail to resonate. Focus on a specific industry, demographic, or use case where you can provide tailored features and value. For example, one of the similar products centralized SMS and WhatsApp to improve customer follow-ups, showing the value of integrations. Think through who the specific user is for your app!
  3. Instead of competing directly, explore building tools or integrations for existing SMS providers. This could be a less risky entry point, allowing you to leverage their established user base and infrastructure. Consider add-ons, plugins, or specialized features that enhance their offerings. For example, think about building features for products like 'SMS to Slack.'
  4. Carefully evaluate your go-to-market strategy. Given the competitive landscape, organic growth may be challenging. Explore partnerships, targeted advertising, or unique distribution channels to reach your desired audience. Remember that one of the criticisms of similar products was lack of pricing information, which can deter potential customers, so make sure to be fully transparent.
  5. Given the 'Swamp' category designation, seriously consider exploring adjacent problems that might offer more promising opportunities. Are there related communication challenges or workflow inefficiencies you could address with a different approach? Think outside the box and identify areas with less competition and higher potential impact.
  6. Before investing significant time and resources, conduct thorough user testing and validation. Create a minimum viable product (MVP) and gather feedback from your target audience to refine your concept and features. Iterate based on real-world usage and address any concerns or pain points.
  7. Explore a novel pricing model that differentiates you from competitors. Consider freemium, usage-based, or subscription options that align with the value you provide. Transparency is key, as highlighted by criticism of similar products lacking pricing information.
  8. Focus on automating some functionality for the user. As seen by the comments for Gh-sender, automation is a key feature for these types of apps. Really think through the user experience and how to make it as easy as possible for them to complete their task.

Questions

  1. What unique value proposition will set your SMS app apart from the numerous existing solutions, and how will you effectively communicate this to your target audience?
  2. Given the low engagement observed in similar product launches, what specific marketing strategies will you employ to generate significant user interest and adoption for your app?
  3. Considering the lack of strong 'use' and 'buy' signals in the market, how will you validate the demand for your app and ensure that it addresses a genuine need or pain point for your chosen niche?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 9
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 13.2%
    • Positive use signal: 13.2%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 2.3%
    • Negative buy signal: 2.3%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Top