SimCity
SimCity, but with Permits
936HN
by pcai
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original discussionFrom curiosity to a customer problem
What are builders talking about?
Start with real launches and public discussions. Find a problem worth investigating, then test it with customers. Votes and stars show attention; they don’t establish demand, profit or a rising growth rate.
Getting attention on Hacker News
HN points on recently listed launches. Follow the original discussion to inspect the feedback; these are not unique users or customers.
Bigwords.page
Turn any screen into a sign. The URL is the app
728HN
by SpeakingOfBrad
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original discussionGuitoro
Guitoro, a virtual guitar you strum with your keyboard
573HN
by gloja
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original discussionCarrier-Explode
iPhone, Pixel and Galaxy carrier settings decoded
433HN
by simplyalec
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original discussionbig arrow on the screen
Let your AI agents paint big arrows, boxes and text on your screen
AI tools
421HN
by franze
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original discussionReladraw
A diagram language where you decide where to place things
Education
415HN
by jpwalsh234
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original discussionOpen-source products to investigate
Total GitHub stars at the last observation. This is a separate sample, not a comparison with HN points or a measured weekly growth chart.
Photocraft
PhotoCraft: An open-source, photo editor written by scratch in pure Rust
Developer toolsOpen source
72.1Kstars
by storytold
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original repository
Cleanyourtv
Debloat any Android or Google TV over Wi-Fi and get an Apple TV-style home.
AI toolsOpen source
29.5Kstars
by Gathin23
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original repository
DeepInfer
DeepInfer: High-performance, large-scale inference framework for DeepSeek models
Developer toolsOpen source
21.5Kstars
by deepseek-ai
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original repository
Anatomy
An agent skill for creating detailed, interactive isometric illustrations of real-world machines and complex systems. Ge
AI toolsOpen source
19.9Kstars
by wheresryan22
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original repository
Filee
Free, open-source file converter. Convert 255 formats offline by drag & drop — images, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HWP
ProductivityOpen source
11.4Kstars
by KnifeLemon
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original repository
Solidcraft
SolidCraft: an open-source parametric 3D CAD application built in pure Rust. Desktop, web, and automation through MCP.
AI toolsOpen source
9.9Kstars
by tangency-labs
Question to test: Who struggles with the problem described here, what do they use today, and would they pay for a different approach?
Read the original repositoryBefore building an alternative
- Read the product and its discussion. Separate user complaints from your own assumptions.
- Talk with people doing the task. Ask about their last attempt, current workaround and cost.
- Test one narrow improvement with a working prototype. Measure real use and willingness to pay.
- Check sources and dates. A recently added company is not necessarily a newly launched business.