Competitor Analysis

Extract features from competitor websites and estimate reimplementation costs.

Workflow

1. •

   Initialize database (first time only)

   bash

   python scripts/init_db.py <path>.db
   # or for Turso:
   python scripts/init_db.py libsql://your-db.turso.io --token <TOKEN>
   

2. •

   Scrape competitor URL(s) using WebFetch tool

3. •

   Extract features from page content:

   • •Identify distinct product capabilities
   • •Note feature name, description, source URL
   • •Assign category (core/integration/ui-ux/security/analytics/collaboration/automation/admin)
4. •

   Estimate complexity for each feature:

   • •simple (2-8h): Standard CRUD, basic UI, config toggles
   • •medium (8-24h): Multi-step flows, 3rd-party integrations, dashboards
   • •complex (24-80h): Real-time collab, ML/AI, custom engines
   • •See references/cost-estimation.md for detailed rubrics
5. •

   Store in database:

   sql

   -- Add competitor
   INSERT INTO competitors (name, url) VALUES ('Acme', 'https://acme.com');
   
   -- Add feature
   INSERT INTO features (competitor_id, name, description, category_id, complexity, estimated_hours_min, estimated_hours_max, source_url)
   VALUES (1, 'Real-time notifications', 'Push notifications across devices',
           (SELECT id FROM categories WHERE name = 'core'), 'medium', 12, 20, 'https://acme.com/features');
   
   -- Log analysis run
   INSERT INTO analysis_runs (competitor_id, urls_analyzed, features_found)
   VALUES (1, '["https://acme.com/features"]', 15);
   

6. •

   Query results:

   sql

   SELECT * FROM feature_summary WHERE competitor_name = 'Acme';
   SELECT * FROM competitor_cost_summary;
   

7. •

   Generate interactive dashboard:

   bash

   python scripts/generate_dashboard.py <path>.db [output_dir] [--serve]
   

   Opens browser with feature selection UI. Select features, filter by category/complexity, export as JSON/CSV.

Database Schema

Output Example

After analyzing a competitor:

Competitor: Acme Corp (https://acme.com)
Features found: 23

| Feature | Category | Complexity | Hours (min-max) |
|---------|----------|------------|-----------------|
| SSO/SAML | security | complex | 32-48 |
| Dashboard builder | analytics | complex | 40-60 |
| Slack integration | integration | medium | 12-20 |
| Dark mode | ui-ux | simple | 4-6 |

Total estimate: 280-420 hours