Free tool
App idea validator: check demand before you build
Describe the app and who it is for. Olune scores it on seven dimensions, then a free sign-in runs research on search demand, public complaints and competitors, and you get Cook it, Sleep on it or Kill it with the reasoning.
Updated
Check your app idea
Describe your app and who it is for. Olune scores it free, then a free sign-in runs the research: search demand, public complaints found through Google, and competitors. You get Cook it, Sleep on it or Kill it, with the reasoning. 3 a day, no card.
Key takeaways
- The score needs no account. The research (search demand, public complaints found through Google, and competitors) runs after a free sign-in. 3 validations a day, no card.
- Three of the seven scores (zone fit, advantage and buildability) depend on what you say about yourself, so say who you are and how you would reach buyers.
- It reads Reddit threads that Google has indexed, Hacker News and Product Hunt results. It has no App Store, Google Play or Chrome Web Store data.
- Kill it is a normal result. A kill gets no build material; it can generate 3 to 5 pivots instead.
- It is LLM-assisted, so two runs of the same idea can differ. Treat the verdict as a structured first check and read the reasoning behind it.
What happens after you click
Your text goes to the next screen through this browser tab, not through the address bar, so it never sits in a URL.
Step 1: Olune restates your idea and offers four nearby versions
Your idea comes back restated and sharpened, never replaced, with four alternatives next to it. You pick the one to test.
Step 2: You get a score on seven dimensions
Each dimension gets a 1 to 5 score and a one-line reason. This step needs no account and is limited to 3 a day without one.
Step 3: A free sign-in, then the research
Sign in with Google or an emailed code. Three research agents then look for search demand, competitors and public complaints. No card, 3 validations a day. There is no fixed run time: it depends on the searches.
Step 4: The verdict
Cook it, Sleep on it or Kill it, with short reasoning that cites the research. Every verdict names the one thing that would flip it, and a Sleep on it names the next experiment to run.
The seven scores and what a 1 and a 5 mean
Paraphrased from the rubric Olune scores against. A higher competition score means a less crowded space. The last column marks the three scores that judge you, not only the idea.
| Score | What it measures | A 1 means | A 5 means | Depends on you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain | How acute the problem is | Nobody loses sleep over it | People would pay tomorrow for a fix | No |
| Zone fit | How well the idea fits your skills, network and experience | No relevant skill or audience | You are among the best-placed people anywhere to build it | Yes |
| Reach | How many people could use it | Under 1,000 potential users worldwide | Over 10 million reachable users | No |
| Willingness to pay | Whether buyers will open their wallets | They expect free tools | Big budgets, such as enterprise or regulatory spend | No |
| Advantage | Whether you have an edge others lack | Anyone could copy it in a weekend | New entrants would face years of catch-up | Yes |
| Buildability | Whether you can ship a useful v1 in 6 to 8 weeks on your time and budget | Needs a team, hardware or years of R&D | You could ship v1 in 2 weeks | Yes |
| Competition | How crowded the space is | Saturated: big players dominate | Wide open, or you have an angle that changes the frame | No |
What it checks and what it cannot
Three research agents run after the free sign-in. This is what each one looks at, and what none of them can see.
| Area | What Olune does | What it does not see |
|---|---|---|
| Search demand | Picks phrases a buyer might type for your idea, then fetches search volume, cost per click and competition for them from DataForSEO. | Whether those searchers would pay you. Searches inside app stores. |
| Competitors | Three Google searches plus one Product Hunt search through Google, then keeps up to six competitors. | App Store, Google Play and Chrome Web Store listings. Products that do not show up on Google. |
| Public complaints | Three Reddit searches through Google and two Hacker News searches, then pulls a quote from each relevant thread. It does not use the Reddit API. | Threads Google has not indexed, private groups, Discord servers and closed communities. |
| Your code and app | Nothing. | Code quality, security, database rules, hosting and costs. |
| Buyers | Nothing beyond the research above. | Whether a named person will pay you. It does not contact, recruit or post to anyone. |
What you can do after each verdict
Build material is generated when you ask for it on the results page. It is never included with a kill.
| Verdict | What it means | What you can do next |
|---|---|---|
| Cook it | The evidence is strong enough that not building would be the mistake. | Generate an interview script, landing page copy and a freebie plan on request. |
| Sleep on it | Real signal and real risk. The verdict names the experiment that would settle it. | Generate the same three on request: interview script, landing page copy, freebie plan. |
| Kill it | At least one fatal signal, such as no real pain, a crowded market with no angle, or a fit problem so large you could not ship. | No build material. It can generate 3 to 5 pivots: a narrower audience, a sharper pain or a different framing. |
Test the version you would actually build
Name the buyer, the problem and what they use today. Add who you are and how you would reach them, because three of the seven scores depend on it. The score is free; the research runs after a free sign-in.
How to describe your idea so the check is useful
- Lead with the problem and the buyer. Say who has the problem and what it costs them before you describe any feature. A description of the problem gives the research something to search for; a feature list gives it guesses.
- Say what they use today. Name the spreadsheet, tool or workaround. The competitor searches start from your words, so naming the incumbent points them at the right market.
- Say who you are. Zone fit, advantage and buildability score you, not only the idea. Add your skills, the hours you have each week and your budget.
- Say how you would reach the first buyers. A channel you already have, such as a community, a job in the industry or a client list, changes the reach and advantage reasoning.
- Use the words a buyer would type. The demand research builds phrases from your description, so plain category words work better than a product name you made up.
If your app already exists
If you already built it, describe the problem and the buyer as if the app did not exist yet, and ignore the buildability score. The run can tell you whether the demand is there; it cannot tell you why an existing app has no users.
If someone else built it first, read my app idea already exists: build it anyway? before you decide. If yours is live and nobody uses it, find the step that is failing first.
Check it before the first prompt
Describe your app and who it is for. The score is free and needs no account; the research runs after a free sign-in. 3 a day, no card. Kill it is a normal answer, and it is cheaper now than after the build.
Common questions
Is the app idea validator free?
Yes. The score is free without an account, and a free sign-in runs the research. You get 3 validations a day and no card is asked for.
Do I need to sign up?
Only for the research. Describing the idea and seeing the seven scores needs no account; the search demand, competitor and complaint research runs after a free sign-in with Google or an emailed code.
Does it check the App Store or Google Play?
No. Olune has no App Store, Google Play or Chrome Web Store data. Its competitor check uses Google and Product Hunt, so search the stores by hand, for example with site:apps.apple.com and your category words.
Can it be wrong?
Yes. The analysis is LLM-assisted and can vary between runs, and the research only sees what Google, Hacker News and DataForSEO return. Read the reasoning and the threads it cites, and treat the verdict as a structured first check.
Why did it say Kill it?
A kill means the run found at least one fatal signal, such as no sign of real pain, a crowded market with no angle, or a fit problem so large you could not ship. Three scores depend on what you say about yourself, so a thin description of your skills and reach can pull a run down. Kill is a normal result.
Does it work for an app I already built?
Yes, as a demand check. Describe the problem and the buyer rather than your features, and ignore the buildability score. It cannot tell you why a live app has no users; that is usually a distribution or positioning question.
How long does a check take?
There is no fixed time. The score comes back first; the research then runs several searches, and how long they take varies from run to run.
Read next
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