22 Aug 2025
Travel Transportation

an app that you use your car and ride other people thrrough the city. ...

...People pay you based on distance and time travelling

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

Your idea for a ride-sharing app puts you in a crowded space. Our analysis reveals that similar products fall into a category we call a 'Swamp,' indicating a market saturated with mediocre solutions. The high number of matching products (10) reinforces this assessment, meaning competition will be tough. While there's some positive feedback for similar ideas, the overall engagement is low, suggesting it's hard to get people excited in this space. With that in mind, you should take this as a warning sign about building this business in the current environment.

Recommendations

  1. Start by thoroughly researching why existing ride-sharing solutions haven't achieved widespread love or success beyond the major players. Understand the pain points of both drivers and riders that aren't being adequately addressed. Leverage resources like user reviews, app store feedback, and industry reports to identify unmet needs and market gaps.
  2. If you remain committed to the ride-sharing concept, identify a specific niche or demographic that's currently underserved by existing platforms. This could be focusing on specific geographic areas, offering specialized services (e.g., rides for seniors or people with disabilities), or catering to a particular lifestyle (e.g., eco-friendly rides). Specialization will significantly improve your odds.
  3. Consider exploring the possibility of building tools or services for existing ride-sharing providers rather than directly competing with them. This could involve developing software for fleet management, driver training, or enhanced safety features. You can capitalize on the established infrastructure and user base of larger companies.
  4. Given the challenges of entering the ride-sharing market directly, evaluate adjacent problems that might offer more promising opportunities. For example, you could focus on developing solutions for optimizing delivery routes, managing parking spaces, or improving public transportation systems. Think more broadly about mobility and transportation-related challenges.
  5. Based on the current market landscape and the saturation of ride-sharing solutions, it might be wise to re-evaluate your idea and explore alternative ventures with greater potential for success. Don't be afraid to pivot or abandon your current idea if it doesn't seem viable after thorough research and analysis. Preserve your resources for a project with better prospects.

Questions

  1. Beyond the basic functionality, what unique value proposition will your app offer to differentiate itself from established players like Uber and Lyft, as well as other niche ride-sharing services?
  2. How will you ensure the safety and security of both drivers and passengers, especially considering the potential risks associated with ride-sharing services and the need to build trust with users?
  3. What specific marketing strategies will you employ to attract users and gain market share in a highly competitive environment, and how will you measure the effectiveness of these strategies?

Your are here

Your idea for a ride-sharing app puts you in a crowded space. Our analysis reveals that similar products fall into a category we call a 'Swamp,' indicating a market saturated with mediocre solutions. The high number of matching products (10) reinforces this assessment, meaning competition will be tough. While there's some positive feedback for similar ideas, the overall engagement is low, suggesting it's hard to get people excited in this space. With that in mind, you should take this as a warning sign about building this business in the current environment.

Recommendations

  1. Start by thoroughly researching why existing ride-sharing solutions haven't achieved widespread love or success beyond the major players. Understand the pain points of both drivers and riders that aren't being adequately addressed. Leverage resources like user reviews, app store feedback, and industry reports to identify unmet needs and market gaps.
  2. If you remain committed to the ride-sharing concept, identify a specific niche or demographic that's currently underserved by existing platforms. This could be focusing on specific geographic areas, offering specialized services (e.g., rides for seniors or people with disabilities), or catering to a particular lifestyle (e.g., eco-friendly rides). Specialization will significantly improve your odds.
  3. Consider exploring the possibility of building tools or services for existing ride-sharing providers rather than directly competing with them. This could involve developing software for fleet management, driver training, or enhanced safety features. You can capitalize on the established infrastructure and user base of larger companies.
  4. Given the challenges of entering the ride-sharing market directly, evaluate adjacent problems that might offer more promising opportunities. For example, you could focus on developing solutions for optimizing delivery routes, managing parking spaces, or improving public transportation systems. Think more broadly about mobility and transportation-related challenges.
  5. Based on the current market landscape and the saturation of ride-sharing solutions, it might be wise to re-evaluate your idea and explore alternative ventures with greater potential for success. Don't be afraid to pivot or abandon your current idea if it doesn't seem viable after thorough research and analysis. Preserve your resources for a project with better prospects.

Questions

  1. Beyond the basic functionality, what unique value proposition will your app offer to differentiate itself from established players like Uber and Lyft, as well as other niche ride-sharing services?
  2. How will you ensure the safety and security of both drivers and passengers, especially considering the potential risks associated with ride-sharing services and the need to build trust with users?
  3. What specific marketing strategies will you employ to attract users and gain market share in a highly competitive environment, and how will you measure the effectiveness of these strategies?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 10
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 0
  • Net use signal: 0.0%
    • Positive use signal: 0.0%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

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.

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