A marketing executive in Chicago sets a New Year's resolution to exercise 4x per week. By February, she's done exactly 6 workouts total. Her habit tracker (Streaks) shows a depressing row of red X's. She knows she should exercise, but looking at her failure record makes her feel worse, not motivated. She deletes the app. The tracker measured her failure; it didn't help her succeed.
The habit tracking market is saturated with apps that track streaks but don't build habits. Habitica gamifies with XP points. Streaks shows chains to maintain. Way of Life logs yes/no. They all share the same flaw: they're measurement tools, not behavior change tools. Research shows habit formation requires more than tracking — it needs cue design, friction reduction, identity reinforcement, and progressive goal adjustment. Current apps are glorified checkboxes.
The opportunity is a habit tracker that actually builds habits at $5-9/mo: AI-powered goal decomposition (break 'exercise 4x/week' into achievable micro-goals), smart scheduling (suggest habit time based on calendar patterns), friction analysis (identify and remove obstacles), and positive-focused UX that celebrates progress over perfect streaks. Not gamification gimmicks — behavioral science applied to habit formation. Target the millions who've tried and failed with traditional habit trackers and are looking for something that actually works.
📊 Market Evidence
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Habitica | Free / $5-9/mo | Gamified habit tracking |
| Streaks | $4.99 one-time | Apple Design Award, iOS only |
| Habitify | Free / $4.99-11.99/mo | Cross-platform habit tracker |
| Way of Life | Free / $4.99 premium | Simple habit tracking |
| Coach.me | Free / coaching add-ons | Habits + human coaching |
Gamified habit tracking
Apple Design Award, iOS only
Cross-platform habit tracker
Simple habit tracking
Habits + human coaching
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
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Build a SaaS product called "Habit Tracker with Goal Planning". ## Product Overview Track habits set goals monitor progress visually ## Problem Track habits set goals monitor progress visually ## Solution Build Habit Tracker with Goal Planning ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Habitica, Streaks, Habitify, Way of Life, Coach.me ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.