A DeFi developer launches a yield farming protocol after 6 months of work. The TVL (Total Value Locked) grows to $2 million in the first week. On day 9, a hacker exploits a reentrancy vulnerability the developer missed. $1.8 million drained in 12 minutes. The protocol is dead. The developer's reputation is destroyed. A professional audit would have caught the bug — but OpenZeppelin wanted $50,000 and a 6-week timeline. He thought he could audit it himself.
Smart contract hacks cost the crypto industry $3.8 billion in 2022 alone. Professional audits from firms like Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, and Consensys Diligence cost $50,000-200,000 and take 4-8 weeks. For a bootstrapped DeFi project or NFT collection launching with $10,000 in funding, that's impossible. They either launch unaudited (risky) or use free tools like Slither and Mythril (require expertise to interpret).
The opportunity is an AI-assisted smart contract auditor at $99-499 per contract: automated security scanning using multiple analysis tools, AI-generated vulnerability report in plain English, severity ranking and fix recommendations, and a 'security score' for the contract. Not replacing professional audits for high-stakes protocols — providing affordable security analysis for the long tail of smaller projects. Target indie developers launching NFT projects, small DeFi protocols, and DAO tooling where the budget for a $50K audit doesn't exist.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Automated scan, vulnerability list, severity rating, basic recommendations
Deep analysis, AI report with fix suggestions, re-scan after fixes, security badge
Unlimited scans, GitHub integration, real-time monitoring, team access, priority support
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
OpenZeppelin/Trail of Bits cost $50K-200K, weeks of timeline. Free tools require security expertise. No affordable $99-499 automated audit with AI-generated plain-English reports for smaller projects.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| OpenZeppelin | $50k+ per audit | Premium smart contract audits |
| Trail of Bits | $100k+ per audit | Elite security firm |
| Slither | Free (open source) | Static analysis framework |
| Mythril | Free (open source) | Security analysis tool |
| Certik | Contact sales | Blockchain security platform |
Premium smart contract audits
Elite security firm
Static analysis framework
Security analysis tool
Blockchain security platform
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
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 "Smart Contract Auditor". ## Product Overview AI vulnerability scanning for blockchain contracts ## Problem AI vulnerability scanning for blockchain contracts ## Solution Build Smart Contract Auditor ## 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 OpenZeppelin, Trail of Bits, Slither, Mythril, Certik ## 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.