20 free market research tools that run in your terminal. Validate a startup idea, size a market, find competitors, build a customer persona, run a SWOT analysis, and fact-check your own assumptions. Every tool is one file, has zero dependencies, and uses your own API key.
Built by Ammar Imtiaz. MIT licensed.
git clone https://github.com/ammar1mtiaz/Research_Tools.git
cd Research_Tools
node tools/startup-idea-validator.js --demoThat runs with built-in sample data and needs no API key at all. Add a key when you want it pointed at your own idea.
Most founder research is a browser tab problem. You open fifteen of them, skim, and end up with a feeling instead of a finding. These tools do the opposite: each one takes a plain-English description of your business, does one specific job, and hands back a structured report you can act on or argue with.
They are deliberately boring. No SaaS signup, no dashboard, no seat pricing, no data leaving your machine except the model call you configured. If you can run node, you can run all twenty.
| Tool | What it does | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
startup-idea-validator |
Scores an idea across demand, competition and timing and gives a structured verdict | Is my business idea any good? |
market-size-calculator |
Estimates TAM, SAM and SOM with the methodology stated for each number | How big is the market for this? |
competitor-finder |
Discovers real competitors for an idea and reveals the gaps between them | Who am I actually competing with? |
competitor-analysis |
Profiles one company from a name or URL into 15 structured fields | What is this competitor really doing? |
pricing-research |
Researches what comparable products charge, then recommends your price | What should I charge for this? |
unit-economics-calculator |
Extracts CAC, LTV, margin and payback from a description and flags the risks | Do the numbers actually work? |
base-rate-checker |
Finds the baseline success and survival rates for a business category | What percentage of these actually make it? |
market-timing-analyzer |
Examines the enabling conditions to judge too early, window open, or too late | Is now the right time to start this? |
customer-persona-generator |
Builds evidence-based personas instead of invented demographics | Who is my ideal customer? |
customer-interview-questions |
Generates non-leading discovery questions from a business brief | What should I ask on a customer call? |
review-miner |
Mines reviews for rage, rave, trigger and theme signals | What do customers hate about the incumbent? |
reddit-pain-point-finder |
Finds real pain points in forum and Q&A language | What problems do people actually complain about? |
objection-handler |
Extracts the hesitations buyers have and builds the counter for each | How do I answer this objection? |
swot-analysis-generator |
Produces a SWOT report with citations rather than a brainstorm | What are my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? |
pre-mortem-generator |
Assumes the plan already failed and works backwards through the reasons | Why might this fail? |
steel-man-generator |
Builds the strongest honest case against your plan, then rebuts it | What is the best argument I am wrong? |
business-license-checker |
Lists licenses, permits and registrations by business type and US state | What licenses do I need? |
business-plan-generator |
Writes a structured summary plus a 4-week execution plan | Can I get a business plan out of this? |
ai-fact-checker |
Pulls the load-bearing claims out of a document and re-checks each one | Is any of this actually true? |
confidence-tagger |
Labels every claim confirmed, likely, or assumption and ranks the assumptions | Which parts of this are guesses? |
Requirements: Node.js 18 or newer. Nothing else. No npm install step, because there is nothing to install.
git clone https://github.com/ammar1mtiaz/Research_Tools.git
cd Research_ToolsTry any tool with no key:
node tools/swot-analysis-generator.js --demoPoint it at your own idea. Set one key, whichever provider you already pay for:
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
# or
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# or
export GEMINI_API_KEY=...Then pass your input three ways, whichever suits you:
node tools/competitor-finder.js "meal prep delivery for shift workers"
node tools/competitor-finder.js brief.txt
echo "meal prep delivery for shift workers" | node tools/competitor-finder.js -Get an HTML report instead of terminal output:
node tools/swot-analysis-generator.js "my business description" --htmlEvery tool responds to --help, and every tool responds to --demo.
Free startup idea validator. Takes your idea and scores it across three axes that actually predict outcomes: is there demand, how contested is the space, and is the timing right. Returns a verdict with the reasoning attached so you can disagree with a specific line rather than a vibe.
node tools/startup-idea-validator.js "AI bookkeeping for freelance tradespeople"TAM SAM SOM calculator. Estimates total addressable, serviceable available and serviceable obtainable market. The important part is that it states the methodology behind each figure, because a market size number without a method is decoration.
node tools/market-size-calculator.js "corporate EV charging installation in Texas"Is this the right time to start. Timing accounts for more startup outcome variance than most founders expect. This checks the enabling conditions: does the required technology exist and is it cheap enough, has the prerequisite behaviour change already happened, is the regulation settled. Returns too early, window open, or too late.
Startup failure rate by industry. Before you estimate your own odds, look up the category's odds. Pulls baseline survival and success rates so your forecast starts from the outside view rather than your own optimism.
Find my competitors. Give it a business idea and it surfaces the real players, direct and indirect, with the gaps between them called out. Useful precisely when you think you have no competitors, which is usually a research failure rather than a market fact.
node tools/competitor-finder.js "subscription dog food for large breeds"Free competitor analysis tool. Point it at one company, by name or URL, and get 15 structured fields back: positioning, pricing, channels, size, socials and more. Run it across your competitor list and you have a comparison table instead of a folder of screenshots.
Competitor pricing analysis. Finds what comparable products actually charge, then recommends a launch price with the reasoning shown. Pricing set by feel is the most expensive shortcut in early-stage business.
Customer persona generator. Builds an ICP from evidence rather than invented demographics. No "Marketing Mary, 34, likes yoga." Real signals, stated sources.
Customer interview questions. Generates a non-leading question set for discovery calls. Most founder interviews fail because the questions are built to confirm the idea. These are built to break it.
Customer review analysis tool. Mines 1-star and 5-star reviews for four signals: what enrages people, what they rave about, what triggers a switch, and the themes underneath both. The switching triggers are usually where your wedge is.
Find customer pain points. Searches forums and Q&A sites for the problem in customers' own words. Their phrasing is also your ad copy, which is a useful side effect.
Sales objection handling. Extracts the hesitations buyers actually raise about a product like yours, then builds the counter each one needs. Run it before you write your sales page, not after.
Free SWOT analysis generator. Produces a SWOT grounded in searched evidence with citations, rather than four boxes filled in from memory. Outputs to terminal or HTML.
node tools/swot-analysis-generator.js "boutique physiotherapy clinic in Dubai" --htmlPre-mortem template. Assume the plan failed completely twelve months from now. What are the most likely reasons? This generates ranked post-mortems with the early warning signal for each, so you know which instrument to watch.
Steel man argument generator. Writes the strongest honest case against your plan, then the rebuttal, then the residue that the rebuttal does not actually cover. That residue is the useful part.
Unit economics calculator. Extracts CAC, LTV, gross margin and payback period from a plain description, computes the ratios, and flags every assumption it had to make. An LTV to CAC ratio built on three invented numbers is worse than no ratio.
AI fact checker. Extracts the load-bearing claims from a document, re-searches each one, and marks it confirmed, adjusted, or refuted. Built for the case where a model wrote something confident and you need to know which sentences to trust.
Fact check my document. Tags every claim in a document as confirmed, likely, or assumption, then ranks the assumptions by how much weight they are carrying. Tells you what to verify first when you cannot verify everything.
What licenses do I need. Lists the licenses, permits, insurance and entity setup required for a given business type in a given US state. Not legal advice, but it tells you what to go and confirm.
node tools/business-license-checker.js "mobile coffee cart, Austin, Texas"Free business plan generator. Produces an executive summary and a week-by-week plan for the first month. Short enough to actually execute, which is the only useful kind.
Every tool in this repo follows the same contract:
- One file. Copy a single
.jsout oftools/and it still runs. Nothing imports anything else here. - Zero dependencies. Node built-ins only. No
node_modules, no supply chain, no install step. - Bring your own key. Works with Anthropic, OpenAI or Google. Set one environment variable and it picks it up. Your inputs go to the provider you chose and nowhere else.
- Demo mode.
--demoruns on hand-written sample data with no key and no network call, so you can see the output shape before deciding whether to use it. - HTML reports.
--htmlwrites a self-contained report you can send to a co-founder or an investor without them installing anything. - Honest degradation. Tools that want live web search say so at runtime when the provider does not offer it, rather than quietly making things up.
Are these tools free? Yes. MIT licensed, no signup, no account, no usage limits from me. You pay your model provider for the tokens you use, which for most of these is a fraction of a cent per run.
Do I need an API key?
Not to try them. Every tool has a --demo mode that runs on built-in sample data with no key and no network. You need a key only when you point a tool at your own business.
Which AI provider should I use?
Whichever you already have. The tools read ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY or GEMINI_API_KEY and use the first one they find. Tools that benefit from live web search will tell you at runtime if your provider does not support it.
Is my data sent anywhere? Only to the model provider whose key you set. There is no server in the middle, no telemetry, and no analytics. Read the file, it is one file.
Can I use these commercially? Yes. MIT license. Use them in client work, fold them into your own product, rename them, sell the output. Attribution is appreciated and not required.
Do these replace real market research?
No, and any tool that claims to is lying to you. They replace the first four hours of it. You still have to talk to customers, and customer-interview-questions exists specifically to make that conversation better.
What is the difference between competitor-finder and competitor-analysis?
competitor-finder starts from an idea and discovers who is out there. competitor-analysis starts from one named company and profiles it in depth. Run the first, then run the second on each result.
Why command line instead of a web app? Because a web app means my server, my logs, my rate limits and my pricing page. A single file on your machine means none of those things exist. It also means the tool still works in five years when I have moved on.
Issues and pull requests are welcome. If a tool gives you a bad result, open an issue with the input you used and I will look at the prompt. If you build a twenty-first tool that fits the same contract, send it over.
- SEO-tools-by-Ammar-Imtiaz is 20 technical SEO and answer engine optimization tools, same format.
- Content-Agent-Helpers is 20 ad copy, creative and brand tools, same format.
Built by Ammar Imtiaz, who builds software for government contracting, SEO and marketing automation.
- Website: www.ammarimtiaz.com
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ammarimtiaz
- GitHub: github.com/ammar1mtiaz
If one of these saved you an afternoon, a star on the repo is the cheapest way to say so.
MIT License. Do what you like with it.