Find people asking for your tool on GitHub
Copy-paste searches for GitHub issues and discussions that show you developers who need what you're building.
Everyone looks for customers on Reddit and X. Hardly anyone looks on GitHub. That's a mistake if you build for developers. Every day, people open issues and discussions like "Is there an alternative to X that does Y?", "Any plans to support Z?" or "This is blocking us, is there a workaround?". They describe their exact problem, in detail, in public. Many of these posts get few or no useful answers. If your tool solves the problem, you can be the first helpful reply.
How GitHub search works (30 seconds)
Search
Type your search into the search bar at the top of GitHub and press Enter.
Pick the tab
On the results page, switch to Issues or Discussions on the left.
Sort
Sort by Newest to see recent posts first.
Filter
is:open hides closed issues, created:>2026-10-01 shows only posts after that date. Change the date to about a month ago.
1. People asking for alternatives
Switch the results to Issues.
"alternative to COMPETITOR" is:issue is:open"is there a" TOPIC is:issue is:open created:>2026-10-01"looking for" TOPIC is:issue is:open created:>2026-10-01These are people who already know what they need. They're asking where to find it.
2. Feature requests nobody built
Popular tools collect feature requests for years. If your tool already does what users keep asking for, that's your pitch.
repo:OWNER/REPO is:issue is:open sort:reactions-+1-descReplace OWNER/REPO, if their repository is public.
TOPIC label:enhancement is:issue is:openTOPIC "feature request" is:issue is:open created:>2026-10-01Labels differ between repositories. If enhancement returns nothing, try label:"feature request" or label:feature.
3. People stuck with your competitor
COMPETITOR in:title,body is:issue is:open created:>2026-10-01COMPETITOR "workaround" is:issue is:openCOMPETITOR "blocking" is:issue is:openWords like "workaround", "blocking" or "still not fixed" mean someone has a problem they can't solve with their current tool.
4. Unanswered questions in discussions
Many projects use Discussions for questions instead of issues. Search, then switch the results to Discussions.
TOPIC "recommend" created:>2026-10-01"alternative to COMPETITOR"5. Only posts nobody has answered yet
Add comments:0 to any issue search to see posts without a single reply:
"is there a" TOPIC is:issue is:open comments:0Which posts are worth a reply
- Is it recent? Under a month old is ideal.
- Is it a question you can actually answer? Not just "my tool exists", but real help.
- Is it the right place? A general question or a community discussion is fine. A competitor's own repository is not (see below).
- Does your tool solve their exact problem? If not, skip it or just help without mentioning it.
GitHub etiquette: how to reply without getting flagged
GitHub is a work tool, not a forum. Maintainers notice self-promotion fast, and they can hide or delete comments and block accounts.
Never advertise in a competitor's repository.
It's their space. Use those issues to learn what users want, not to pitch.
Help first.
Answer the question or suggest a workaround. Mention your tool only if it really fits.
Be open about it.
"Disclosure: I maintain X, which does Y" is fine. Pretending to be a random user is not.
One comment, no follow-up spam.
If they're interested, they'll reply or click.
Keep it technical.
A code snippet or config example is worth more than a sales sentence.
Bonus: use what you find for your product
Every feature request with lots of thumbs-up is free market research. Keep a list of the requests you find most often. It tells you what to build next, and the exact words developers use, which you can put straight on your landing page.