Needle is a customer discovery product for founders and teams. You run Manual search when you want an immediate pass across the communities your plan includes, see sentiment and buying intent on results, and use Auto Search for your brand so the same kind of discovery runs again on its own on your schedule and chosen sites - with the latest posts in the Auto tab, optional digests, and competitor names called out in posts when you save competitors in Settings. Solo includes 1 brand profile, Growth up to 3, and Scale up to 5 (need more than 5? Email support@useneedle.net). Trending Problems and Analytics round out the dashboard. Needle Directory is the public catalog for listing your product - separate from Search.
Why use Needle?
- Find customers - See who is already talking about problems your product solves.
- Validate ideas - Use Trending Problems plus Search to test demand from real threads.
- Move faster - One search across many communities instead of tab-hopping every day.
- Stay current (paid tiers) - Auto Search keeps your brand up to date on a timer you choose; pick the active brand in the dashboard header.
Core surfaces
| Surface | What it does |
|---|---|
| Manual search | On-demand streamed search across platforms; counts toward plan limits. |
| Auto Search | Needle runs the same search again on its own for your brand on your sites and schedule; latest posts, intent, sentiment, optional digests, and competitor highlights where configured. Up to 5 brand profiles depending on your plan tier; configure in Settings. |
| Trending Problems | Startup problems from curated public datasets, with a strength score, for ideation. |
| Analytics | Usage snapshot and recent activity. |
| Needle Directory | Public listings for your product on Needle (separate from Search). |
Who it’s for
Founders, product teams, and marketers who want conversation-led discovery without maintaining a pile of single-site tabs. See Who is Needle for? for ICP detail, use cases, and honest fit notes (including B2C and vs AI assistants).
Next steps
- Who is Needle for? - ICP, use cases, and when Needle is not the right tool.
- Getting started - Sign up and run your first manual search.
- Platforms - Who uses Reddit, HN, Stack Overflow, and each community Needle searches.
- Needle Directory - List your product in the public catalog.
- Plans and limits - Solo, Growth, and Scale at a glance.