Needle is a Conversation Intelligence Platform that helps businesses and founders discover customers, track competitors, and monitor keywords by analyzing real conversations across 12 platforms like Reddit, Hacker News, GitHub, and Twitter (X).
What is Needle?
Needle is a market intelligence platform that aggregates public conversations from 12 online communities — including Reddit, Hacker News, GitHub, Stack Overflow, YouTube, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Mastodon, Bluesky, Lobsters, Tumblr, and Forums — into a single ranked feed. Users input keywords, brands, or URLs, and Needle returns threads scored by buying intent and sentiment, enabling direct engagement with potential customers. It is a web-based SaaS product built by a team of founders and engineers (company name not specified on page).
Key Features
- Unified multi-community search — Search across 10+ communities in one workflow, with results ranked by intent and sentiment, instead of manually checking each site.
- Intent + fit ranking — Threads are scored by buying intent (e.g., Low, Mid, High) and relevance to your offer, so you see comparisons and pain points first.
- Manual and Auto Search — Run one-off queries or schedule recurring brand monitoring (Auto Search) that runs weekly or daily across selected communities.
- Export and integrations — Export results as PDF or CSV, and receive digests via Slack, Discord, or Google Chat (available on Growth and Scale plans).
- AI reply drafts — Auto-generated draft responses for identified leads, included in Solo plan and above.
- Competitor signals — Monitor mentions of competing products and view threads where users discuss alternatives.
- White-label exports — Scale plan includes white-label PDF reports for sharing with investors or clients.
Who is it for?
- Founders and startups — Validate startup ideas by finding real conversations about pain points and needs across Reddit, HN, and GitHub, as exemplified by Cameron Robertson who discovered 15+ relevant subreddits.
- Marketers and content writers — Monitor brand mentions, trending topics, and competitor gaps to inform content strategy; freelance writer Ayachi Sharma saved 10+ hours per week.
- Product teams — Gather insights from real user conversations to prioritize features and understand sentiment, as done by Issac Veerla who found 50+ high-intent threads in one day.
Use Cases
- Customer discovery: Search multiple communities for people explicitly asking for recommendations or describing a problem that your product solves, then engage directly.
- Competitive analysis: Track where and how competitors are mentioned — e.g., threads comparing alternatives, launch announcements, or feature requests — and identify gaps.
- Idea validation: Use the Trending Problems feed (free tier) to spot rising pain points and validate startup ideas before building.
How does Needle work?
- Paste your website URL or search terms into the Needle search bar to get a free preview (no account required). 2. After signup and brand onboarding, Needle runs a one-time welcome scan across a sample of communities. 3. Paid plans unlock manual searches and recurring Auto Search; results are displayed as ranked cards with intent labels (e.g., "Buying intent · Mid") and direct links to the original thread. 4. Reply drafts can be generated from the card, and results can be exported or sent via Slack.
Pricing
Needle offers three paid plans with a 7-day free trial on all. Solo ($15/mo): 5 intent-ranked searches per day, core communities, Auto Search, CSV export, Slack digests, AI reply drafts. Growth ($49/mo): 30 searches/day, exports (PDF & CSV), 10+ communities, competitor signals, Slack/Google Chat digests. Scale ($149/mo): 150 searches/day, includes X, LinkedIn, Forums, white-label exports, concierge support. Annual billing saves two months.
FAQ
Is Needle free?
There is a free preview on the homepage (paste your site, no account) and a free Trending Problems feed. Full manual search and Auto Search require a paid plan, but all plans have a 7-day free trial.
Which communities does Needle search?
Needle searches Reddit, Stack Overflow, Hacker News, YouTube, GitHub, X, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Bluesky, Lobsters, Tumblr, and Forums — 12 communities total. Free preview samples 5; paid plans access all.
How does Needle differ from manual searching?
Instead of opening each site separately, Needle searches all communities in one workflow and ranks results by buying intent and relevance. Users report saving 10–42 hours per week compared to manual methods, and the scoring reduces noise from keyword alerts.
Can I track competitors with Needle?
Yes. Growth and Scale plans include competitor signals: you can monitor mentions of competing products and view threads where users compare or seek alternatives.
What export options are available?
Solo plan offers CSV export; Growth adds PDF export; Scale includes white-label PDF reports. All plans can share results via Slack, Discord, or Google Chat digests.
