Niche Product or All-in-one?
We're having some internal discussions about what users would prefer - a wide range of niche products (maybe in more of an app-like ecosystem) - or an all in one platform.
Interested in learning what the community things - primarily folks who use creator tools and publish / sell / create content!
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@manu_goel2 curious how you handled support docs / onboarding to create 0 learning curve!
I'm in the business of building a community platform and we bet on bringing multiple community tools on one platform. So technically, it aspires to be 'all-in-one' community platform.
...and it works. The only way to evaluate solution is to find out how does it help your users.
For us, it comes from personal experience. When building niche communities; we had to use multiple tools and content formats to keep users engaged. This was a pain for us; and for most of the community builders as well.
So bringing all these tools under one platform made perfect sense.
In your case - find out if it's really helpful for the users. Sometimes people want simpler solutions and are happy using variety of tools. Talk to users (your potential customer) and find out the answer.
@thebigk totally agree. I think it’s also worth considering whether users even know what they’re missing. Sometimes we build something that could genuinely help, but users just want a tool that lets them toss virtual paper balls into a trash can - not the analytics showing they miss left 42% of the time....
Even if it improves their outcome, it doesn’t matter unless they actually use it. That’s the tricky part - figuring out if it’s a real need or just something we (as builders / maybe idealists - think is valuable.
This is a tough one, there’s something liberating about niche tools that do one thing brilliantly, especially for creators who like stitching together their own stack.
But when workflows scale or collaboration ramps up, the all-in-one promise starts looking more appealing. Maybe the real sweet spot is modularity with smooth handoffs across tools? Would love to see how others are navigating this.
@vivek_sharma_25 Same - oftentimes with an enterprise level / hubspot like tool - I think that it tends to feel like an individual app like ecosystem anyways so you might as well have multiple tools if they're more cost effective / have more perks that you prefer.
I think as you mentioned - for certain (not very exciting) stock workflows - it feels (at least to me) to have all of that in house and just "work"
This is a classic product tension and honestly, I’ve seen the answer shift based on maturity of the user and clarity of the job-to-be-done.
Creators at an early stage often crave simplicity: one place to write, publish, sell. That’s why all-in-one tools like Notion or Gumroad became default starting points.
But as they grow, needs get sharper and that’s where niche tools win. A course creator might move to Maven, a writer to Substack, a seller to ConvertKit (Kit) because those tools are purpose-built for that slice of the journey.
If you’re building today, one approach I like is:
Start with an all-in-one that solves 80% for 80% of users.
Then open up APIs or modular add-ons for the 20% who outgrow it.
That way you’re not forcing a choice you’re evolving with your user.
Curious: who are you building for right now early-stage creators, or scaled ones?
I think it differs by situation.
Based on comment, it is hard to configure out. Please give us more detail about your thinking.