We use a few essential tools every day. Notion for note-taking, Figma for design, a few dashboards, or maybe some unique SaaS tools. But the more web tools I make and use, the clearer one thing becomes, to me at least: that discoverability is fragmented.
You either:
run into tools randomly on Twitter/X and Product Hunt
depend on word-of-mouth recommendations
or waste far too much time googling different variants of “the best tool for X”
Even worse, when you run into new tools worth considering, how are you supposed to decide? Screenshot-based product tours may be outdated, landing pages are often geared towards conversions over transparency, and there isn’t even a convenient way to compare multiple tools side by side.
Apps were able to sort this out with app stores ages ago. They give you:
easy discovery
quick descriptions
ratings and previews
an idea of what's out there
However, with web apps, we're essentially putting things together by hand.
This is precisely why I’ve taken note of initiatives aiming to create some structure in the way the ecosystem is organized. The most interesting one I’ve seen recently is Unstore, which takes a different approach to organizing web apps
We are entering an age where:
more tools are browser-based
micro-SaaS is booming
independent developers are releasing products frequently
The issue here isn’t a lack of tools. It’s a matter of signal versus noise.
The idea of creating a good “web app store” system might fix issues such as:
finding the right tool for your needs
getting your product seen as an indie developer
helping customers make decisions faster
In this case, it’s less about what tool to use and more about discovering the right tool through category browsing.
I really do not think that we are far from reaching an era where web apps are consumed like products within an ecosystem.
Until that time comes, I am always curious to see how different developers tackle this problem because, frankly speaking, there needs to be a better solution.
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