Overview
Competitors are the apps you want to compare with your own. Spek helps you review their listings and search visibility in your selected markets.
They live on the Competitors page and in the agent setup. The tracked list belongs to your app and is shared across its markets; keyword and ranking observations remain storefront-specific.
Adding competitors
Search the store from the competitors step or the Competitors page, then add the apps you actually compete with. Add stays pending on that row until the app appears in the tracked list. Your own app, other apps already connected in the workspace, and other listings from the same developer do not appear — those are not competitors. A competitor you added shows in the tracked list and can be removed at any time.
Suggestions
Under Suggested, Spek shows apps you may want to consider as competitors. Review each app before adding it to your list.
Suggestions are computed per storefront and are a starting point, not a verdict. You decide who counts as a competitor. Add on a suggestion stays pending the same way as a search add, until that app is tracked.
Market-specific evidence
An app you track in one market remains on your app’s competitor list in other markets. Spek researches its local listing and search results for each storefront rather than copying keyword evidence between countries. A competitor may have different rankings or be unavailable in another storefront. See markets and storefronts.
Common questions
How many competitors should I add?
Start with apps that serve the same user need. A relevant competitor gives the Agent useful evidence; adding unrelated apps does not improve the research. You can update the list before the next run.
Keep the list focused enough that you can explain why each app belongs there. Review the local listing and audience, not only the category label. If the comparison set changes, mention that context when discussing a later visibility report with your team.
My app is not on the store yet.
Competitors provide useful market context before your app has search history. You can explicitly continue setup without competitors and add relevant apps later; the next run uses the updated list.
How do I decide whether an app is a useful competitor?
Compare the user need, core function and audience with your own app, then inspect how the app appears in the storefront you care about. An app can share a category without being a useful reference for your listing. Review suggestions as candidates rather than automatic endorsements, and keep the tracked list focused enough that your team can explain why each app belongs there. This makes keyword and visibility comparisons easier to interpret than a broad list assembled only from recognizable brand names.
Why can a tracked competitor look different across markets?
Its local listing, availability, wording and search positions can differ by storefront. Spek's shared competitor list identifies the apps you track, while the evidence is still specific to the selected market. Check the storefront before comparing values or interpreting a missing result. A competitor's strong position in one country does not establish the same position elsewhere, and an unavailable local listing should not be treated as a measured zero for its worldwide business.
Should I copy a competitor's wording when it ranks well?
Use competing listings to understand the market, then write truthful wording for your own product. Another app may offer features, serve audiences or hold brand rights that do not apply to yours. A strong ranking also does not prove that a specific sentence caused that position. Review Spek's proposals against your app's actual capabilities and the selected market context. The useful outcome is an informed listing decision, not a copied promise that attracts users your product cannot satisfy.
What does removing a competitor change?
It changes the app's tracked comparison list for subsequent work; it does not remove or alter that competitor's store listing. Before removing an app, consider whether it still represents a meaningful part of the market you are reviewing. If several teammates maintain the list, keep the reason for the change clear in your own review process. When comparing reports from different periods, note that the comparison context may have changed rather than interpreting every difference as movement by your app alone.