Where to find customers in developer tools
Developers do not fill out demo forms. They complain in public, compare tools in threads, and switch when a workflow breaks. If you sell developer tools, the customers you want are already writing the buying committee notes in Reddit comments, Hacker News threads, GitHub issues, and Discord servers — they just are not in your CRM yet. This hub maps the engineering audiences who buy software with a credit card or a procurement fight: indie hackers, SaaS founders, engineering managers, DevOps, frontend and backend engineers, ML, security, CTOs, and the people who maintain the platforms everyone else depends on. Each audience page lists the exact communities, the phrases they use when they are ready to switch, and the queries that surface them in asking, comparing, and frustrated modes.
Who sells here
Devtool startups, infrastructure companies, AI coding products, security vendors, analytics platforms, and anyone whose buyer is an engineer or the manager who signs the invoice.
Audiences in this sector
Developer tools
Where to find backend developers customers
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Where to find data engineers customers
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Where to find DevOps engineers customers
Developer tools
Where to find engineering managers customers
Developer tools
Where to find frontend developers customers
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Where to find game developers customers
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Where to find indie hackers customers
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Where to find machine learning engineers customers
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Where to find mobile app developers customers
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Where to find no-code makers customers
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Where to find open source maintainers customers
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Where to find platform engineers customers
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Where to find product managers customers
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Where to find QA engineers customers
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Where to find SaaS founders customers
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Where to find security engineers customers
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Where to find startup CTOs customers
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Frequently asked questions
Where do developers actually evaluate new tools?
In public threads, not vendor webinars. A typical path is a frustrated post on Reddit or Hacker News, a comparison comment with two or three named alternatives, then a weekend trial. If your product is not in that thread, you were never in the running. Watch GitHub issues, changelog complaints, and 'what are you using for X' posts — those are the evaluation rooms.
Is Hacker News worth it if the audience is so skeptical?
Yes, if you can survive the skepticism. HN is a terrible place to spray a pitch and a rare place to find senior engineers describing a buying decision in complete sentences. Launch days matter less than the comment threads six months later when someone asks for an alternative to a tool that just raised prices.
Should I DM engineers on X or reply in threads?
Reply in the thread. Developers treat cold DMs as spam unless they asked. A useful public reply — a specific workaround, a relevant comparison, a link only if it answers the question — is how trust starts. The DM comes after they engage.
Reading 1,000 threads a month doesn't scale. PainHuntr does.
Paste your product URL. PainHuntr finds the conversations on Reddit, X, Hacker News, YouTube, and review sites — then helps you reply, track what worked, and do it again.
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