5 ms·

Versus – Find alternatives to a product or service

78 points by URfejk 6y ago

bobosha 6y ago
Nice, does this use word2vec or some such word embedding model?
vmurthy 6y ago
Nice interface and idea on how you do this : "When I am exploring alternatives to a product or service, I often to go Google, type "[product] vs ", and just see what it autocompletes. That usually tells me the most popular competitors. If I want to be thorough I'll do the same for the competitors, etc. This tool just does that automatically for you."[0] I've been using https://alternativeto.net/ https://alternativeto.net/ for a few years and have been happy with the crowd-sourced approach,too. [0]http://versusutil.com/about http://versusutil.com/about
yamrzou 6y ago
It didn't work for me, it returned: Error fetching alternatives ... <h1>We're sorry...</h1><p>... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.</p></div><div style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">See <a href=\"https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640\">Google Help</a> for more information. ...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
charliebrownau 6y ago
Didnt work: Error fetching alternatives Internal Server Error: 403 - "<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\"/><title>Sorry...</title><style> body { font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; background-color: #fff; color: #000; }</style></head><body><div><table><tr><td><b><font face=sans-serif size=10><font color=#4285f4>G</font><font color=#ea4335>o</font><font color=#fbbc05>o</font><font color=#4285f4>g</font><font color=#34a853>l</font><font color=#ea4335>e</font></font></b></td><td style=\"text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom; padding-bottom: 15px; width: 50%\"><div style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #dfdfdf;\">Sorry...</div></td></tr></table></div><div style=\"margin-left: 4em;\"><h1>We're sorry...</h1><p>... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.</p></div><div style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">See <a href=\"https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640\">Google https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640\">Google Help</a> for more information.<br/><br/></div><div style=\"text-align: center; border-top: 1px solid #dfdfdf;\"><a href=\"https://www.google.com\">Google https://www.google.com\">Google Home</a></div></body></html>" About this
teddyh 6y ago
Similar: • https://www.osalt.com/ https://www.osalt.com/ • https://alternativeto.net/ https://alternativeto.net/
sixhobbits 6y ago
I built something very similar recently but with a visual output. https://vsgraphs.ritza.co https://vsgraphs.ritza.co
suddenstutter 6y ago
This had already been done many a times.
visarga 6y ago
Seems like it also contains topic names, diet names and other names that are not products or services.
Tipewryter 6y ago
For smartphones, this site has a cool "similar phone finder" that finds similar phones based on their euclidean distance over the specs: https://www.productchart.com/smartphones/similar https://www.productchart.com/smartphones/similar The charts for other product types like laptops, monitors etc are also cool to discover similar products based on specs: https://www.productchart.com/laptops/ https://www.productchart.com/laptops/ https://www.productchart.com/monitors/ https://www.productchart.com/monitors/
kissgyorgy 6y ago
http://alternativeto.net/ http://alternativeto.net/ exists for a really long time. It's very sophisticated and has a huge database. I used for years every time I'm searching for an alternative.
- ffpip 6y ago
  You can search directly with duckduckgo. 'Alternative to Chrome' - https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=alternative+to+chrome https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=alternative+to+chrome Just click the software tab at the top.
  - chris_f 6y ago
    That's pretty good. For another option, you can also use the 'related:' on Runnaroo - https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=related%3Achrome https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=related%3Achrome Results sourced from SaaSHub.
    - ffpip 6y ago
      I like Runnaroo. The results are good. Have used it occasionally for the past few weeks. If you don't mind me asking, is the money through the 'promoted' sections sustainable enough for a search engine?
      - chris_f 6y ago
        > If you don't mind me asking, is the money through the 'promoted' sections sustainable enough for a search engine? Sustainable to cover the cost of the service? Absolutely, it will do that, but it is not scalable that it would support the needed revenue to be the next Google (or even DDG for that matter). Committing to privacy and user-center features eliminates a lot of scalable monetization strategies, and I am completely OK with that. I started and continue to work on Runnaroo because I love trying to solve the problem of building a better alternative search engine option. Also, thank you for the kind words!
- k__ 6y ago
sradman 6y ago
Google provides a REST API for its Suggest feature [1] which can be used for product vs style searches. I use it in a CLI script specifically for this use case. [1] https://developers.google.com/cloud-search/docs/reference/rest/v1/query/suggest https://developers.google.com/cloud-search/docs/reference/re...
- sradman 6y ago
  An example "hacker news vs" Google Suggest Query [1] with XML output designed for toolbar integration. [1] https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?output=toolbar&hl=en&q=hacker%20news%20vs https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?output=too...
ekianjo 6y ago
wordpress alternatives: no link to ghost?
- hirako2000 6y ago
  IPhone alternatives include LG dishwashers. Good job guys.
te_chris 6y ago
I miss google doing this for us by aggregating collections of useful blogs and articles written by people thoughtfully comparing things, but now google is too busy giving sites like this and all the others ranking, starving actually useful resources of oxygen.
puranjay 6y ago
I don't see the utility of a tool like this that doesn't have editorial input. A list of alternative tools doesn't really tell me what tool would be better for my needs. Ableton is an alternative to Logic Pro. But only a pro can tell me that Ableton works best as a performance + production tool while Logic is mostly only for production
- speedywaiverapp 6y ago
  It might not tell you which is the best for your needs, but it does look to provide a good starting point for research.
khimaros 6y ago
my current preferred tool for this is https://slant.co https://slant.co
chris_f 6y ago
A cool feature update would be to map the multiple layers of related suggestions on a force-directed graph.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

78 points by URfejk 6y ago

Nice, does this use word2vec or some such word embedding model?

Nice interface and idea on how you do this : "When I am exploring alternatives to a product or service, I often to go Google, type "[product] vs ", and just see what it autocompletes. That usually tells me the most popular competitors. If I want to be thorough I'll do the same for the competitors, etc. This tool just does that automatically for you."[0] I've been using https://alternativeto.net/ https://alternativeto.net/ for a few years and have been happy with the crowd-sourced approach,too. [0]http://versusutil.com/about http://versusutil.com/about

yamrzou 6y ago

It didn't work for me, it returned: Error fetching alternatives ... <h1>We're sorry...</h1><p>... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.</p></div><div style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">See <a href=\"https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640\">Google Help</a> for more information. ...

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

charliebrownau 6y ago

Didnt work: Error fetching alternatives Internal Server Error: 403 - "<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\"/><title>Sorry...</title><style> body { font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; background-color: #fff; color: #000; }</style></head><body><div><table><tr><td><b><font face=sans-serif size=10><font color=#4285f4>G</font><font color=#ea4335>o</font><font color=#fbbc05>o</font><font color=#4285f4>g</font><font color=#34a853>l</font><font color=#ea4335>e</font></font></b></td><td style=\"text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom; padding-bottom: 15px; width: 50%\"><div style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #dfdfdf;\">Sorry...</div></td></tr></table></div><div style=\"margin-left: 4em;\"><h1>We're sorry...</h1><p>... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.</p></div><div style=\"margin-left: 4em;\">See <a href=\"https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640\">Google https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640\">Google Help</a> for more information.<br/><br/></div><div style=\"text-align: center; border-top: 1px solid #dfdfdf;\"><a href=\"https://www.google.com\">Google https://www.google.com\">Google Home</a></div></body></html>" About this

teddyh 6y ago

Similar: • https://www.osalt.com/ https://www.osalt.com/ • https://alternativeto.net/ https://alternativeto.net/

sixhobbits 6y ago

I built something very similar recently but with a visual output. https://vsgraphs.ritza.co https://vsgraphs.ritza.co

suddenstutter 6y ago

This had already been done many a times.

visarga 6y ago

Seems like it also contains topic names, diet names and other names that are not products or services.

Tipewryter 6y ago

For smartphones, this site has a cool "similar phone finder" that finds similar phones based on their euclidean distance over the specs: https://www.productchart.com/smartphones/similar https://www.productchart.com/smartphones/similar The charts for other product types like laptops, monitors etc are also cool to discover similar products based on specs: https://www.productchart.com/laptops/ https://www.productchart.com/laptops/ https://www.productchart.com/monitors/ https://www.productchart.com/monitors/

kissgyorgy 6y ago

http://alternativeto.net/ http://alternativeto.net/ exists for a really long time. It's very sophisticated and has a huge database. I used for years every time I'm searching for an alternative.

ffpip 6y ago
You can search directly with duckduckgo. 'Alternative to Chrome' - https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=alternative+to+chrome https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=alternative+to+chrome Just click the software tab at the top.
- chris_f 6y ago
  That's pretty good. For another option, you can also use the 'related:' on Runnaroo - https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=related%3Achrome https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=related%3Achrome Results sourced from SaaSHub.
  - ffpip 6y ago
    I like Runnaroo. The results are good. Have used it occasionally for the past few weeks. If you don't mind me asking, is the money through the 'promoted' sections sustainable enough for a search engine?
    - chris_f 6y ago
      > If you don't mind me asking, is the money through the 'promoted' sections sustainable enough for a search engine? Sustainable to cover the cost of the service? Absolutely, it will do that, but it is not scalable that it would support the needed revenue to be the next Google (or even DDG for that matter). Committing to privacy and user-center features eliminates a lot of scalable monetization strategies, and I am completely OK with that. I started and continue to work on Runnaroo because I love trying to solve the problem of building a better alternative search engine option. Also, thank you for the kind words!
k__ 6y ago

sradman 6y ago

Google provides a REST API for its Suggest feature [1] which can be used for product vs style searches. I use it in a CLI script specifically for this use case. [1] https://developers.google.com/cloud-search/docs/reference/rest/v1/query/suggest https://developers.google.com/cloud-search/docs/reference/re...

sradman 6y ago
An example "hacker news vs" Google Suggest Query [1] with XML output designed for toolbar integration. [1] https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?output=toolbar&hl=en&q=hacker%20news%20vs https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?output=too...

ekianjo 6y ago

wordpress alternatives: no link to ghost?

hirako2000 6y ago
IPhone alternatives include LG dishwashers. Good job guys.

te_chris 6y ago

I miss google doing this for us by aggregating collections of useful blogs and articles written by people thoughtfully comparing things, but now google is too busy giving sites like this and all the others ranking, starving actually useful resources of oxygen.

puranjay 6y ago

I don't see the utility of a tool like this that doesn't have editorial input. A list of alternative tools doesn't really tell me what tool would be better for my needs. Ableton is an alternative to Logic Pro. But only a pro can tell me that Ableton works best as a performance + production tool while Logic is mostly only for production

speedywaiverapp 6y ago
It might not tell you which is the best for your needs, but it does look to provide a good starting point for research.

khimaros 6y ago

my current preferred tool for this is https://slant.co https://slant.co

chris_f 6y ago

A cool feature update would be to map the multiple layers of related suggestions on a force-directed graph.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]