How We Validate Ideas
ProvenTools separates what the evidence supports from what still needs validation. New curated ideas receive a ProvenScore, confidence level, evidence date, and explicit validation state; older archive records remain clearly labeled.
How Does ProvenTools Validate Ideas?
Every new curated idea goes through a 4-step process: discovery from market signals, evidence research, scoring against demand and feasibility metrics, and quality control before publishing. Here is how each step works.
Discovery
We continuously scan keyword databases, search trends, and marketplace gaps to identify opportunities with real user demand.
- Keyword research across 50+ million search queries
- Analysis of emerging trends and market patterns
- Monitoring of platform ecosystems (Chrome, Shopify, Discord)
- Review of successful indie hacker products and their niches
Validation
Each new curated idea is evaluated against available market evidence and receives an explicit validation state.
- Search volume analysis to confirm user intent
- Competition assessment and market saturation checks
- Revenue potential estimation based on comparable products
- Technical feasibility review for solo developers
Curation
Our 700 curated ideas go through an additional manual review process to ensure quality and actionability.
- Problem-solution fit analysis
- Target audience identification
- Difficulty scoring (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
- Revenue model recommendations
Quality Control
Every newly published curated idea passes our software-fit and evidence-quality checks before being included.
- Removal of low-quality, spam, or duplicate ideas
- Filtering of NSFW and inappropriate content
- Verification of search volume accuracy
- Regular database updates and maintenance
Where Does ProvenTools Get Its Data?
The database pulls from keyword research tools, app store listings, community forums, job postings, and public review platforms. Each source contributes a different signal for validating market demand.
Keyword Databases
We aggregate data from multiple keyword research sources to identify high-intent search queries that indicate product demand.
Platform Marketplaces
Analysis of Chrome Web Store, Shopify App Store, and Discord Bot directories to find gaps and opportunities.
Indie Hacker Research
Manual research into successful micro-SaaS products, their origin stories, and the patterns behind their success.
Niche Libraries
Curated collections organized by industry, business model, and target audience for focused exploration.
What Does the ProvenScore Mean?
Every curated idea carries one 0–100 ProvenScore. It rates the evidence we could verify for that idea — not the outcome of a business built on it.
Three weighted subscores
- Demonstrated demand · 45% of the score
- Evidence that people are already looking for this: search behaviour, marketplace listings, community discussion and comparable products that exist and charge for it.
- Opportunity gap · 30% of the score
- How much room is left. Strong demand with entrenched, well-liked incumbents scores lower than the same demand served badly or not at all.
- Builder feasibility · 25% of the score
- Whether a solo builder or a small team could realistically ship and run it: scope, integrations, data access, ongoing cost and operational burden.
How scores band
- Strong
- 72+
- Promising
- 60-71
- Exploratory
- 48-59
- Weak
- 0-47
ProvenScore rates the evidence we could verify, not the outcome of a business. Validate before you build.
Confidence, validation and freshness
Alongside the number, every idea carries an evidence confidence level, a validation status and the date its evidence was last checked. Low confidence pulls a score toward the middle rather than inflating it, because thin evidence should not produce a confident answer in either direction. An input with no usable source is shown as not measured, never as a zero.
“Validated” means current, source-appropriate evidence passed its contract. It does not mean the idea will make money. Ideas awaiting a re-check, ideas flagged for review and older records scored under a previous method are all labelled as such rather than quietly mixed in with the rest.
Live subscribers can re-run the evidence behind any idea, or submit their own idea for the same treatment. Reading the stored score and its evidence is always free.
What Makes ProvenTools Different From Other Idea Databases?
Data-Driven, Not Opinion-Based
Every tool idea in our database is backed by real search volume data. We do not guess what people want. We analyze what they are actively searching for.
Built for Solo Founders
Our curated ideas are specifically selected for indie hackers and solo developers. We focus on opportunities that one person can realistically build and launch.
Comprehensive Coverage
From simple calculators to complex SaaS products, from Chrome extensions to Shopify apps, our database covers the full spectrum of software opportunities.
Regularly Updated
Market trends change, and so does our database. We continuously add new ideas and update existing ones to reflect current opportunities.
Ready to Find Your Next Idea?
Get 700 curated, scored ideas with ProvenScore and build prompts, plus 116,000+ supporting idea records.