[helen842000]

It doesn't matter. Right now your entire potential customer base doesn't know that either of you exist. Just start talking to actual people and get your product out there.

Finding customers and making them happy is the only thing that matters.

If your competition have huge team they also have huge expenses, you have an advantage in that you probably have a longer runway than they do.

Even if you had launched first, what would you have done if this competitor came along and launched after you? Doesn't competition validate it being a good idea? Why does being first matter if it's a viable niche?

If you have been working on this for a year, you should already have people ready to be your customers. If you don't, then stop building and start shipping.

[throwaway32424]

Thanks for the advice. Really helps.

So I have some potential customers who like it. Some prefer the competitor because it has more features but think that product is too expensive. All I can think of right now is focus on a core set of features a target group would need and charge less. I'm worried my competitor would just release a cut down cheaper version later but then I guess anyone else could do that as well. Any advice?

Affinity Designer and Illustrator before exist I suppose. Maybe I have to focus on specific workflows and cost.

[helen842000]

I would recommend not to compete on price.

By all means position yourself as more affordable but if you go specifically after cheap customers there is no loyalty there. They will always switch to whoever is cheapest and are a nightmare to support.

It's better to have a cut down feature-set, make sure you price based on that value and being simpler than the competitor.

There is room for you both in the industry. Focus on the right subset of customers and the core features that are right for them.