What is this
PainHunt
A directory of real, validated developer frustrations — posted by builders, hunted by founders.
Why this exists
Most founders build for problems they assume exist. They launch, and then they find out. PainHunt flips the order. Real builders post the frictions they hit every week — specific, documented, with a severity score — before anyone has started coding.
Founders browse the feed, find problems with traction, and claim them. The person who posted the friction becomes their first user, first feedback loop, and first advocate. No cold outreach. No fake personas. No problem discovery that takes six months.
How it works
Post a friction
Describe a real problem you hit regularly. Give it context — what breaks, how often, what the workaround costs you. The more specific, the higher the FrictionScore.
Builders claim it
Founders and developers browse the feed, sort by severity and votes, and claim frictions they are building solutions for. You get notified immediately.
They ship. You get access.
When a solution ships, the poster gets early access, a direct line to the builder, and credit on the platform. The friction moves to Shipped.
The FrictionScore
Every friction is scored editorially across six dimensions. This is not a vote count — it is a signal about how investable the problem is.
Specificity
Is the problem clearly defined?
Recurrence
How often does it happen?
Corroboration
How many others confirm it?
Severity
How badly does it block work?
Market Width
How large is the affected audience?
Solution Absence
Does a real fix exist already?
Who is this for
Builders with friction
If you hit a problem that costs you real time every week and no good fix exists, post it. You get credit when someone builds the solution. You become their first user without doing anything else.
Founders hunting problems
Browse validated frictions sorted by severity, votes, and score. Claim one and get immediate access to the person who posted it. Your first user is already here, waiting.