Frequently asked questions

A moat is a durable advantage that stops competitors from taking your customers, even if they copy your product. Common moats are network effects, proprietary data, switching costs, owned distribution and economies of scale.

We search the web for existing competitors, then assess your idea against 10 defensibility tests. Each test scores 10 points (pass), 5 (partial) or 0 (fail), so the total is out of 100. The score is calculated from the evidence for each test, not guessed.

0–29 is No moat: an existing player could copy it quickly. 30–54 is Weak moat: a funded competitor could catch up within months. 55–79 is Defensible: copying it would take significant time and capital. 80–100 is Strong moat: durable advantages that compound over time.

You can try one analysis without an account. A free account comes with 5 bonus analyses, then 3 a month, keeps your results, and lets you publish to the idea library. For more, credit packs start at $9 for 5 analyses and never expire, and the Investor plan is $99 a month for 150 analyses, with a 7-day free trial. See the pricing page for details.

A public collection of analyses that founders chose to publish. Other founders can add competitors an analysis missed and confirm each other's additions, and authors can report what happened next. Confirmed competitors are passed to future analyses of similar ideas, so each published analysis improves the ones after it.

Yes, unless you publish it. Every analysis starts private, saved at an unguessable link that is not listed or indexed by search engines. Publishing is a separate, reversible step: you can publish with or without your name and unpublish at any time.

No. Moat Check is a research aid that summarises public information and a structured framework. Validate any conclusion with customers and your own research.