Where to get feedback on your app: the options compared

The short answer

There are five kinds of places to get feedback on an app, and they do different jobs. Pick by what you need this week: written feedback, an audience, a Google Play closed test or a recorded research session.

We run TestMyBuild, so read this as our view. We have tried to say plainly where another option fits better.

What this page says about other products was read on their own websites on 13 November 2026. Prices and rules change, so check their sites before you decide. TestMyBuild is not connected with any of them, and their names belong to their owners.

At a glance

• Feedback exchanges (TestMyBuild, IndieAppCircle): written feedback from other builders and testers. Free if you test in return.
• Launch and discovery sites (Product Hunt, BetaList): an audience and signups. Comments, not test reports.
• Communities (Reddit, Indie Hackers): free and blunt. Hit or miss, and strict about promotion.
• Closed testing groups (Testers Community): testers for the Google Play rule of 12 testers for 14 days.
• Paid research panels: recorded sessions with people you pick by profile. The most money and the most detail.

Feedback exchanges

TestMyBuild

You list your app and a person on our team tests it and posts the first feedback. Testers then sign up to the app and post theirs. The team approves every post, on the rules and not on the opinion, and the builder cannot block a post. A listing costs 10 credits, earned by testing or bought from US$9.99. We are small and new: the live numbers are on TestMyBuild in numbers.

IndieAppCircle

Also a credit exchange. Its site says you test two apps and yours goes live, or you pay once to skip that, and that the app owner approves each piece of feedback before credits move. It lists far more members and apps than we have. More in TestMyBuild and IndieAppCircle.

Use an exchange when you want written feedback from people who have a reason to finish the task, and you are willing to test in return or pay a little.

Launch and discovery sites

Product Hunt

A daily list of new products. A launch can bring a lot of visitors in one day and comments from other makers. It is the place for attention once the product is ready.

BetaList

A site where early adopters discover new startups. Its submission pages describe paid plans that decide how soon you are featured. It brings signups to a product page. More in TestMyBuild and BetaList.

Use these when the app already works for a stranger and you want reach. Get the feedback first: a launch on a broken signup is a wasted launch.

Communities

Subreddits such as r/SideProject and r/alphaandbetausers, and forums such as Indie Hackers, are free and can be very direct. Many remove posts that only promote, some allow feedback requests only on certain days, and many replies are short first impressions.

Use them when you have a specific question and time to take part in the community, not only to post your link.

Closed testing groups for Google Play

Google asks personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 for a closed test with at least 12 testers, opted in for 14 days in a row. Testers Community is built for that: its site offers a free route through its own app and paid plans with a set number of testers.

TestMyBuild does not do this. If the closed test is your problem today, use a closed testing group, and come to an exchange once the app is public. See Feedback for Android apps.

Paid research panels

Research panels and crowd testing companies recruit people by age, country or job and send you recordings or structured reports. You pay per session or per test.

Use them when you need a certain kind of person, or evidence to show a team. For a solo builder with a new app they are often more than the first round needs.

Which one, for which situation

• Nobody has tried the app yet: a feedback exchange.
• You need 12 testers for Google Play: a closed testing group.
• It works and you want attention: Product Hunt, then BetaList.
• You have one sharp question: the right subreddit.
• You need a specific kind of user on video: a paid panel.

You can use two or three of these in order. Start with How to get honest feedback on your app.

Ready to try it? Paste the link to your app on the home page. You see your listing before you create an account.

Questions and answers

What is the best place to get feedback on my app?

It depends on what you need. For written feedback from people with a reason to finish the task, use a feedback exchange such as TestMyBuild or IndieAppCircle. For reach, use Product Hunt. For the Google Play closed test, use a closed testing group.

Which options are free?

Feedback exchanges are free if you test other apps in return. Reddit and Indie Hackers are free to use.

How is TestMyBuild different from the others?

A person on the team tests every app before it is listed, so each listing starts with one feedback post from the team, and the team, not the builder, decides which feedback posts appear.

Should I launch on Product Hunt before I get feedback?

We would get feedback first. A launch sends many people to your signup in one day, and that is a bad day to learn that the signup is broken.

Questions? Support