These ideas went viral in the world’s biggest feedback loop. Nobody’s built them. You still can
Introduction
Reddit loves to complain. But hidden in the noise, every so often, there’s a post or comment that hits a collective nerve “why doesn’t this exist yet?” And then it explodes. Hundreds of upvotes. Dozens of “take my money” replies. And yet… no one builds the damn thing.
This article isn’t a lazy startup idea list. These are ideas that sparked genuine energy on Reddit threads ideas that people begged for, joked about, or speculated wildly around. And weirdly? They’re still mostly untouched.
So if you’re a builder, hacker, indie dev, or someone with Figma open in another tab right now, read on. You don’t need to reinvent AI or build another dating app with a twist. Just build something people are already asking for.
Let’s dive into 10 Reddit-loved startup ideas that are still waiting for someone bold (or slightly unhinged) enough to ship them.
1. Ghostwriter for real conversations
The Reddit spark:
People are burned out. Ghosting is everywhere. And not everyone knows how to reply to that “just checking in” message from recruiters, HR, or even friends. One Redditor asked for a bot that replies to messages using their tone and the idea blew up.
What it solves:
This isn’t ChatGPT for fun. It’s AI for emotionally exhausted humans. A tool that drafts replies based on your past messages, tone, and intent.
Think: “I need to gently say no,” or “Please reply like me but more polite.” Boom done.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Privacy concerns and tone modeling are hard. But with local models and embedding libraries, it’s doable. Tools like OpenAI, Ollama, and LangChain make this easier than it looks.
How you could stand out:
- Let users feed their own email/DM history
- Add tone sliders: more assertive, more casual, more apologetic
- Train it on Slack, Gmail, WhatsApp, X DMs whatever they connect
Tiny tip:
You can locally fine-tune a mini LLM using user messages and save it securely on-device. Use this with something like LangChain or LlamaIndex to keep it fast and private.
2. Job hunting heatmap
The Reddit spark:
Someone dropped the idea of tracking which companies ghost applicants the most and the thread exploded. Turns out, job hunters love publicly shaming slow or shady HR practices.
What it solves:
The job market’s broken. People spend hours on applications, only to hear crickets. This tool flips the power dynamic letting candidates track and rate response times, ghosting rates, and overall candidate experience at different companies.
Why no one’s built it yet:
It sounds confrontational, and companies might hate it. But Glassdoor started the same way crowdsourced transparency. The difference? This would be real-time.
How you could stand out:
- Let users anonymously submit interview outcomes or rejection emails
- Use simple charts to show average wait time, response rate, and ghost risk per company
- Bonus: integrate with Gmail or Outlook to automate data collection
Tiny tip:
Use OAuth to fetch job application confirmation and response emails. Strip PII, store aggregate data, and boom insights without drama.
3. Subscription dumpster
The Reddit spark:
A user joked about needing a “subscription incinerator” that cancels all free trials before they charge you. People instantly related. Too many forgot-to-cancel moments. Too much money lost to “You’ve been upgraded to Premium.”
What it solves:
Free trials are traps. This tool would act as a middleman that tracks, reminds, and if possible cancels subscriptions before they renew. Less mental load. Less wallet pain.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Companies intentionally make canceling hard. Some don’t even let you do it online. But with clever integrations, browser extensions, and scraping, you can automate a good chunk of it.
How you could stand out:
Scan inbox for trial confirmation emails and log renewal dates
Add one-click reminders to cancel (with optional snooze)
Build a browser extension to navigate directly to the cancel page
Bonus: auto-generate cancelation scripts based on company policies
Tiny tip:
Use Gmail’s API to find trial keywords (“Thanks for trying…”, “Your free trial starts now”) and parse out renewal dates using NLP.
4. Rent split justice app
The Reddit spark:
Someone posted about living in the smallest room, paying equal rent, and getting one tiny window next to a dumpster. Reddit delivered full sympathy and a flood of similar stories. People hate unfair rent splits but no one wants to do the math.
What it solves:
Splitting rent equally sounds fair… until one person gets the master bedroom with a walk-in closet and someone else sleeps in what used to be a pantry. This app calculates rent shares based on square footage, closet space, natural light, noise level, and more.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Because calculating “room quality” sounds subjective. But a well-designed form and a couple of sliders can make it easy and consistent.
How you could stand out:
- Let users upload floorplans or draw one
- Add sliders for light, closet space, private bathroom, etc.
- Use a point-based system to assign rent proportionally
- Export the final rent split as a sharable agreement (hello, roommate peace)
Tiny tip:
You can convert drawn room sizes into approximate square footage using Fabric.js and basic browser canvas tools. Add a room scoring system for extra spice.
5. Last-minute plan matcher
The Reddit spark:
Someone vented about getting flaked on and still wanting to go to the concert, movie, or bar and a bunch of others replied, “Same.” What if two people got flaked on for the same thing and just… went together?
What it solves:
Getting canceled on sucks. But the desire to still go do the thing is real. This app connects people in the same city who had plans fall through so you don’t waste the ticket, energy, or hype.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Safety concerns and awkward vibes, mostly. But if Uber and Airbnb figured it out for strangers, someone can figure it out for spontaneous plan matchers.
How you could stand out:
- Match people by event type (concerts, movies, gym, food) and location
- Require users to verify an actual event plan or ticket
- Add light personality filters (introvert-friendly, talkative, etc.)
- Bonus: AI-generated icebreakers or “mini profiles” for matched pairs
Tiny tip:
Use NLP on uploaded messages (e.g., “my friend flaked on dinner”) to auto-categorize the activity and show relevant matches instantly.
6. AI red flag reader for dating bios
The Reddit spark:
A thread jokingly asked for an AI that could scan dating bios and flag red flags words like “sapiosexual,” “alpha,” or “no drama please.” The idea quickly turned into a real debate about toxic dating tropes and pattern recognition.
What it solves:
Let’s be honest some dating profiles scream . This app would analyze bios and highlight problematic phrases, vague job titles, or signs of narcissism, love bombing, or plain old delusion. Less swiping, more filtering.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Dating apps don’t want to admit their users might be walking red flags. But as a third-party analysis tool, it’s gold especially if it can plug into screenshots or clipboard text.
How you could stand out:
- Use NLP to detect common red flag keywords, passive-aggressive tones, or even weird brag structures
- Add a “vibe meter” or toxicity score
- Offer reverse analysis too: “How does your profile look to others?”
- Build a Chrome extension or mobile overlay that works with Tinder, Hinge, etc.
Tiny tip:
Train a small transformer model on labeled bios from Reddit threads like r/dating and r/Tinder for context-aware red flag detection. Include nuance filters like “harmless cringe” vs “actual danger.”
7. LinkedIn ego deflater
The Reddit spark:
A frustrated dev posted a LinkedIn rant: “I just wanted to check someone’s role, and instead got a 10-paragraph humblebrag with 47 emojis.” Thousands of people nodded in pain.
What it solves:
LinkedIn is supposed to be a resume platform. Instead, it’s turned into a self-congratulatory blog where job titles get bloated (“AI Evangelist of Digital Transformation”) and every post ends with “So honored. So humbled.” This tool filters out the fluff and shows you just the facts.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Because it sounds petty. But productivity tools often start from annoyance. This one cleans the signal from the noise for recruiters, devs, and founders who just want real info.
How you could stand out:
- Browser extension that rewrites inflated titles into real ones: “Visionary Thought Leader” → “Middle Manager”
- Auto-mute posts with common buzzword patterns
- Add a toggle to switch between “Original” and “Honest Mode”
- Optional feed: “Here’s what they actually do”
Tiny tip:
Use regex and a library of inflated-to-plain-language mappings (like “growth hacker” → “marketing”) to rewrite text client-side in real time. Mix in light sarcasm if user enables it.
8. Gamified focus mode with friends
The Reddit spark:
Someone mentioned how they stayed more productive during the pandemic simply by working on Discord with a friend who kept their cam on. Then someone else said: “Why isn’t there a Pomodoro app with leaderboards?”
What it solves:
Working alone sucks. Focus apps are boring. This tool makes productivity social by gamifying deep work track your Pomodoro sessions, earn points, and compete with your friends (or your alt account).
Why no one’s built it yet:
They have… kinda. There are a dozen timer apps, but none mix gaming, leaderboards, peer pressure, and live coworking rooms in one clean UX.
How you could stand out:
- Leaderboards that reset daily or weekly to keep things casual
- Live “mic-only” rooms to prevent tab-switching and fake focus
- Earn XP for each completed session; lose points for peeking at Twitter
- Friends can “cheer” or “distract” each other (with consequences)
Tiny tip:
Use WebRTC for lightweight audio-only rooms, and store focus streaks in Firebase for real-time leaderboard sync. Bonus points if you add custom “skins” for your focus avatar.
9. Skill bar resume builder
The Reddit spark:
A Redditor joked that resumes should look like RPG character sheets — with skill trees instead of buzzwords. The comments? Pure fire. People actually want this. Why? Because “proficient in Excel” means nothing anymore.
What it solves:
Traditional resumes are vague, bloated, and hard to scan. This tool lets you visually map skills using actual levels, progress bars, or even stat sliders. It’s fun, gamified, and shows what you’re really good at without the fluff.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Some design nerds have tried on Dribbble. But there’s no tool that makes this easy, exportable, and recruiter-friendly at scale.
How you could stand out:
- Let users drag and drop skill categories with level sliders (Beginner → Expert → Maxed Out)
- Include visual metaphors: mana bars for soft skills, XP trees for hard ones
- Export as PDF, Notion embed, or personal website page
- Bonus: Auto-suggest skills based on GitHub activity, VSCode usage, or Stack Overflow history
Tiny tip:
Use a drag-and-drop resume canvas built with React + Tailwind. Add RPG icon sets via open source game UIs to bring real nostalgia without making it look like a meme.
10. Burnout dashboard
The Reddit spark:
Someone casually asked if there’s a way to track burnout like a fitness tracker tracks sleep. The thread filled with devs saying, “Dude. I need this.” Because we all pretend we’re fine until we’re absolutely not.
What it solves:
Burnout sneaks up on people. This tool monitors your digital activity (calendar overload, late-night commits, Slack pings, and missed breaks) and warns you when your “work-life battery” is running low.
Why no one’s built it yet:
Most people think burnout is too personal to measure. But you can absolutely track signals and help people course-correct before they spiral.
How you could stand out:
- Connect with Google Calendar, GitHub, Slack, and Notion
- Track indicators like working after-hours, meeting density, push frequency, and message fatigue
- Show a simple score like “Burnout risk: 74% Take a walk, please”
- Optional: Weekly reflection prompts or auto-scheduled recharge blocks
Tiny tip:
Use a simple weighted scoring system based on thresholds (e.g., more than 3 meetings/day = +15% risk) and visualize it like a mood ring. Keep it friendly, not clinical.
Conclusion: Reddit did the validation. You just need to build.
There’s a strange comfort in seeing how many people scream into the void with the same product pain. These 10 ideas weren’t cooked up in a vacuum they’re born from real frustrations, upvoted by real users, and still shockingly unbuilt.
You don’t need to invent the next Google. You need to ship something that solves a niche pain in a clever way. Reddit already gave you the signal. Now it’s your move.
Pick one. Scope it down. Build a scrappy MVP. Launch it on Product Hunt, Twitter, or Reddit itself. Worst case? You learn. Best case? You ride a tiny internet wave to product-market fit before someone else jumps on it.
And hey, if you do ship one send it my way. I’d love to upvote it.
Helpful links to take these ideas further
- r/Startup_Ideas The goldmine of weird, painful, sometimes genius startup threads: reddit.com/r/startup_ideas
- Indie Hackers For builders who ship before they overthink: indiehackers.com
- Buildspace Weekend MVPs with vibes: buildspace.so
- YC’s Startup School Great if you want structure with your chaos: startupschool.org
Top comments (1)
How did you scrub this data or was it all manual?