Where do my users hang out? / Developers & tooling
Where do developers hang out online?
A developer has lost an afternoon to a flaky build for the third time this month. She writes a short angry post about it, then a longer careful one on DEV or Lobsters. Developers buy tools from people who understand the afternoon, so the post that wins is a technical note, not an ad.
That scene is a composite, not a real person. The rooms below are real, picked by hand, and nobody paid to be on this list.
The rooms where developers already talk
- r/webdev: Showoff Saturday for launches; other days for real questions.
- r/programming: Strict; share a technical write-up, not an ad.
- Hacker News (Show HN): One shot. Read our Show HN guide first.
- DEV Community: Publish a technical post; the product link belongs at the end.
- Lobsters: Invite-oriented, high-signal; write for engineers, not marketers.
- Software Engineering Stack Exchange: Architecture and process Q&A; answer first, mention your tool once.
Rules change. Read each sidebar before you post, and check whether self-promotion is allowed at all.
How to post there without getting removed
Write the post as a technical note. The product link is a footnote.
- Write a post that is useful even if nobody clicks your link.
- Say plainly that you are the maker. People forgive a builder; they do not forgive a disguise.
- Stay for an hour and answer every reply. The comments are where the first users come from.
- Post in one room, learn, then adapt the words for the next. The same text pasted into three rooms reads as spam in all three.
Your next two moves
Run the finder on your own app →
The finder matches your one-line description against every niche map, then gives you a checklist, a share link and a fill-in-the-blanks first post written for r/webdev.
Then find developers on X: seven saved searches that catch people describing the problem right now, built for the word flaky tests. Change it to your own.
Builder rooms, for feedback rather than customers
- r/SideProject: Best default builder room for "I made this."
- r/indiehackers: Solo founders; revenue and lessons beat polish.
- r/alphaandbetausers: Ask for specific testers and say what they get.
- r/roastmystartup: Cheap, blunt landing-page critique.
Builders give great critique and rarely pay. Use these for testers, then go back to the rooms above. More in Best subreddits to launch a SaaS.
FAQ
Where can I find developers as early users?
Start with r/webdev, r/programming, Hacker News (Show HN), DEV Community, Lobsters, Software Engineering Stack Exchange. These are rooms where developers already discuss the problems they want solved. Read each sidebar before posting; rules change.
How do I post to developers without getting removed?
Write the post as a technical note. The product link is a footnote. Say you are the maker, make the post useful without the click, and stay to answer every reply.
Is this list paid or sponsored?
No. Get100Users picked these rooms by hand for its free finder. Nobody paid to be listed.
Other niche maps
Freelancers & solo operators · Shopify & ecommerce sellers · Teachers & education · Self-hosted & open source · Designers & creatives · Writers, content & SEO · Marketers & agencies · Sales & CRM · Productivity & notes · AI tools & assistants · No-code & builders · Personal finance & money · Health & fitness · Parents & families · Real estate & landlords · Legal & compliance · HR & recruiting · Music & audio · Games & game makers · Pet owners · Remote & distributed teams · Privacy & security
Want the rooms researched for your exact product?
Ten builders get a free launch plan by hand: the rooms, the words for each one, and the timing. Send my story →