Finding Your App’s First User & What to do Once You Have Them
Building an app to solve a problem you've identified is easier than ever with platforms like Adalo, a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play. With over 3 million apps created on the platform and a visual builder described as "easy as PowerPoint," the technical barriers to launching have largely disappeared. Once you've created your app, the next step is finding those first crucial users who will help you grow.
If you've already identified your target audience, you likely have a head start on finding your first users and understanding how to market to them. If you didn't start that way—no need to worry. There are plenty of opportunities to find your first users, and they'll be just as valuable for validating your idea and building momentum.
Go Where Your Customers Are
Whatever app you're creating, there are similarities between the people who will gain the most from using it. The key is meeting them in their natural environment.
Is your app for churches? Go to church. Is your app for travelers? Reach out to AirBnB hosts. Is your app for motorcycle riders? Visit the local Harley Davidson dealership.
This may sound obvious, but it's not as straightforward as it seems. Sometimes finding your first customers means approaching them in their own space, where they're already in the right mindset. If your app is for travelers and you reach out through AirBnB, that person is already thinking about travel and accommodations—it's not a far leap to discuss a traveling app. It would, however, be a significant stretch to pitch them an app about selling used books.
Understanding your primary audience and where to find them helps you pinpoint exactly where you need to go to reach them. This targeted approach is far more effective than broad marketing efforts, especially when you're working with limited resources in the early stages.
Launch on Product Hunt
Product Hunt, a platform for discovering new products, is an excellent starting point for launching your app. Every single day, dozens of new products are launched and discovered by people actively interested in trying new things. Anything and everything launches on Product Hunt nowadays—from podcasts to physical products, developer tools, and everything in between.
What makes Product Hunt particularly valuable is that the people who find you there aren't just interested in learning about new products—they actively want to try those products. This is a fundamentally different audience than passive social media scrollers.
Successful launches typically include a video demonstration, product images, and clear descriptions about what your product does and who it's for. Many successful launches also offer something special, like a discount code for people who sign up through Product Hunt. Another significant bonus: if your product gets enough upvotes, it will be featured in the newsletter the following day that goes out to hundreds of thousands of subscribers. That's substantial exposure for a new app.
The combination of Adalo's rapid development capabilities and Product Hunt's discovery platform creates a powerful launch strategy. You can build, iterate, and launch quickly—then use Product Hunt feedback to refine your app further.
Niche Newsletters and Communities
Similar to going where your customers are—find the niche newsletters that publish content related to what your app addresses, as well as relevant communities and forums. There are newsletters for just about everything under the sun nowadays (for some audiences, there are multiple newsletters competing for attention), and if you find one that aligns with your app's purpose, you have several options.
You can offer to write a guest post for them, sponsor a newsletter issue, or provide a coupon code for new users. Each approach has different costs and benefits, but all put your app in front of a pre-qualified audience.
What's valuable about these niche audiences is that as long as you understand your user and have reached out to the right community, they're likely going to be interested in trying what you have to offer. The targeting is built into the channel itself.
Facebook Groups and Reddit are excellent places to start, but make sure to review community guidelines carefully. Most communities have rules about self-promotion, and violating them can get you banned. Be transparent that you are the creator of the product you're discussing—authenticity builds trust, while stealth marketing destroys it.
Personal Network
The truth about finding your first app users is that most of the time it ends up being your family and friends—and that's perfectly fine. They count as real users, and their feedback can be valuable as long as they're willing to be honest and have a good understanding of the problem you're trying to solve.
While your closest friends and family are great for an ego boost, they might not be the best sources of constructive criticism. Consider reaching out to acquaintances or professional contacts who fit your target user profile—they're more likely to give you the unvarnished feedback you need.
Finding your first users is integral to validating your idea and scaling into the future. You have to have one user before you can have one hundred, and that's true for every app ever built. But the work doesn't stop there. Once you have your first users, that's only the first step—what comes next is even more important: feedback.
Ask for Feedback Often
Once you get app users, it's critical to ask for their feedback—and to do so regularly. Whether you send out emails, display in-app messages, create a dedicated feedback screen, or schedule customer calls, any of these methods works. The key is consistency and making it easy for users to share their thoughts.
The point of gathering feedback is to uncover several important things:
- What you can do to improve the user experience
- Whether there are missing features or functionality users need
- If any current features don't work as intended
While some feedback can be safely deprioritized—for example, someone doesn't like your color scheme or font choice—other feedback cannot be ignored. Your users, assuming you're talking with the right audience, understand their problems intimately and know exactly how they intend to use your app in real-world scenarios. This means they often have valuable insight into how your app should function.
Ada, Adalo's AI builder, lets you describe what you want and generates your app. Magic Start creates complete app foundations from a description, while Magic Add adds features through natural language.
Adalo's platform makes acting on feedback significantly faster than traditional development. With Magic Add, you can describe new features in natural language and have them generated automatically. What might take weeks of development time with traditional coding can often be implemented in hours, allowing you to respond to user needs quickly.
Iterate on That Feedback
There is not one piece of work I have put into this world that wouldn't benefit from a second (or third, or fourth) pass at improving the output. Unfortunately, the same goes for your app. Once you collect your users' feedback, it's time to take action.
The process for your app will be: get feedback, iterate, introduce new features, get feedback, iterate, repeat for the life of your app. This cycle never truly ends for successful products. Your users will thank you and become lifelong customers if they recognize that when they provide feedback, you actually implement it.
While it's impossible to act on all feedback simultaneously, communicate with your customers about what's coming down the pipeline, what's being worked on, and when they can expect new releases. That kind of transparency goes a long way in earning loyal customers who feel invested in your product's success.
The speed advantage of building with Adalo becomes particularly valuable here. Traditional development cycles might allow for monthly or quarterly updates. With an AI-assisted platform, you can push improvements weekly or even more frequently, keeping your most engaged users excited and involved.
Expand Your Audience
At this point, you've gotten your first users, asked for feedback, acted on that feedback, and understand this will be the ongoing cycle for your product. You're now at the perfect point to get more users and expand your audience.
While you may have utilized one of the tips above to get your initial users, try another approach to expand your reach. Each time you try a new channel, you'll attract new users who come with their own perspectives and feedback. This diversity of input makes your product stronger.
As your user base grows, scalability becomes increasingly important. Adalo's modular infrastructure scales to serve apps with over 1 million monthly active users, with no upper ceiling. Paid plans include no record limits on the database, meaning you won't hit artificial walls as your app gains traction. Unlike platforms that charge based on usage or impose data caps, Adalo's pricing structure means no surprise bills as you grow.
Gaining your first couple of users is an awesome first step toward creating a successful app. Everyone has to start somewhere, and for everyone, that means the first user. What you do after will determine what success looks like. Use these strategies to attract your first users, listen carefully when they have feedback, and you'll be off to the races for finding more users and continuously improving your app.
Choosing the Right Platform for Growth
The platform you build on matters significantly for long-term success. When comparing options, consider not just initial development speed but also scalability, publishing capabilities, and total cost of ownership.
Adalo starts at $36/month with unlimited usage and direct app store publishing with unlimited updates. This contrasts with alternatives like Bubble, which starts at $59/month but includes usage-based charges, limits on app re-publishing, and record restrictions through Workload Units. Bubble's mobile solution is also a wrapper for web apps, which can introduce performance challenges at scale.
Other platforms have their own trade-offs. Glide excels at spreadsheet-based apps but doesn't support Apple App Store or Google Play Store publishing and starts at $60/month with data row limits. FlutterFlow targets technical users and requires separate database setup and management, with pricing starting at $70/month per user before database costs. Softr starts at $167/month for Progressive Web Apps but doesn't support native mobile app creation.
For founders focused on finding and growing their user base, the ability to publish true native apps to both app stores from a single codebase—without worrying about usage caps or record limits—removes significant friction from the growth process.
PS: Have you considered putting those app building skills to work as a freelancer? You don't have to be a coding genius to create an amazing app that your customers will love. If you're a freelancer, use Adalo to help you build software, connect with clients, and earn recurring revenue. And don't worry if you're new to this—there are plenty of free online courses and resources to guide you along the way. So what are you waiting for? Let's start building!
FAQ
Why choose Adalo over other app building solutions?
Adalo is an AI-powered app builder that creates true native iOS and Android apps from a single codebase. Unlike web wrappers, it compiles to native code and publishes directly to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. With unlimited database records on paid plans and no usage-based charges, you can scale without surprise bills or artificial limits.
What's the fastest way to build and publish an app to the App Store?
Adalo's drag-and-drop interface combined with AI-assisted building lets you go from idea to published app in days rather than months. Magic Start generates complete app foundations from descriptions, and the platform handles the complex App Store submission process—certificates, provisioning profiles, and store guidelines are managed for you.
Can I find my first app users without coding experience?
Absolutely. With Adalo's visual builder described as "easy as PowerPoint," you can create and launch your app without writing code. This lets you focus on user acquisition strategies and building a great product rather than getting stuck on technical development challenges.
What is Product Hunt and how can it help me find app users?
Product Hunt is a platform for discovering new products where dozens of launches happen daily. It's excellent for launching your app because users there actively want to try new products. Successful launches include videos, product images, descriptions, and sometimes special discount codes—plus, if you get enough upvotes, your product may be featured in their newsletter reaching hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
How do I find the right audience for my app?
Go where your potential customers already are—if your app is for churches, attend churches; if it's for travelers, reach out to AirBnB hosts. You can also tap into niche newsletters, Facebook Groups, and Reddit communities related to your app's topic. These audiences are already in the right mindset and more likely to be interested in your solution.
Why is user feedback important for my app's success?
User feedback helps you improve the user experience, identify missing features, and discover bugs or issues with current functionality. Your users understand their real-world problems and how they intend to use your app, making their insights invaluable. By acting on feedback and communicating your roadmap transparently, you'll build loyal, long-term customers.
Is it okay to use friends and family as my first app users?
Yes, friends and family often become your first users and that's perfectly fine. Just ensure they understand the problem you're solving and are willing to provide honest, constructive feedback. A first user is a first user, and starting with your personal network is a valid way to begin validating your app idea.
How much does it cost to build and launch an app with Adalo?
Adalo's paid plans start at $36/month with unlimited usage and app store publishing. This includes unlimited database records and unlimited updates to published apps. Compare this to alternatives like Bubble ($59/month with usage limits), Glide ($60/month without app store publishing), or FlutterFlow ($70/month per user plus separate database costs).
Can my app scale as my user base grows?
Yes. Adalo's modular infrastructure scales to serve apps with over 1 million monthly active users, with no upper ceiling. The Adalo 3.0 infrastructure overhaul (launched late 2025) made apps 3-4x faster with no record limits on paid plans. Unlike platforms with usage-based charges, you won't face surprise bills as you grow.
Which is more affordable, Adalo or Bubble?
Adalo starts at $36/month with unlimited usage and no record limits. Bubble starts at $59/month but includes usage-based Workload Unit charges, limits on app re-publishing, and record restrictions. Bubble's mobile solution is also a web wrapper rather than true native, which can affect performance at scale.