Need a Project Idea? See What the Community is Making
Feeling stuck on your next project? Dive into what the community is building on GitHub, Product Hunt, and more to find your next great coding idea.
Elena Petrova
A developer advocate and writer passionate about helping others build amazing things.
We’ve all been there. You’ve carved out a weekend, brewed a fresh pot of coffee, and fired up your code editor, ready to build something new. And then… nothing. You’re staring at a blinking cursor on a blank screen, a void of possibilities so vast it’s paralyzing. The dreaded “coder’s block” has struck again.
What if the secret to your next great project isn’t locked away in a moment of solitary genius, but is hiding in plain sight? What if the spark you need is already out there, being shared, discussed, and built upon by a global community of creators just like you?
Looking at what others are making isn’t about copying. It’s about inspiration. It’s about understanding the pulse of the industry, identifying problems you never knew existed, and seeing how new technologies are being bent and shaped in creative ways. It’s time to stop waiting for an idea to strike and start actively seeking it out.
Why Peeking at Other Projects is Your Secret Weapon
Let's be clear: this isn't a license to clone. It's a strategy for creative reconnaissance. When you explore community projects, you’re not just looking at code; you’re engaging in a form of market research for your own skills and interests. You start to see patterns emerge:
- Problem Recognition: You’ll discover countless small, nagging problems that people are trying to solve. A script to automate a tedious task, a browser extension to improve a popular website, a tool to manage a specific hobby—these are all born from real-world needs.
- Tech in Action: Wondering what people are really doing with the latest JavaScript framework or Python library? You’ll find out. Seeing practical applications is infinitely more valuable than just reading the documentation.
- Scope and Scale: You’ll see everything from tiny weekend hacks to ambitious, long-term open-source projects. This helps you calibrate your own ambitions and understand what a realistic “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) actually looks like.
Your Inspiration Hotspots: Where the Community Hangs Out
Okay, so where do you find this treasure trove of ideas? It's scattered across a few key corners of the internet, each with its own unique flavor.
GitHub: The Source Code Mecca
This is the most obvious, but often underutilized, source. Don't just use it for version control. Use it for discovery. The GitHub Explore page is your starting point. Check out the “Trending” repositories to see what’s capturing the community’s attention right now. You can filter by language and time frame (e.g., trending Python projects this week). Also, dive into topics. Search for tags like #productivity-tool or #data-visualization to find projects aligned with your interests. Pro-tip: look for “Awesome Lists” (e.g., awesome-selfhosted), which are curated collections of fantastic tools and resources on a specific topic.
Product Hunt: The Polished Showcase
If GitHub is the workshop, Product Hunt is the showroom. This is where makers launch their finished products, from slick SaaS applications to quirky mobile apps. Browsing Product Hunt is great for understanding UI/UX trends, marketing language, and what constitutes a “launch-ready” product. Pay attention to the problems being solved and the comments from the community. You’ll quickly get a sense of what resonates with early adopters.
Indie Hackers: The Scrappy Innovators
Want to see the story behind the product? Head to Indie Hackers. It’s a community of solo founders and small teams building profitable online businesses. People share their revenue numbers, their struggles, and the nitty-gritty details of their journey. The product section is a goldmine of niche ideas that are actually making money. This is the place to go if you’re interested in building something that could one day become a sustainable side-hustle.
Hacker News & Reddit: The Digital Water Cooler
For a raw, unfiltered look at what developers are excited about, you can’t beat Hacker News’s “Show HN” threads and Reddit communities like r/sideproject and r/programming. Here, creators post their work-in-progress, ask for feedback, and celebrate small wins. It’s less polished than Product Hunt but often more innovative. You'll find everything from complex new database engines to simple command-line tools that solve a single, annoying problem. The direct, often brutally honest, feedback in the comments is an education in itself.
Trending Now: What's Hot in the Project World?
Across these platforms, a few key trends are impossible to ignore. If you're looking for a contemporary idea, start here.
The AI Wrapper Gold Rush
With powerful APIs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and others becoming widely accessible, there's an explosion of “AI-powered” tools. These are often thin layers—or “wrappers”—on top of a large language model (LLM) that tailor it for a specific task. Think AI-powered email writers, code explainers, blog post summarizers, and image generators. Building one is a fantastic way to learn how to work with modern APIs and can lead to a genuinely useful tool.
The Rise of the Hyper-Niche Tool
The world doesn’t need another generic to-do list. But what about a project manager specifically for knitting patterns? Or a habit tracker designed for language learners that integrates with a flashcard app? Successful side projects often target a tiny, passionate niche. They solve a very specific problem for a very specific group of people. Think about your own hobbies and workflows—what tool do you wish existed?
Dev-Tools for Devs
The timeless advice to “scratch your own itch” is most potent for developers. We’re surrounded by opportunities to improve our own workflows. This could be a custom VS Code extension, a CLI utility to automate deployment, a better log analyzer, or a boilerplate generator for your favorite stack. If a tool saves you five minutes a day, it’s likely valuable to other developers too.
Turning Inspiration into Your Next Commit
Okay, your head is now buzzing with ideas. How do you choose one and actually start building?
Adopt a “Problem First” Mindset
Resist the urge to start with, “I want to build something with SvelteKit.” Instead, start with, “This part of my workflow is really annoying,” or “I wish I had a simple way to track X.” The technology is a means to an end. The most motivating projects are those that solve a real problem, even if it’s a small one.
Master the Art of the MVP (Minimum Viable Project)
Your goal is not to build the final, feature-complete version. Your goal is to build the smallest possible thing that is still useful. This is your Minimum Viable Project. If your idea is a meal-planning app, the MVP isn't a social network for chefs with AI-generated recipes. The MVP is a simple form that lets you enter seven meals for the week and saves the list. Start there. You can always add more later.
| Inspiration Source | Good For… | Potential Pitfall |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Trending | Seeing cutting-edge tech and patterns | Can be overly complex or academic |
| Product Hunt | Understanding polished UI/UX and product-market fit | High bar for presentation can be intimidating |
| Indie Hackers | Finding niche, viable business ideas | Focus is more on business than pure tech |
| Show HN / Reddit | Raw innovation and direct user feedback | Quality and scope can be very hit-or-miss |
The perfect project idea probably doesn't exist. But a good enough idea is right around the corner. The key isn't to find a flawless, original concept; it's to find something that excites you enough to write the first line of code. Inspiration is a renewable resource, and the community is an endless wellspring. Go take a look.
What's the most interesting project you've seen recently? Share it in the comments below!