Your first 100 users
Updated September 2026
How to get your first 100 users for a vibe-coded app. You built something with AI in a weekend. Building is the easy part now. Getting people to use it is where most apps stall. Here's what actually works, from the people who do it every day.
1. Pick one channel, not five
The first 100 users almost always come from one place. Match the channel to your app:
- Short-form video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts): consumer apps with a visible “wow” moment. Show the app doing its thing in the first two seconds.
- Reddit and niche communities: tools that solve a specific problem. Post where that problem is discussed, follow each community's rules, and lead with the problem, not the product.
- Creators in your niche: apps with a clear audience. Ten small creators who use your app beat one big one who reads an ad.
- Cold outreach: B2B and prosumer tools. A hundred hand-picked, personal emails to exactly the right people.
- Launch day (Product Hunt, Hacker News, newsletters): a spike of attention to seed the rest.
- SEO: slow but compounding. Comparison and “how to” pages that answer what your users search.
2. Decide what you won't do yourself
If you enjoy distribution, do it. If you don't, you'll do it badly and stop after a week. Hand it to someone who likes it. The work is very delegable: it needs taste and persistence, not your codebase.
3. Buy work, not promises
Scope it so you can check it was done. Good offers are a count, a format, a place and a deadline:
- “3 TikToks, 20–40 seconds, posted on my account, within 7 days.”
- “Launch posts in 5 subreddits we agree on, following each sub's rules.”
- “100 personal cold emails to a list I build for you, with the list delivered.”
Be wary of anyone guaranteeing views, followers or signups. Nobody controls those, and guaranteed numbers usually mean bought or fake engagement, which platforms punish and your future users can smell.
4. What it costs
Fixed-price distribution work for a new app typically runs $100 to $1,000: a small Reddit or X push at the low end, a full Product Hunt launch or an SEO set at the high end. Start small, see which channel moves, then buy more of that.
5. Measure the only number that matters
Put a simple way to see where signups came from on day one: a ?ref= link per channel is enough. After a week, keep the channel that brought people who stayed, and drop the rest.
The short version
One channel. Someone who loves it. A fixed price for work you can check. That's what Shoutyard is built around: the distribution marketplace for vibe coders. Post your app, get up to five fixed-price offers from real people, and your payment is held until you approve the work.