How to Export Competitor App Reviews: Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Why Analyze Competitor Reviews?

Competitor reviews are one of the most underutilized sources of market intelligence. While most teams focus on their own reviews, competitor reviews reveal opportunities you'd never discover otherwise.

Here's why competitor review analysis should be part of your strategy:

Find feature gaps – Discover what users wish competitors would add
Identify pain points – Learn where competitors are failing their users
Validate your positioning – Understand if your differentiators actually matter
Inform pricing decisions – See how users react to competitor pricing
Improve your marketing – Use competitor weaknesses in your messaging
Predict market trends – Spot emerging needs before they become obvious

Key Insight: Users are more honest in reviews than in surveys or interviews. Competitor reviews give you unfiltered feedback that your competitors probably haven't analyzed themselves.

What You Can Learn from Competitor Reviews

1. Feature Gaps and Requests

Users frequently request features that don't exist. These are opportunities:

"I wish this app had..."
"Would be perfect if they added..."
"The only thing missing is..."

If you already have features competitors lack, highlight them. If you don't, consider adding them.

2. Technical Issues and Bugs

Low-star reviews often mention specific bugs:

Crash reports ("crashes every time I open...")
Performance issues ("so slow it's unusable")
Compatibility problems ("doesn't work on my device")

If competitors have recurring technical issues, ensure your app doesn't have the same problems.

3. UX and Design Feedback

Users comment on ease of use:

"Confusing interface"
"Can't figure out how to..."
"Too many steps to..."

These insights inform your own UX decisions.

4. Pricing and Value Perception

Pricing complaints reveal market expectations:

"Not worth $X/month"
"Too expensive for what you get"
"Would pay more if they added..."

5. Customer Support Quality

Support experiences show up in reviews:

"Support never responded"
"Great customer service"
"Took weeks to get a refund"

If competitors have poor support, exceptional service becomes your advantage.

Legal Considerations

Good News: Exporting competitor app reviews is completely legal. App reviews are publicly available information that anyone can read on the App Store or Google Play.

Key points about legality:

Public data – Reviews are visible to anyone with internet access
No terms violation – Reading/exporting public reviews doesn't violate app store terms
Standard practice – Every major company analyzes competitor reviews
No personal data concerns – Reviewer names are public, and reviews contain no private information

Ethical Guidelines

While legal, follow these ethical practices:

✓ Use insights to improve your product
✓ Highlight your genuine strengths in marketing
✗ Don't directly quote reviews in ads without context
✗ Don't make false claims about competitors
✗ Don't harass reviewers or attempt to identify them

Step-by-Step Export Guide

1 Identify Your Competitors

Make a list of 3-5 direct competitors. Include:

Your top 2 direct competitors (similar features, same target audience)
1-2 adjacent competitors (similar features, different positioning)
Optionally: 1 market leader to benchmark against

2 Go to Rivioo

Visit www.rivioo.app. No account or signup required.

3 Search for Competitor App

Enter the competitor's app name in the search box. Rivioo shows results from both App Store and Google Play. Select the correct app and platform.

4 Configure Export Settings

Max reviews: Start with 500-1000 for initial analysis
Sort order: "Most recent" for current sentiment, "Most helpful" for validated opinions
Format: Excel (XLSX) for analysis, CSV for database import

5 Download and Repeat

Export reviews for each competitor app. Save files with clear names like "CompetitorA_GooglePlay_Jan2026.xlsx"

Export Competitor Reviews Now

Free, instant, works with any app on App Store or Google Play.

Start Exporting

Analysis Framework

Once you have the data, here's how to extract insights:

Step 1: Categorize by Theme

Create categories for each review. Common themes:

Category	What to Look For	Keywords
Features	Requests, missing features, loved features	"wish", "need", "love", "feature"
Bugs	Technical issues, crashes, errors	"crash", "bug", "error", "broken"
UX	Usability, design, navigation	"confusing", "easy", "hard to", "interface"
Pricing	Value perception, subscription complaints	"expensive", "worth", "price", "subscription"
Support	Customer service experiences	"support", "help", "response", "refund"

Step 2: Quantify the Findings

Use Excel's COUNTIF function to count keyword mentions:

=COUNTIF(C:C,"*crash*")

This tells you how many reviews mention "crash" – providing quantified evidence of issues.

Step 3: Compare Across Competitors

Build a comparison matrix:

Issue	Competitor A	Competitor B	Your App
Crash mentions	45 (9%)	12 (2%)	5 (1%)
"Expensive" mentions	78 (16%)	23 (5%)	15 (3%)
Feature requests	92	45	30

Step 4: Identify Actionable Insights

Turn findings into actions:

If competitors have stability issues → Emphasize your reliability in marketing
If pricing complaints are common → Position your pricing as better value
If specific features are requested → Add to your roadmap if feasible
If support complaints are frequent → Highlight your support quality

Real-World Use Cases

Product Roadmap Planning

A fitness app exported 5,000 reviews from three competitors. They found 200+ requests for a specific workout tracking feature none of the competitors offered. They built it, launched with messaging targeting "the feature users have been asking for," and saw 40% higher conversion.

Marketing Positioning

A project management tool found that their main competitor had 15% of reviews mentioning "complicated" or "confusing." They repositioned their messaging around "simplicity" and created comparison content highlighting ease of use, leading to increased trial signups.

Pricing Strategy

A SaaS company exported competitor reviews and found significant pushback on a competitor's recent price increase. They kept their pricing stable and created a landing page for "switching from [Competitor]" that addressed pricing concerns, capturing churning customers.

Quality Assurance

A mobile game studio monitored competitor reviews weekly. When a competitor's update introduced major bugs (visible in sudden 1-star review spikes), they pushed extra marketing to capture frustrated users looking for alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it legal to export competitor app reviews?

Yes, it is completely legal. App reviews are publicly available information that anyone can read on the App Store or Google Play. Exporting them for analysis is equivalent to reading them manually – you're just doing it more efficiently. This is standard practice for market research.

What can I learn from competitor reviews?

Competitor reviews reveal: 1) Feature gaps and missing functionality users want, 2) Common bugs and technical issues, 3) Pricing and value perception, 4) Customer support quality, 5) UX pain points, and 6) What users love that you could learn from or differentiate against.

How many competitor apps should I analyze?

For most analyses, 3-5 direct competitors provides a good balance. Include your top 2 direct competitors, 1-2 apps with similar features but different positioning, and optionally 1 market leader to benchmark against. More than 5 often leads to data overload without proportional insights.

How often should I export competitor reviews?

Monthly exports are ideal for tracking changes over time and catching trends early. Quarterly exports work for less competitive markets or as a minimum cadence. Also export after competitors release major updates to see immediate user reactions.

Can I use competitor review data for marketing?

Yes, but be ethical. You can use insights to improve your product and highlight your genuine strengths in marketing. Avoid directly quoting specific competitor reviews in advertisements. Focus on addressing pain points their users experience rather than attacking competitors directly.

Summary

Competitor review analysis is a high-value, low-effort strategy that most teams overlook. Here's your action plan:

Export reviews from 3-5 competitors using Rivioo (free, takes 5 minutes)
Categorize by theme: features, bugs, UX, pricing, support
Quantify findings with keyword counts
Compare across competitors and your own app
Act on insights for product, marketing, and positioning
Repeat monthly to track changes

The insights are sitting there in public view. Most of your competitors aren't analyzing them systematically. That's your advantage.

Start Your Competitor Analysis

Export competitor reviews free – no signup required.

Export Reviews Now