How to Get First Users for Your AI Side Project
Building an AI side project is easier than ever. Getting real users is still the hard part. A lot of builders can ship an impressive demo in a weekend, but they never get enough real usage to learn what actually works.
If you want your AI app to grow, you need more than code and screenshots. You need real people testing it, getting confused by it, loving parts of it, ignoring other parts, and showing you where the real value is.
1. Start with a very specific user
“AI users” is not a real audience. Your first users should be much more specific than that. Think in terms of one exact group: recruiters, indie developers, designers, teachers, marketers, founders, or students.
The narrower your starting audience, the easier it is to write a clear message and find places where those people already hang out.
2. Lead with the problem, not the model
Most users do not care which model powers your app. They care whether it saves time, reduces stress, improves quality, or helps them finish a task faster.
If your landing page says “AI-powered” everywhere but never clearly explains the result, people will bounce. Describe the problem you solve and the before-and-after outcome instead.
3. Share it where builders already ask for feedback
The fastest early traction often comes from communities, not broad marketing channels. Side-project forums, indie developer communities, Discord servers, Reddit threads, and maker groups are full of people willing to try new tools if the pitch is clear and honest.
The best posts do not sound like ads. Explain what you built, who it is for, what you are unsure about, and what kind of feedback you want. People react much better to honest iteration than polished hype.
4. Ask for one small action
A lot of makers ask too much too early. Instead of “Please try my whole app and tell me what you think,” ask users to do one short task: sign up, paste one input, generate one output, or finish one workflow.
This lowers friction and gives you cleaner feedback. It is much easier for someone to help when the ask feels small and concrete.
5. Get feedback before chasing growth
If people do not understand the value in the first minute, more traffic will not fix that. Early feedback helps you improve onboarding, messaging, trust, and the actual usefulness of the output before you spend time trying to scale.
This is especially important for AI apps because users quickly judge whether results feel helpful, reliable, and worth paying for.
6. Use a platform built for feedback
If you want a more structured way to get first users, list your product somewhere built for testing and early discovery. That gives you a better chance of reaching people who are already open to trying unfinished tools.
IndieAppCircle for AI side projects is designed for exactly this stage: getting early users, collecting useful feedback, and learning what to improve before a larger launch.
7. Try mutual testing with other builders
One of the easiest ways to get started is to exchange value with other makers. If someone else also needs feedback, a mutual testing setup is often more effective than a cold request.
You can use Test for Test to swap feedback with other builders and get more signal on your AI product without waiting for random traffic.
8. Watch what people do, not just what they say
Users may tell you your app is interesting, but behavior tells the real story. Do they finish onboarding? Do they return? Do they reach the main output? Do they understand what to do next?
For AI products, this matters a lot because curiosity can create clicks even when retention is weak. Focus on real usage, not compliments.
9. Improve the app after every small wave of feedback
Do not wait for 100 users before making changes. If five people hit the same confusing step, that is already a pattern worth fixing.
Small improvements compound quickly. Better onboarding, clearer examples, faster outputs, and stronger trust signals can dramatically improve whether your next batch of users stays.
10. Treat early users like collaborators
The first people who try your AI side project are not just traffic. They are your fastest path to product clarity. If you listen well and iterate quickly, they help shape something people actually want.
The goal is not just to get clicks. It is to learn fast enough that your app becomes easier and easier to recommend.
💡 Tip: AI makes it easier to build fast, but that usually makes feedback even more important. The faster you ship, the faster you need real users telling you what is unclear, broken, or unexpectedly valuable.