CompareGummySearch
Written by LiquidUser. We are not a GummySearch replacement: we do not read Reddit. Facts last checked against GummySearch's own closing announcement.
Finding people who describe a problem, after GummySearch.
GummySearch stopped taking new customers on 30 November 2025. If you used it to find people describing a problem your product solves, you can do that job on Hacker News and X. Here is how to do it by hand, and what LiquidUser does for you.
What happened
GummySearch was a Reddit research tool. You searched discussions, followed subreddits and saw the words people used around a problem. Its founder says over 140,000 founders, marketers and investors relied on it.
It depended on Reddit's Data API. The founder tried to get a commercial licence and could not reach an agreement with Reddit, so GummySearch stopped taking signups, payments and renewals on 30 November 2025. Paid customers keep access until their billing period ends. On 1 December 2026 it shuts down and deletes all user data.
“I tried to legitimize it by seeking a commercial license, and unfortunately it didn't work out.”
If you still have an account, export what you want to keep before 1 December 2026. The closing note says what each kind of account can still do.
How to do it by hand
Search for the words people use when they have the problem, not the words on your site. Keep posts written in the first person, by someone trying to solve it now.
On Hacker News
- Open hn.algolia.com, search the phrase in quotes, then choose Comments, Past month and sort by Date.
- Keep posts like “I'm looking for” or “we ended up building our own”. Skip launches and people describing their own product.
- Read the whole thread, then write the reply yourself. HN's guidelines ban generated and AI-edited comments.
On X
- Search the phrase plus your problem words with these filters, then open the Latest tab:
"is there a tool" -filter:retweets lang:en - Try “alternative to” and “why doesn't” with the tools your buyers already use.
- Reply within hours, from your own account. A post on X gets half its views in about 80 minutes at the median (Pfeffer and others, 2023).
On Reddit
- Search reddit.com yourself, sorted by New, with the same phrases.
- Read each subreddit's rules on self-promotion before you reply, and say who you are.
- LiquidUser does not read Reddit: commercial use of its data needs Reddit's written permission, and we will not scrape it.
What LiquidUser does for the same job
What it does
- It starts from your website and shows what it understood, with the page behind each claim. You correct it before the search runs.
- It searches X through the official API, read only, over the last seven days, and Hacker News over the last 120 days.
- Each person comes with the post, why it matches your product and how recent it is. When nobody qualifies, the scan says so.
- For X, the reply draft opens in X's own composer. You post every reply yourself.
What it doesn't do
- It does not read Reddit, and it will not scrape it.
- It has no subreddit browsing or audience research across communities.
- It never posts, likes, follows or sends a message for you.
LiquidUser and GummySearch side by side
LiquidUser as it works today, and GummySearch as its own pages describe it, checked on 29 September 2026.
| Feature | LiquidUser | GummySearch |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | ||
| Where you start | Your website | Keywords and subreddits |
| Shows what it understood, with the page for each claim | Yes | No |
| Sources | ||
| No | Yes | |
| Hacker News | Yes | No |
| X | Official API, read only | No |
| Results | ||
| Subreddit discovery and audience research | No | Yes |
| Groups what people say by problem | Yes | Yes |
| Explains why a person matches your product | Yes | No |
| Replies | ||
| Reply draft you edit and post yourself | Yes | No |
| Access and price | ||
| Status | Open, free scan first | Closed to new customers; shuts down 1 Dec 2026 |
Questions
- Why did GummySearch close?
- GummySearch depended on Reddit's Data API. Its founder tried to get a commercial licence and could not reach an agreement with Reddit, so it stopped taking signups, payments and renewals on 30 November 2025. Paid customers keep access until their billing period ends, and on 1 December 2026 it shuts down and deletes all user data. Both notes are on gummysearch.com.
- I still have a GummySearch account. What should I do?
- Export anything you want to keep before 1 December 2026, when GummySearch deletes all user data. Its closing note says free accounts can still log in to download or delete their data.
- Is LiquidUser a GummySearch replacement?
- No. GummySearch was Reddit research, and LiquidUser does not read Reddit. It does one part of the same job: finding people who describe the problem your product solves, on X and Hacker News.
- Why doesn't LiquidUser read Reddit?
- Commercial use of Reddit's data needs Reddit's written permission, and we will not scrape it. You can still search Reddit yourself in your own browser, as described above.
- Could LiquidUser lose a source the same way?
- Yes, a source could change its terms. We read X through X's official API under its developer terms, paying for every read, and Hacker News through its public search and official API. If either changes, we will say so on our sources policy page instead of looking for another way in.
- What does LiquidUser cost?
- One plan at $49 a month. The free scan shows what it understood and the first people it found before you create an account or enter a card.
What we promise
How we read each source- We never post for youNo replies, likes, follows or messages in your name. You post every reply yourself.
- No bots, no account pools, no proxiesNothing signs in as anyone, and nothing scrapes.
- No fake numbersNo invented counters, testimonials or countdown timers. Every number comes from real data or the plan's own limits.
- Official APIs onlyX through its paid API, Hacker News and Bluesky through their public ones. Read only.
- Briefs on Hacker NewsHN bans generated comments, so there you get what to say and write the reply yourself.
Run the scan on your own site
Paste your website. LiquidUser shows what it understood, then the people already describing the problem you solve, before you pay anything.
One plan, $49 a month. See what it includes