Free Competitive Intelligence Report Template for SaaS (2026)

Creating a competitive intelligence report from scratch is time-consuming. You need to figure out what to include, how to structure it, and what questions to answer, all before you start the actual research.

That's why we've created a free competitive intelligence report template that gives you a proven framework. It includes every section you need, with examples and instructions to guide you through each one.

Whether you're building your first CI report or upgrading an existing process, this template will save you hours of setup time.

New to CI reports? Start with our comprehensive guide that explains each section in detail.

What's Included in This Template

Our competitive intelligence report template covers all seven essential sections:

Essential sections included

25+

Fill-in prompts

Example competitors

Template Sections Overview

Section	Purpose	Time to Complete
Executive Summary	Leadership overview of key findings	30 min
Competitor Profiles	Deep-dive on each competitor	2-3 hrs
Feature Comparison	Side-by-side capability matrix	1-2 hrs
Pricing Analysis	Tier structure and positioning	1-2 hrs
SWOT Analysis	Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats	1 hr
Market Positioning	Visual competitive landscape	30 min
Recommendations	Actionable strategic next steps	1 hr

Section 1: Executive Summary Template

Your executive summary should fit on one page and answer three questions:

Executive Summary Template

Fill in this structure for your quarterly CI report

Key Competitive Developments (This Quarter)

[Competitor A] launched [feature/product] targeting [segment]
[Competitor B] raised prices by [X%] on [tier]
[Competitor C] acquired [company] for [capability]

Competitive Position Assessment

Our position: [Stronger / Stable / Weakening]
Primary threat: [Competitor and reason]
Primary opportunity: [Gap or trend to exploit]

Recommended Actions

[Immediate action with timeline]
[Short-term initiative]
[Monitoring priority]

Q4 2024 Executive Summary

Key Competitive Developments (Q4 2024)

Acme Analytics launched AI-powered forecasting, targeting enterprise
DataCorp raised Professional tier pricing by 15%
InsightHub acquired ReportBuilder for embedded analytics

Competitive Position Assessment

Our position: Stable with opportunity
Primary threat: Acme's AI features could attract our enterprise prospects
Primary opportunity: DataCorp's price increase creates mid-market opening

Recommended Actions

Accelerate AI roadmap items (Q1 priority)
Launch competitive pricing campaign targeting DataCorp customers
Monitor Acme enterprise deal velocity

Section 2: Competitor Profile Template

Create one profile for each primary competitor (3-5 total).

Competitor Profile Template

Create one profile for each of your 3-5 primary competitors

Competitor Profile: [Company Name]

Company Overview

Field	Value
Founded	[Year]
Headquarters	[Location]
Employees	[Range]
Funding	[Total raised / Public]
Est. Revenue	[Range]

Target Market

Primary segment: [Enterprise / Mid-market / SMB]
Industries: [List key verticals]
Buyer persona: [Primary decision maker]

Product Summary

Core product: [One sentence description]
Key differentiator: [What they're known for]
Recent launches: [Last 6 months]

Go-to-Market

Sales model: [Self-serve / Sales-led / Hybrid]
Primary channels: [List top 3]
Messaging focus: [Core value proposition]

Strengths

[Strength with evidence]
[Strength with evidence]
[Strength with evidence]

Weaknesses

[Weakness with evidence]
[Weakness with evidence]
[Weakness with evidence]

Section 3: Feature Comparison Matrix Template

Build a comprehensive feature matrix to compare capabilities.

Feature Comparison Matrix Template

Track features across your product and all competitors

Feature Category	Feature	Your Product	Competitor A	Competitor B	Competitor C
Core	[Feature 1]	[Tier/Yes/No]	[Tier/Yes/No]	[Tier/Yes/No]	[Tier/Yes/No]
Core	[Feature 2]
Advanced	[Feature 3]
Advanced	[Feature 4]
Enterprise	[Feature 5]

Pro Tips for Feature Comparison:

⦿ Use consistent notation:

"All" = All tiers
"Pro+" = Professional and above
"Ent" = Enterprise only
"Add-on" = Paid extra
"-" = Not available

⦿ Categorize features: Group by Core, Advanced, Enterprise, or by functional area

⦿ Note quality differences: Two products might have "reporting" but with vastly different capabilities

⦿ Update monthly: Features ship constantly in SaaS

Example: Analytics Platform Feature Matrix

Feature	Your Product	Acme	DataCorp	InsightHub
Custom Dashboards	All	All	Pro+	All
Real-time Data Updates	Pro+	Ent	Pro+	Add-on
Data Exports (CSV/Excel)	All	All	All	Pro+
AI-Powered Forecasting	Pro+	Ent	-	Add-on
Custom SQL Queries	Pro+	Pro+	Ent	-
API Access	Pro+	Ent	Pro+	Ent
SSO/SAML	Ent	Ent	Ent	Ent
Dedicated Support	Ent	Ent	Ent	Add-on

Section 4: Pricing Analysis Template

This section deserves special attention, as pricing intelligence drives strategic decisions.

Pricing Analysis Template

Analyze each competitor's pricing strategy and tier structure

Pricing Analysis: [Competitor Name]

Pricing Model

Attribute	Value
Type	[Per-seat / Usage-based / Flat-rate / Hybrid]
Billing	[Monthly / Annual / Both]
Annual discount	[X%]

Tier Structure

For each tier, document:

Tier	Price	Target User	Key Inclusions	Key Limitations	Seat Limits
[Tier 1 Name]	[Price]/[unit]/[period]	[Who this tier is for]	[Top 3-5 features]	[Notable restrictions]	[Min/Max]
[Tier 2 Name]	[Price]/[unit]/[period]
[Tier 3 Name]	Custom

Pricing Observations

Price anchoring: [How they use pricing psychology]
Value gaps: [Where pricing doesn't match value]
Recent changes: [Any price changes in last 12 months]

Competitive Price Position

Compared to our pricing:

Tier comparison: [X% higher/lower]
Value metric: [Better/Worse value at scale]

Key pricing attributes to track

10-15%

Revenue left on table with wrong pricing

Quarterly

Minimum pricing review frequency

Section 5: SWOT Analysis Template

Create a SWOT for each major competitor AND for your own company.

SWOT Analysis Template

Analyze internal and external factors for each competitor and your company

SWOT Analysis: [Company Name]

Strengths (Internal Positives)

Strength	Evidence	Impact
[Strength 1]	[How we know]	[High/Med/Low]
[Strength 2]
[Strength 3]

Weaknesses (Internal Negatives)

Weakness	Evidence	Impact
[Weakness 1]	[How we know]	[High/Med/Low]
[Weakness 2]
[Weakness 3]

Opportunities (External Positives)

Opportunity	Timing	Our Ability to Capture
[Opportunity 1]	[Now/Soon/Future]	[High/Med/Low]
[Opportunity 2]
[Opportunity 3]

Threats (External Negatives)

Threat	Likelihood	Potential Impact
[Threat 1]	[High/Med/Low]	[High/Med/Low]
[Threat 2]
[Threat 3]

Section 6: Market Positioning Map Template

Visualize the competitive landscape along key dimensions.

Market Positioning Map Template

Create visual maps to identify positioning opportunities

Create a 2x2 matrix with:

X-axis: [Dimension 1, e.g., Price: Low to High]
Y-axis: [Dimension 2, e.g., Features: Basic to Advanced]

Plot each competitor as a circle, with size representing market share or relevance.

Common Positioning Dimensions:

Price vs. Features
SMB vs. Enterprise focus
Ease of use vs. Power
Vertical vs. Horizontal
Self-serve vs. Sales-led

Identify:

Crowded zones (red ocean)
Empty zones (potential blue ocean)
Your current position
Your target position

Example: Analytics Platform Positioning

Analytics Platform Market Positioning (2025)

Price vs Features analysis showing competitive landscape

Feature Sophistication

Advanced (AI/ML, Custom)

Low Price
High Features

High Price
High Features

Low Price
Low Features

High Price
Low Features

Your Product

Your Product(You)

Acme Analytics

DataCorp

InsightHub

QuickBI

Enterprise Pro

Basic (Dashboards only)

Low ($29/seat)High ($150/seat)

Pricing

Competitors

Your Position

Size = Market Relevance

Section 7: Strategic Recommendations Template

Transform your analysis into action.

Strategic Recommendations Template

Turn insights into actionable initiatives with clear ownership

Strategic Recommendations

Immediate Actions (This Month)

Action	Owner	Deadline	Success Metric
[Action 1]	[Person/Team]	[Date]	[How to measure]
[Action 2]

Short-term Initiatives (This Quarter)

Initiative	Rationale	Resources Needed
[Initiative 1]	[Why now, based on CI]	[What's required]
[Initiative 2]

Monitoring Priorities

What to Monitor	Trigger for Action	Response Plan
[Competitor pricing changes]	[>10% change]	[Pricing review]
[Feature launches]	[Core capability]	[Roadmap review]

Strategic Considerations (Next 6-12 Months)

Based on competitive trends, consider:

[Strategic consideration with rationale]
[Strategic consideration with rationale]

How to Use This Template

Getting Started

Download the template: Scroll down to grab both guided and clean versions (available below in Markdown and PDF)
Open in your preferred tool: Works with Notion, Obsidian, VS Code, Typora, or any Markdown editor
Identify competitors: Select 3-5 primary competitors to analyze
Gather data: Use our complete guide for data sources
Fill sections systematically: Start with competitor profiles, then build out

Recommended Update Cadence

Section	Update Frequency
Executive Summary	Quarterly
Competitor Profiles	Quarterly
Feature Comparison	Monthly
Pricing Analysis	Monthly
SWOT Analysis	Quarterly
Positioning Map	Quarterly
Recommendations	Quarterly

Making It Sustainable

The biggest CI mistake is creating a report once and letting it go stale. Build habits:

✓ Set calendar reminders for monthly and quarterly reviews

✓ Assign ownership for each competitor

✓ Create alerts for competitor news and changes

✓ Review in team meetings to gather frontline intelligence

Frequently Asked Questions

What should be included in a competitive intelligence report template?

A comprehensive CI report template should include: executive summary, competitor profiles, product/feature comparison matrix, pricing analysis, SWOT analysis, market positioning map, and strategic recommendations sections.

How do I use a competitive intelligence report template?

Start by identifying your top 3-5 competitors. Fill in each section systematically, beginning with competitor profiles. Update the template quarterly, with pricing and feature sections updated monthly.

Can I customize this CI report template for my industry?

Yes, our template is designed to be flexible. Add industry-specific metrics, remove sections that don't apply, and adjust the competitor profile fields to match your market's unique characteristics.

Download Your Free CI Report Template

Get Your Free CI Report Template

Includes both versions (guided with examples + clean ready-to-use) in one document. Available in Markdown format for your favorite editor, or as a beautiful PDF report.

MarkdownPDF

Download Markdown Download PDF

What's included in the template:

Version 1: Guided - Placeholder text and examples showing what to write in each section
Version 2: Clean - Minimal template ready for immediate use without placeholders
All 7 essential CI report sections
Tables, frameworks, and structured prompts

Next steps after downloading:

Open the template and choose which version to use (guided for learning, clean for recurring use)
Identify your top 3-5 competitors
Schedule time for initial data gathering (allocate 4-8 hours for your first report)
Set calendar reminders for your update cadence

For detailed guidance on filling each section, read our complete guide.

Learn the strategy behind each template section with detailed examples and best practices.

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