Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about Build Check — how it works, who it's for, and what to do with your score.

What is Build Check?

Build Check is a free, 2-minute quiz that scores your app idea across 6 critical dimensions before you invest time or money in building it. Think of it as a gut-check, not a business plan. You answer 12 questions about your idea, and you get an honest scorecard with a grade (A–F), a breakdown by dimension, and AI-generated insights like competitor benchmarks, your ideal first user, and one concrete experiment to run this week.

Who is it for?

Build Check is built for "outsiders" — the managers, lawyers, salespeople, accountants, teachers, and anyone else who lives inside a specific industry, sees a real problem every day, and wonders if they should build something to solve it. You don't need to be technical. You don't need a co-founder. You just need an idea and 2 minutes.

How does the scoring work? What are the 6 dimensions?

Your idea is scored across 6 dimensions, each worth up to 10 points. The 6 are: Real Problem (does this actually hurt?), Frequency & Pain (how often and how bad?), Who It's For (is the target audience specific enough?), Builder Fit (are you the right person to build this?), Signs of Demand (is anyone already searching for or paying for a solution?), and Your Drive (will you still care about this in 6 months?). A total score of 42+ out of 60 is a strong signal.

Is Build Check really free?

Yes. 100% free. No credit card. No freemium tier. No upsell at the end. It started as a personal tool to filter my own ideas faster, and I'm sharing it because the "should I build this?" conversation happens way too often and deserves a better answer than a gut feeling.

My idea scored low. Does that mean it's a bad idea?

Not necessarily. A low score usually means one of two things: the idea isn't specific enough yet (the problem, the audience, or both are too vague), or the market signals are weak right now. A low score is a starting point, not a verdict. The 3 AI-generated next steps at the bottom of your results are specifically designed to address your weakest dimensions. Do those before you decide to kill the idea.

My idea scored high. Should I start building immediately?

Not yet. A high score means the idea has strong fundamentals — it's worth pursuing further. But "worth pursuing" is different from "start coding". Your results include a 48-hour validation experiment — one cheap, fast thing you can do to test the core assumption before committing weeks of time. Do that first. If it signals real demand, then build.

How is this different from a business plan or hiring a consultant?

A business plan takes weeks and tells you nothing about whether people actually want your thing. A consultant costs money and mostly validates what you already believe. Build Check takes 2 minutes, it's brutally honest, and it's calibrated specifically for early-stage app ideas — not traditional businesses. It's a filter, not a forecast. It won't tell you if you'll make $1M. It will tell you if the idea is worth spending the next 2 weeks on.

I'm not technical at all. Can I still use this?

Absolutely. In fact, that's exactly who this is built for. You don't need to know how to code to have a valid idea. With AI-assisted development (what some people call "vibe coding"), domain expertise is now the scarce resource — not coding ability. Build Check helps you figure out if your domain knowledge points to a real opportunity.

What is 'vibe coding'?

Vibe coding is a term for using AI tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or Bolt) to build software by describing what you want in plain language, without writing traditional code yourself. It's made building apps accessible to people who aren't traditional developers. But it also means more people are building things nobody needs — which is exactly why validation matters more than ever.

What are the AI-generated sections in my results?

After you complete the quiz, the results page generates four AI-powered sections: Quick Benchmark (3–5 real tools that already solve something similar, so you know what you're up against), Domain Ideas (3 name suggestions for your product), ICP Snapshot (a paragraph describing your ideal first user), and the 48-Hour Experiment (one specific thing to do this week to test demand). These run in the background while your score loads.

Can I embed the quiz on my own website?

Yes. There's an embed code on the home page — just click "Embed this quiz on your site." It's a simple iframe that works on any website or no-code platform like Webflow, Framer, or Squarespace.

Who built this?

Build Check was built by Ger Merlo (@elgermerlo on X). He's been answering the "should I build this?" question for people in his network for years, and built this tool to give everyone access to the same framework. You can follow him on X for more tools and content like this.

Still have a question?

Just take the quiz and see for yourself.

2 minutes. 12 questions. No signup required.