User Onboarding

An In-Depth Guide to Top 6 Userpilot Alternatives

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    Home / User Onboarding / An In-Depth Guide to Top 6 Userpilot Alternatives

    Userpilot is a capable product adoption and user onboarding platform that has various use cases for product teams of any size.

    But that doesn't mean Userpilot is the best tool for each use case; just like any tool, it has its strengths and weaknesses and alternatives that do a better job than it at some tasks.

    Let's see where Userpilot lacks, and then examine the top 6 alternatives.

    TL;DR

    • UserGuiding: Excels in product adoption features like onboarding, tooltips, and checklists + knowledge base. It has a free trial option to experience the tool.
    • Pendo: Offers robust product analytics with dashboards and user behavior data. It caters more to understanding user actions.
    • Appcues: Comes with its event tracker for analyzing user events and creating custom dashboards. It also supports mobile onboarding.
    • Usetiful: Provides a budget-friendly option for creating user guides and onboarding materials. However, its analytics and customization are limited.
    • Whatfix: Ideal for employee training and engagement with in-app guidance and an AI assistant. It might lack user engagement features for general users.
    • Intro.js: A free, open-source library for crafting basic product tours. Requires developer expertise to implement and maintain.

    What Userpilot Does Well

    1- Product Adoption

    ‎Userpilot is home to the key product adoption features that work well to familiarize users with your product.

    These features include:

    • tooltips,
    • hotspots,
    • guides,
    • and checklists.

    The tool allows you to emphasize an item that must be highlighted for an enhanced experience. In addition, elements like tooltips and hotspots also pave the way for the self-exploration of new features and announcements.

    2- Analytics and Reporting

    After revving up the engines to start the product adoption process, Userpilot's analytics and reporting capabilities allow you to track and understand every user action.

    Displaying a comprehensive selection of chart types, the analytics dashboard supports you in creating reports that can visualize the funnel, trends, and retention.

    Drawbacks of Userpilot

    1- Feature Adoption

    Userpilot falls short of feature adoption since it supports neither a product updates page nor an in-app announcements feature.

    Without these two key components of feature adoption, it becomes difficult to introduce new or certain features to users after they finish onboarding.

    With the number of users who aren't aware of new features or updates increasing, the value they get from your product will decrease.

    2- Pricing

    ‎Userpilot has two transparent pricing plans and one custom quote plan; the starting price is $249 for 2,000 MAU (Monthly Active Users).

    Keeping startups and small businesses in mind, Userpilot might be costly for those with a tight budget.

    6 Best Userpilot Alternatives

    1. UserGuiding - best for those looking for more product adoption than analytics

    • Capterra ⭐ 4.7/5 (51 reviews)
    • G2 ⭐ 4.6/5 (227 reviews)
    • TrustRadius ⭐ 9.2/10 (4 reviews)

    UserGuiding is a product adoption platform that enhances in-app experiences.

    This no-code alternative enables you to improve the product interface and simplify the user journey, thanks to the elements it contains.

    For example, you can trust UserGuiding with:

    • smooth user onboarding processes,
    • new feature introduction,
    • customer feedback collection,
    • segmentation,
    • and self-service support.

    UserGuiding Features

    • Onboarding Checklists
    • Product Tours
    • Resource Centers
    • Knowledge Base
    • Segmentation
    • Analytics
    • Customization
    • In-App Surveys
    • Tooltips
    • Hotspots
    • Announcement Modals
    • NPS Surveys
    • Product Updates

    Pricing

    UserGuiding's pricing plans on a yearly basis entail:

    • Basic: $89/month (2,500 MAU).
    • Professional: $249/month (2,500 MAU).
    • Corporate: Custom quote.

    UserGuiding vs Userpilot

    If feature adoption is one of your top use cases, Userpilot limits your actions as it doesn't support a product updates page or allow in-app update announcements. UserGuiding, on the other hand, is ready to boost your product marketing and expand your product adoption capabilities with announcement modals and update page features.

    It's the same case for UserGuiding when it comes to product analytics since it doesn't have a product analytics feature like Userpilot does.

    Moving on to customer support, reviews state that UserGuiding has excellent support, while the same cannot be said about Userpilot. UserGuiding's knowledge base is making a big difference in user experience.

    Comparing the pricing plans, UserGuiding's adjustable MAU (Monthly Active Users) pricing allows for plans that scale with your business. Meanwhile, Userpilot's Starters plan starts from a high amount and has fixed MAUs.

    Also, UserGuiding is much easier to set up and learn in comparison to Userpilot.

    Userpilot UserGuiding
    Pricing (<2,500 MAU) $249 $89
    G2 Rating 4.6 4.6
    Guides Yes Yes
    Hotspots Yes Yes
    Checklists Yes Yes
    Resource Center Yes Yes
    NPS Yes Yes
    In-App Announcements No Yes
    Surveys Yes Yes
    User Activity Feed Yes Yes
    Banners Yes No
    Segmentation Yes Yes
    In-App Localization Yes Yes
    Product Analytics Yes Yes
    Knowledge Base No Yes
    Product Updates Page No Yes
    Integrations Numerous Integrations Available Numerous Integrations Available

    2. Pendo - best for those looking for a more capable product analytics section

    • Capterra ⭐ 4.5/5 (215 reviews)
    • G2 ⭐ 4.4/5 (1,421 reviews)
    • TrustRadius ⭐ 8.3/10 (186 reviews)

    Pendo is a product experience platform that improves the user experience by driving awareness to the maximum.

    Pendo differs from the rest of the list in that it also focuses on user behavior, with features that visualize user actions and data.

    Pendo Features

    • Analytics
    • In-App Guides
    • Session Replay
    • Feedback
    • Roadmaps
    • Pendo AI

    Pricing

    Pendo has four plans with custom MAUs (Monthly Active Users); please contact Pendo's sales team for further information.

    Pendo vs Userpilot

    Regarding analytics, Pendo has the upper hand, as it has a better dashboard system and a wider variety of product data: Pendo's analytics dashboard is more intuitive to use and has better process analytics capabilities when turning data into visuals.

    Here's another advantage Pendo has: mobile app support. While Userpilot doesn't operate on mobile applications, Pendo offers its services to its users on mobile, too.

    However, Pendo lags behind in the technical product setup stage, which takes weeks and needs maintenance—unlike Userpilot.

    Both Pendo and Userpilot have many features that help improve user experience, but Pendo has features like "Session Replays" that users don't utilize for the same use case. Meanwhile, Userpilot focuses more on improving user experience with UX elements.

    Pendo offers its services for free as long as you have 500 MAUs (Monthly Active Users); however, prices hike as you grow your user base. Userpilot, on the other hand, has a 14-day free trial and three pricing plans (two of which allow for custom MAUs).

    3. Appcues - best for those looking for a platform with a rich event tracker feature

    • Capterra ⭐ 4.8/5 (102 reviews)
    • G2 ⭐ 4.6/5 (305 reviews)
    • TrustRadius ⭐ 9.1/10 (27 reviews)

    Appcues is a product adoption platform that enables you to guide users throughout the user journey, making sure they don't miss a single component.

    It has no-code features that both technical and non-technical teams can utilize without prior experience.

    Appcues Features

    • Drag-and-Drop Builder
    • Guides
    • Checklists
    • Tooltips
    • Hotspots
    • Product Tours
    • A/B Testing
    • Segmentation
    • Events Explorer

    Pricing

    Appcues' pricing plans on a yearly basis entail:

    • Essentials: $249/month (2,500 MAU).
    • Growth: $879/month (2,500 MAU).
    • Enterprise: Custom quote.

    Appcues vs Userpilot

    Appcues stands out because of the Event Explorer feature, which allows users to analyze user events and create tracking dashboards. Although Userpilot is popular for its user tracking and behavioral analytics, Appcues raises the bar even higher.

    Another advantage Appcues has over Userpilot is mobile app support with which you can create mobile onboarding flows.

    However, there are areas that Appcues lacks as well, one of them being resource centers. While Userpilot has a resource center feature, you cannot build a resource center to add in-app support and self-service with Appcues.

    The learning curve of Userpilot is almost the same as that of Appcues, so I don't declare any winner in this case.

    For the pricing, Appcues and Userpilot's first plan starts from the same price, $249. The only difference here is that Userpilot limits the MAUs to 2,000, while Appcues allows for 2,500 MAUs. In contrast to this, Appcues' second plan is more expensive when compared to Userpilot (so, it's no secret that Appcues is more expensive in general when it comes to custom plans.)

    4. Usetiful - best for those looking for an affordable platform with onboarding materials

    • Capterra ⭐ 4.8/5 (8 reviews)
    • G2 ⭐ 4.7/5 (154 reviews)
    • TrustRadius ⭐ 0/10 (0 reviews)

    Usetiful is a digital adoption platform that creates an unforgettable digital experience that leaves an impact on users.

    This tool aims to simplify the user journey and increase feature usage (and awareness) simultaneously by driving users to their "aha" moments with features that guide them during their first use.

    Usetiful Features

    • Product Tours
    • Guides
    • Hotspots
    • Tooltips
    • Onboarding Checklists
    • Banners
    • Knowledge Base
    • Surveys
    • NPS
    • Interactive Product Demos

    Pricing

    Usetiful's pricing plans on a yearly basis entail:

    • Free: €0/month (2,000 MAU).
    • Plus: €29/month (5,000 MAU).
    • Premium: €69/month (10,000 MAU).
    • Enterprise: Custom quote.

    Usetiful vs Userpilot

    Compared to Userpilot, Usetiful is an affordable alternative since its free plan covers up to 2,000 MAUs. When the number of MAUs is increased to 5,000, the pricing increases to €29, while Userpilot's next plan starts at $749.

    However, Usetiful is one of the tools that underperforms when it comes to user onboarding and increasing retention. It has the key features an onboarding process should have but offers limited customization and configuration of these onboarding materials.

    Let alone custom data; Usetiful shows no user details or activity analytics—only basic material interaction analytics. Userpilot, on the other hand, has a thorough analytics dashboard that comes with several charts.

    If your business cares about cybersecurity, remember that Usetiful doesn't have a SOC 2 certification, while Userpilot does.

    Last but not least, Userpilot has numerous integrations available, unlike Usetiful, which has almost no integrations for users to create a strong collaborative unit.

    5. Whatfix - best for those looking for a platform that focuses on employee engagement and training

    • Capterra ⭐ 4.6/5 (77 reviews)
    • G2 ⭐ 4.6/5 (328 reviews)
    • TrustRadius ⭐ 9.4/10 (36 reviews)

    Whatfix is a digital adoption platform that guides, trains, and supports users in-app without creating any intervals within the user journey.

    It has several onboarding elements to ensure that users are actively engaged with the product and understand its value through good guidance as soon as possible.

    Whatfix Features

    • Guides
    • Hotspots
    • Tooltips
    • Product Tours
    • Onboarding Checklists
    • In-App Announcements
    • AI Assistant
    • Product Analytics
    • Surveys
    • NPS

    Pricing

    Whatfix has three plans with custom MAUs (Monthly Active Users); please contact Whatfix's sales team for further information.

    Whatfix vs Userpilot

    Compared to Userpilot, Whatfix offers a better platform for digital adoption, especially for employee engagement, as it offers various content for employee training and guidance. Userpilot lacks this aspect as it focuses on adoption and onboarding users.

    However, this capability might be a limitation if you want a platform focusing on user engagement. For example, Whatfix has limited user engagement features as it doesn't have banners, product updates page, and knowledge base features.

    On the brighter side, Whatfix has an AI Assistant feature that Userpilot lacks; this feature helps you boost productivity by streamlining processes related to end-user experience.

    You should also know that Whatfix is more for enterprises than SaaS and web products. Meanwhile, Userpilot is catered to digital products to boost product adoption.

    Even though Whatfix doesn't reveal its pricing structure, it's known that it's more expensive than Userpilot.

    6. Intro.js - best for those looking for an affordable open-source customer onboarding tool

    • Github 22.6K ⭐
    • Capterra ⭐ It isn't on the platform.
    • G2 ⭐ It isn't on the platform.
    • TrustRadius ⭐ It isn't on the platform.

    Intro.js is an open-source user onboarding library that you can use to create product tours to help users get to know your product more.

    However, there is one detail that you should know about this tool: It is an open-source tool that your developers need to spend time on for it to operate.

    Intro.js Features

    • Product Tours
    • Guides

    Pricing

    Intro.js' pricing plans for lifetime entail:

    • Starter: $9.99
    • Business: $49.99
    • Premium: $299.99

    Intro.js vs Userpilot

    Between Intro.js and Userpilot, there are some clear differences, such as the former being open-source and the latter being a closed-sourced one. Thus, if a developer is ready to regularly update the platform, you can use Intro.js instead of Userpilot.

    This platform is also a bargain compared to Userpilot as it offers its services for one-time payment instead of subscriptions, as Userpilot does.

    As it's open-source, Intro.js allows you to customize the elements however you like, perhaps more than any other tool in this segment. Plus, it's reliable as it depends on in-house activities rather than outsourcing when purchased.

    One disadvantage is that it has simple onboarding features, such as product tours and onboarding guides. In short, it cannot match Userpilot in terms of analytics or tracking since it doesn't contain these features.

    What to pick?

    If you've made it this far, Userpilot definitely isn't cutting it for you.

    I've tried to curate a list of tools that excel in their respective use cases, hoping one of them would be perfect for you.

    Also, UserGuiding can help you more than you can imagine; talk to one of our product adoption experts to find out how.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Who should use Userpilot?

    Product teams, growth managers, customer success teams, and product managers can use Userpilot and its alternatives, such as UserGuiding, to effectively onboard new users and improve product adoption or user adoption.

    How much does Userpilot cost?

    Userpilot's Growth plan starts at $249/month with 2500 MAU while its Enterprise Plan is $599/month, with 20,000 MAU.

    What are the top alternatives to Userpilot?

    The top 6 Userpilot alternatives are UserGuiding, Pendo, Appcues, Usetiful, Whatfix, and Intro.js.

    How does the Userpilot Chrome Extension work?

    The Userpilot Chrome extension is overall similar to the UserGuiding Chrome extension. Once you download the Chrome Extension for Userpilot, you can create customizable product tours and other interactive elements, and publish them by going back to the dashboard.

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