Appcues vs. UserGuiding 2024 Comparison - For a Better Product Adoption

What is Appcues?

• G2 Score: ⭐️ 4.6 (305 reviews)
• Capterra Score: ⭐️ 4.8 (102 reviews)

Appcues is a product adoption platform that pioneered the no-code approach in user onboarding.

It is an advanced solution for digital adoption with fairly good analytics and can be a great tool in your arsenal if you're looking to become a product-led business.

One of the most important advantages of Appcues is its no-code growth capabilities.

It gives a chance to enhance user engagement and retention to not only designers and product managers but also marketers, support teams, and others.

Appcues also integrates seamlessly with third-party tools like Segment, HubSpot, and Slack, which allows for streamlined workflows and synchronized user data.

Appcues Best Use Cases

Appcues lists 5 use cases on its website: User onboarding, feature adoption, insights, NPS & surveys, announcements, and mobile adoption.

However, to see the real value of the product, we can categorize the use cases a bit differently:

1- User Onboarding & Adoption

Appcues is primarily an onboarding solution, and we can see this in its features.

With guided product tours and interactive walkthroughs, Appcues empowers businesses to create onboarding flows that help with robust product adoption for first-time users.

‎Welcome messages and checklists also improve first-time onboarding experience and early user activation.

But it doesn't end there.

You can also use Appcues later on in your user journeys to help end users adopt new product features and navigate product design updates.

This is especially good for increasing time-to-value and decreasing early churn.

Other Appcues features like tooltips, hotspots, and slideouts also contribute to this use case by helping with the onboarding process and new feature adoption.

2- User Engagement

Beyond onboarding first-time users, Appcues is there for you for the rest of the in-app experiences as well.

Their personalized in-app messages and announcement modals are the pillarstones of user engagement optimization within the platform.

The messaging can also be targeted to specific user segments and personalization, which helps with re-engaging inactive users and delivers contextual tips.

Appcues does a pretty good job with its feedback-collection capabilities as well.

The in-app surveys are another feature that boosts user engagement and long-term retention. With this feature, Appcues makes sure to offer a scalable way of helping businesses understand user needs and pain points.

3- Analytics

Appcues offers a good set of analytics capabilities with A/B testing, goal tracking and impact report capabilities.

‎Though it does not offer product analytics, for user onboarding use cases, the analytics tend to be adequate.

The user identification and tracking feature also supports personalized analytics.  

Pricing

Appcues offers a free trial and adjustable MAU ranges. The 3 plans in Appcues' public pricing are:

<2500 MAU

Essential: $249/month

Growth: $879/month

Enterprise: Custom

5K+ MAU

Essential: $399/month

Growth: $1149/month

Enterprise: Custom

10K+ MAU

Essential: $499/month

Growth: $1289/month

Enterprise: Custom

What is UserGuiding?

• G2 Score: ⭐️ 4.7 (391 reviews)
• Capterra Score: ⭐️ 4.7 (51 reviews)

UserGuiding is an all-around product adoption platform that doubles down on no-code product adoption and user engagement for optimized in-app experiences.

Having operated as a user onboarding solution from the beginning, the platform offers a strong set of onboarding and adoption features, along with complementary features. These not only take the onboarding process to the next level but also support different use cases.

UserGuiding is among DAP leaders, along with Appcues, and it has made a name for itself for being easy to use while still offering advanced solutions.

The platform is also well known for its stellar customer support, which might not always be available with tools of its size.

UserGuiding Best Use Cases

UserGuiding offers a solid set of features, all laser-focused on the task of providing better in-app experiences.

The UserGuiding feature set looks like this:

When it comes to the value of the platform, UserGuiding offers a similar set of use cases to that of Appcues: product adoption, feedback collection, in-app engagement, and self-service help.

Product Adoption & User Onboarding

The first use case for UserGuiding is user onboarding since it has operated as an onboarding solution since its first implementation.

UserGuiding offers features like user guides, interactive product walkthroughs, onboarding checklists, and other UX elements to power smooth user and customer experiences.

With these features, UserGuiding empowers product people to enhance customer experiences and first-time onboarding journeys while enhancing product adoption.

These features also consequently increase customer retention and satisfaction in the long term.

User Feedback Collection

UserGuiding offers a user feedback collection use case with its in-app survey and NPS survey features.

The features are fully customizable and come with a wide range of templates for easy implementation, making user feedback collection easier than ever.

Another feature included in this use case is Product Updates, UserGuiding's standalone product changelog solution.

Product Updates help close the gap between users and product teams by making update announcements accessible within your app. They also come with a built-in user feedback system that allows users to react to and give feedback on new updates.

These features come with their own analytics dashboards, which support better reporting and decision-making.

In-App Engagement & Messaging

UserGuiding's in-product messaging feature set includes announcement modals and a Product Updates page, supported by segmentation and localization.

While in-app announcements support higher user engagement and improved user experience, the Product Updates page garners robust product adoption as well as feature adoption.

Self-Service Help

And lastly, UserGuiding uses its resource center feature to provide end users with interactive product tours and guides for self-onboarding, help articles, and checklists.

The feature not only allows for self-triggered user journeys and an overall better user experience but also self-service help.

Another feature that is included in this use case is the knowledge base.

With a standalone knowledge base or one that is inside your app, you can offer end users organized and streamlined support materials.

Pricing

UserGuiding’s pricing plans are based on the number of active users you have. When billed yearly:

• Basic Plan: Starting from $69/month.
• Professional Plan: Starting from $199/month.
• Corporate Plan: Custom quote.

Appcues vs UserGuiding

Appcues and UserGuiding are pretty similar tools that catch up with one another in different qualities.

Here's a quick look:

Ease of Use & Setup

Both Appcues and UserGuiding are pretty easy to use. Since they are both code-free solutions, most users wouldn't have problems using either. Though looking at Appcues' Panel, it might be slightly harder to get the hang of it.

Talking about getting the hang of it, Appcues also has a slightly steeper learning curve since it requires just a bit more technical knowledge, while UserGuiding is fairly easier to implement and learn.

Overall, since both Appcues and UserGuiding are essentially user onboarding tools, they are better than most of their market counterparts.

For users prioritizing ease of use and implementation, UserGuiding is the better option.

Product Analytics and User Behavior Analysis

When it comes to analytics, Appcues excels in product analytics and user behavior analysis.

The platform provides robust features such as A/B testing, goal tracking, and impact reports. This focus on analytics helps in fine-tuning onboarding processes and improving user engagement based on data-driven insights.

UserGuiding is also similar in terms of analytics, and it offers A/B testing, goal tracking, and user profiles.

However, it lacks impact reports and some product analytics capabilities at the moment. So we can say for users prioritizing analytics, Appcues is the better option.

In-App Elements

Though Appcues is the more seasoned tool, UserGuiding offers a comprehensive suite of in-app elements that match and extend beyond what Appcues provides.

UserGuiding and Appcues both offer interactive product walkthroughs, onboarding checklists, tooltips, and hotspots.

However, UserGuiding adds value by offering Knowledge Base, Resource Centers, and Product Updates (Changelog) features as well.

These additional elements allow for better user self-service and keep users informed about the latest product updates and changes directly within the app.

So, for users prioritizing a more comprehensive user journey and a wider variety of UX elements, UserGuiding is the better option.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, the arrows once again point at UserGuiding for better affordability.

While the starting subscription cost for UserGuiding is around $69 for <1000 MAU, the starting price for Appcues is $249 a month for the same MAU.

Though Appcues is on the more affordable end of the spectrum compared to similar tools like Pendo and WalkMe, it is still too expensive when UserGuiding offers similar capabilities at a lower price.

For users prioritizing affordable pricing, UserGuiding is, again, the better option.

UserGuiding vs Appcues

Wrapping Up

Appcues sure is a pioneer in the user onboarding and digital adoption industries. However, it's not the ideal solution for everyone.

UserGuiding steps in as a versatile product adoption platform, combining adoption, feedback, and self-service capabilities for better in-app experiences.

Which one is the one for you?

If you're looking for a seasoned product that offers smooth experiences and better analytics, Appcues is the one for you.

If you need a tool that will be easier to set up and use, with a wider range of features and in-app elements, and is more affordable, UserGuiding is the one for you.