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You need more than just product tours to provide a practical onboarding experience.
Here's a quick list of what you do need:
- Interactive user guides,
- In-app messages and announcements,
- Advanced analytics (or the necessary integrations),
- Resource centers and help centers,
- User satisfaction surveys (such as NPS),
- And compatibility with mobile devices.
So, how many of those does Bytes Route Provide?
One.
Only one. A traditional user onboarding process with tooltips, that's all.
That's why I figured I'm not the only one who needs a better alternative.
Right after I talk about my experience with Bytes Route, I will list its best alternatives and go through each tool.
So let's get started with:
What is Bytes Route?
Bytes Route is a tool by Caphyon which helps you create interactive tutorials.
Even though it places itself as a customer onboarding tool, it's far from complete.
That's because the tool has only one feature: creating onboarding product tours.
More precisely, the tool captures your clicks and lets you add descriptions to your steps.
This might seem like enough for many people, but did you know that there are tools that do the same thing for a lower price and a better design?
Bytes Route is not a bad tool. It's just not good enough to be the first choice.
Bytes Route Pricing
- Free Plan available for one seat and three guides
- Startup Plan: $19/month/team, two months for free if paid annually
- Growth Plan: $59/month/team, two months for free if paid annually
Bytes Route Reviews
👍 Pros:
“I like the fact that Bytes Routes is easy to setup and use. You can create your first tour and have it running in a matter of minutes.”
👎 Cons:
“Bytes Route could still use some features that the competitors have, like audio and/or images to add in the tour steps.”
Why you need a Bytes Route Alternative
1- It has only one feature
Bytes Route might help you create a faster employee onboarding flow, but it won't provide you a complete onboarding service, and some tools do for a better price.
If you are planning to use this tool only because it's free, take into account that the free version has only so much to offer, and isn't effective at all.
2- It doesn't have any integrations
Bytes Route won't reduce your onboarding time since you will have to swap between other tools to keep the experience of users top-notch, which might even end up harming your customer conversion rate.
3- It doesn't have a resource center
If you have a problem with the tool and prefer self-serve support, you will be disappointed, since Bytes Route only provides written documents as demos.
Top Bytes Route Alternatives
Since the tool is not enough alone, here are the top six alternatives to Bytes Route:
- UserGuiding
- Intercom
- Userlane
- Spekit
- Scribe
- Shepherd.js
I'll go over each tool, compare it to Bytes Route, and talk about which cases you should prefer them in. So, without further ado, let’s start with our first product:
1- UserGuiding – No-code Interactive User Onboarding
UserGuiding is a complete digital adoption platform that will actually help you increase your customer retention rates.
UserGuiding does everything that Bytes Route doesn't, if not more than that.
You can create customer satisfaction surveys, segments for different audiences, customize all the content as you wish, and do all these without a single line of coding.
Unlike other similar tools, UserGuiding doesn't have a complex Chrome extension. You can get going right after downloading the extension and create guides on your website within a matter of minutes.
And if you need more analytic data, you can use the integration with Google Analytics to keep all your rates in the same place.
UserGuiding Pricing
- 14-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Basic Plan: $89/month when billed annually for up to 2500 MAU
- Professional Plan: $389/month when billed annually for up to 20000 MAU with unlimited guides
- Custom Quotation Available for Larger Companies
UserGuiding Reviews
👍 Pros:
“We love the Predefined templates and texts that we could already publish without changing a thing. Also the undying help from the Support team and how they give insights into what works best and share best practices.”
👎 Cons:
“Frankly, we have never faced such a problem rather than some technical points. Even if, it had been a few days to correct it. They have a great and focused customer success team.”
UserGuiding vs. Bytes Route
2- Intercom
Intercom is a customer communications platform that is widely known and used.
Intercom has millions of users, and it's definitely good at providing email tracker and action-triggered automation services.
Many people don't know that Intercom has a product tours add-on as well, mostly because of the unbelievably high price.
In other words, you could use Intercom to guide end-users within the app rather than adopting another tool. This could save you time and effort, but it won't save you money.
Intercom Pricing
If you want to use Intercom with Product Tours add-on:
- Start Plan: $74/month for Intercom subscription (2 seats) plus $199/month for Product Tours add-on = $273/month Total
- Support Package: Custom quote on request
Intercom Reviews
👍 Pros:
“I feel like it provides a very user-friendly experience for both the customer support team and the customers. I particularly like the SLA feature as it allows us to escalate conversations based on importance.”
👎 Cons:
“Its price. Not all of my clients can afford it. But all of my clients want the whole enchilada (prod tours, chats, emails, etc). Only a few can afford to invest.”
3- Userlane
Userlane is an employee training tool that helps you maximize employee retention.
Userlane isn't much different from Bytes Route.
The tool captures your on-screen activity, turning it into a guide that you can share through a link.
What makes Userlane better than Bytes Route is that Userlane is a bit more comprehensive since it lets you create checklists and personalized segments.
Those features would be enough to onboard a certain amount of employees. It certainly won't satisfy your premium users, though.
Userlane Pricing
Userlane doesn't have fixed price plans. However, you can contact their sales team to get a custom quotation.
Userlane Reviews
👍 Pros:
“At least at the start, we had a really responsive and helpful Customer Success person. Their team has also done a good job reaching out to us for feedback.”
👎 Cons:
“We don't have a huge number of users, and it's difficult to filter out internal users, which makes interpreting the usage analytics rather difficult.”
4- Spekit
Spekit is an online training and employee onboarding tool that brings together all the technical resources a new employee needs.
Spekit is a comprehensive tool that has many features, including resource centers and in-app messages, just like UserGuiding.
But unlike UserGuiding, Spekit was built to onboard employees, therefore, focuses on single users more than general user personas.
Spekit would be a great choice if you rarely onboard new employees, but it sure will become overpriced if you have more than 100 users per month since the tool charges you per user.
Spekit Pricing
- Spekit Basics: $10/user/month
- Spekit Premium: $15/user/month
Spekit Reviews
👍 Pros:
“I like the versatility of this product. We were originally implementing this product for a Salesforce instance but had to change paths and the product still works great in the new software.”
👎 Cons:
“Sometimes when you hover, I get stuck looking at the spek and need to refresh the page for it to go away. That can be annoying when that platform is running slowly to begin with and you're trying to navigate purposefully.”
5- Scribe
Scribe, also known as Scribehow, is a cloud-based product walkthrough software that helps you create guides without coding.
Scribe is just like Bytes Route and Userlane: it has one single feature and relies on it.
At least Scribe actually does a good job.
The tool is inarguably easy to use and get used to. You don't even have to embed a JavaScript code to your website, just record, and share.
But, just like any other dream that is not perfect, this simplicity comes with an unreasonable price.
Scribe Pricing
- Basic Plan: Free, includes individual projects only
- Pro Plan: $29/month per user, includes branded guides
- Enterprise Plan: Custom quotation with knowledge base integration
Scribe Reviews
👍 Pros:
“I can start recording in Chrome or on my desktop, perform the actions I need to capture, and press stop. I can easily go back and edit the steps, remove steps and add additional info. ”
👎 Cons:
“I wish the desktop version of Scribe were better at "auto-capturing" what you're doing. For example, instead of "Click this menu item," I'd love it if it said to choose "Save New Live Set."
6- Shepherd.js
Shepherd is an open-source library that helps you create linear interactive product walkthroughs.
Unlike other common resources, Shepherd.js can be customized to some extent, and it actually looks good on almost any website.
Although you need to know how to code to benefit from Shepherd, it will lower your development costs and time. So if you have a developer available for the job, you could get the product tour without spending a dime.
And unlike Bytes Route - free actually means ”100% free” here.
Shepherd.js Pricing
Shepherd.js is open-source and completely free to use!
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should use Bytes Route?
Almost anyone who needs to train someone can use Bytes Route – product managers, sales representatives, teachers, HR managers,
How much does Bytes Route cost?
Bytes Route is free to use for simple projects with up to 3 guides. However, if you need more guides and more features, you would have to pay between $10-15 per team.
What are the top alternatives to Bytes Route?
UserGuiding is much better and as affordable as Bytes Route. Userlane and Scribe are two tools that are really similar to them but are better in some ways. Intercom’s product tours add-on is also another option if you already use Intercom for other purposes.
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