Can’t decide which Pendo alternative is right for your SaaS? Great product adoption software can increase digital adoption, optimize user satisfaction and boost retention rates. So, in this article, we’ve compared Pendo with our top seven best Pendo alternatives to help you make the most of this investment.
Why Pendo?
Pendo’s a leader in SaaS onboarding. It’s a comprehensive solution for user onboarding, analytics, and in-app user feedback. It’s great for large enterprises with big budgets who know they’ll use all of its many features – and from people in this space, we’ve heard good things.
Key features of Pendo:
- Qualitative and quantitative user feedback collection
- User segmentation and flow triggering, essential for great onboarding flow design
- Interactive product guides
- Product roadmap
Why should you choose Pendo?
- In-depth analytics
- Advanced user segmentation and targeting
- Includes a product roadmap, which is great for product managers
Why shouldn’t you choose Pendo?
- Limited onboarding elements, especially when compared to the range of UI patterns offered by dedicated onboarding software
- Limited customization options without coding
- Complex to use because of so many features
- Zero pricing transparency
Pricing
While there is a free price plan, it’s limited to 1000 MAUs (monthly active users) and does not include analytics or integrations. The three other levels (Team, Pro, and Enterprise) are price on request (reportedly upwards of $15,000 per year) and limit features. Only at Pro level do you have full access to user guiding, feedback and insights.
See our full post on Pendo pricing here.
What To Consider When Deciding On Pendo Alternatives
Consider your company’s needs and resources when comparing the different Pendo alternatives we’ve picked in this article:
- Pricing: define your budget and be wary of any hidden costs, especially around the number of MAUs.
- Ease of setup: if you don’t have a team of in-house developers, don’t pick software that requires professional setup.
- Size of your company: are you looking for a small business experience or do you require an enterprise-level platform? Keep in mind how many MAUs and team members will need access to the software and look at the limits of the Pendo alternatives.
- Required features:
- Extensive range of UI elements to show users around your app
- User segmentation & flow triggering for more effective onboarding
- Analytics to be able to assess and improve your user experience
- User feedback collection
- Language localization if you’re targeting users in multiple countries
- Collaboration so multiple team members can create flows and access analytics
- Integrations with the platforms you use
- Device compatibility: software accessible on mobile, tablet, etc.
- Availability for web and/or native apps, depending on your SaaS
- Global customer support
Pendo Alternatives #1: Nickelled
Key takeaway: Nickelled is one of the best Pendo alternative for smaller businesses and startups wanting advanced onboarding experiences with built-in analytics for their web apps.
Key features of Nickelled
- User segmentation and targeting
- Interactive onboarding experiences with extensive UI elements
- In-depth analytics
- Collaboration capabilities
- Cross-platform functionality and integration with Salesforce, etc.
- Localization, allowing you to successfully onboard users in multiple languages, like online translation platform Gengo does with Nickelled
- No coding required
- Zero download – browser based with no extension required
- Customization
- Dedicated user support
Why should you choose Nickelled?
- Code-free product tour creation in minutes
- Affordable pricing plans
- Extensive range of onboarding elements
- In-depth analytics and built-in user feedback surveys
- Unlimited collaboration on guide creation and analytics
Why shouldn’t you choose Nickelled?
- NPS tools currently unavailable
- Some coding knowledge required to fully customize your onboarding flows
- It’s just for web apps
Nickelled Pricing Compared to Pendo’s
Nickelled offers affordable and transparent pricing plans: the Starter plan starts at $99 per month (with discounts available for annual payment) for unlimited team members and MAUs. Plans are based on the number of onboarding flows you create: up to 10 for Starter, up to 25 for Growth, and up to 100 for Premium. Each level also includes a 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pendo Alternatives #2: WalkMe
Website: https://www.walkme.com
Key takeaway: The pioneer in app walkthroughs, WalkMe offers powerful product tours for large enterprises (including Microsoft and PayPal) with the capacity (in budget, team, and time) to set them up.
Key features:
- Product walkthroughs
- Multiple languages
- In-depth analytics
- User segmentation
WalkMe Pros
- Effective product walkthroughs
- Advanced analytics on user experience
- Works with most software packages
- Extensive support from a global support team
WalkMe Cons
- Requires professional setup
- Very expensive
- Limited onboarding patterns: at Nickelled, we believe a range of UI patterns is the best way to create an engaging and effective onboarding experience
- Steep learning curve
Pricing
WalkMe has a two-tier model. Their basic plan is limited to 3 product walkthroughs with 5 steps in each; 300 MAUs, and basic support. Whereas, their custom pricing plan has unlimited access to all of their features and reportedly costs between $9,000 – $50,000 per year.
Read more about WalkMe pricing in our overview piece here.
Pendo Alternatives #3: Appcues
Website: https://www.appcues.com
Key takeaway: Appcues is a well-established Pendo alternative offering a range of onboarding UI patterns, though still at a price point geared towards larger companies.
Appcues Key features:
- Interactive onboarding experiences
- Integrations across popular software (however, some of the most important are on premium price plans only, e.g. Salesforce, Zendesk, and Slack)
- User segmentation and flow targeting
Pros
- Offers a wide range of onboarding patterns, unlike Pendo and WalkMe
- In-depth reporting and analytics
- Strong integration suite
Cons
- MAU-based pricing makes it expensive for businesses with users in the thousands.
- Limited in-app styling (CSS required)
- Requires setup by developers
Pricing
AppCues has three pricing tiers with increasing costs based on the number of MAUs. Essentials starts at $249 per month (paid annually) for 2,500 MAUs and limited features (3 team member licenses, up to 5 user segments, limited customization options etc.). The Growth plan, which starts at $879 per month for 2,500 MAUs, gives greater access to features, while Enterprise pricing gives full flexibility and access to the features required. Each price plan has a free trial.
Pendo Alternatives #4: Userpilot
Website: https://www.userpilot.com
Key takeaway: Userpilot combines onboarding and user feedback in one tool designed for SaaS businesses, although it’s not the cheapest Pendo alternative.
Key features:
- Advanced onboarding flows
- In-app user feedback collection
- Segmentation and targeting
- Customization
Pros
- Contextual onboarding triggered by user behavior
- Fully interactive walkthroughs and product torus
- Easy installation with no coding required
Cons
- Limited analytics compared to other Pendo alternatives
- Not great for employee onboarding through third-party apps such as Salesforce or Hubspot
- MAU-based pricing is not ideal for apps with thousands of users.
Pricing
Userpilot’s two-tier pricing model is a similar cost to Appcues. Both plans start with 2,500 MAUs and the price scales up with more users. Prices start at $249 per month for the Growth plan and $749 per month for the Enterprise plan, and the Growth plan is one of the best Pendo alternatives for offering full access to most features. The Growth plan’s main limits are in a maximum number of team members for collaboration (20) and in less access to customer support.
Pendo Alternatives #5: Whatfix
Website: https://www.whatfix.com
Key takeaway: Whatfix offers comprehensive and personalized user onboarding experiences designed to improve product adoption. While it’s popular with enterprises, its limited analytics and complex interface mean it’s not the best Pendo alternative.
Key features:
- Compatible across devices and browsers
- Smart segmentation and targeting
- User tracking
- Great customization
Pros
- Highly customizable user onboarding experiences
- No coding required for setup — although you’ll still need to download a browser extension
- Automated multi-format content creation
Cons
- Editor reportedly prone to bugs and error
- Limited analytics, some integrations require help from the Whatfix support team
Pricing
Whatfix does not display a transparent pricing strategy, requiring businesses to contact them for custom enterprise pricing. While they do offer a free trial, it’s not instant or self-service.
Pendo Alternatives #6: GainsightPX
Website: https://www.gainsight.com
Key takeaway: GainsightPX is a powerful analytics tool and product engagement platform with a focus on customer success. Best for large enterprises who already use Gainsight’s other tools.
Key features:
- In-depth analytics
- User surveys and product feedback
- In-app communication and engagement
Pros
- Collecting and analyzing user feedback
- Customizable product tours
- In-app communication with users
Cons
- Limited range of user onboarding elements
- Has to be installed via Salesforce
Pricing
This tool offers basic, professional, and premier plans based on the number of features but all pricing is on request.
Pendo Alternatives #7: UserGuiding
Website: https://www.userguiding.com
Key takeaway: UserGuiding is an easy to use, no-code onboarding software with a range of UI elements. It’s a popular and budget-friendly Pendo alternative for smaller businesses and startups, however, features are limited on the most affordable price plans.
Key features:
- User guides with a range of onboarding elements
- Customization on the highest price plan
- Integrations
- NPS surveys
Pros
- Interactive, segmented, and targeted onboarding experiences
- Affordable pricing plans
Cons
- Basic analytics
- Features and MAUs capped on the most budget-friendly price plans
Pricing
UserGuiding’s three-tier plan is based on the number of MAUs, starting at $82 per month paid annually for 2,500 users, making it the most affordable Pendo alternative on the market.
Seven alternatives, but which is right for your SaaS?
Your product adoption software needs depend entirely on your business. Large enterprises with big budgets and a dedicated team of developers may well find that Pendo is the ideal option for them. And honestly, if you’re weighing Pendo against alternatives such as Walkme and Appcues and you can afford Pendo, we’d suggest it’s a great option.
Whereas, smaller companies who want affordable advanced onboarding and analytics solutions that are easy to install will find a Pendo alternative like Nickelled is a much better fit.