Searching for Pendo competitors?
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Our in-depth guide covers the 10 best Pendo competitors available in the market. We examine their features, discuss their strengths and limitations, and compare prices.
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A quick overview of Pendo’s features and use cases
Pendo is a digital adoption platform (DAP) that is popular among enterprise-level SaaS organizations. Best known for its granular analytics capabilities, Pendo also offers features for collecting user feedback and creating onboarding experiences.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of its features:
- Pendo Guides are UI patterns that you can use to communicate with users inside the product and drive engagement for more effective onboarding.
- Pendo enables you to collect customer feedback via Polls or its standalone module, Pendo Feedback. The latter is designed to help product and customer success teams collect feature requests. With Pendo, you get a dedicated NPS survey dashboard for easy customer sentiment analysis.
- Pendo offers advanced analytics features that allow you to track product usage data and analyze in-app user behavior in great detail. The features include user funnel and path analysis, retention analysis, and custom reports. All these come with powerful filters, you can sort by web sessions, device type, plan, last seen, etc.
- Pendo Roadmaps allows teams to collaborate seamlessly on product initiatives, manage backlogs, track progress, and monitor the business impact of backlog items.
- Pendo AI features include AI-generated and personalized in-app guides, AI-powered qualitative feedback analysis, workflow suggestions to optimize the user journey, and an AI chatbot for on-demand customer support.
- Pendo’s Session Replay feature lets you monitor how users behave inside your app. You get unlimited replay capture to track and analyze qualitative data.
Reasons to look for Pendo competitors
Here are some areas Pendo falls short:
Product analytics features are lacking
The product analytics features that Pendo offers have been a gold standard for a long time. However, many other analytics tools, notably Userpilot, have managed to catch up with it and even outperform Pendo.
For example, Pendo lacks real-time data updates, which limits its usefulness. As user analytics data is displayed with a 1-hour delay, you’re not able to act on the events as they happen. For instance, you aren’t able to instantly trigger a survey or an in-app guide in response to in-app user behavior.
Expensive and complex pricing
Pendo’s pricing strategy is not exactly straightforward, and it’s not a cheap product. All paid plans have custom pricing, and you need to get in touch with their team to get a quote.
Pendo does offer a free plan, but its usage limits are capped to the point where it works only for small businesses. This plan also doesn’t include certain features. For example, experiments are only available in the highest plan, Ultimate.
If you’re on the Base plan, you’ll have to pay extra for features like Pendo Feedback and Session Replay, as they’re not included in the pricing. Moreover, all paid plans include only one third-party integration, meaning you have to pay to connect Pendo with more tools in your tech stack.
Limited UI patterns for user onboarding
Pendo offers only 4 UI patterns for building onboarding flows. These are Lightbox (pop-up window), Banner, Tooltip, and Polls.
The offering doesn’t look too impressive in comparison with other digital adoption platforms.
While Pendo’s Visual Designer Studio limits teams’ dependence on developers and was a massive step forward when first introduced, it offers fairly limited customization options.
To make the in-app guides look and feel like an integral part of the UI, Pendo users still need to write a bit of code.
Also, you don’t get the option to create standalone checklists to nudge users to activation events. You can only implement checklists as part of the in-app resource center.
Steep learning curve for non-technical teams
As a fairly complex product, Pendo comes with a steep learning curve.
G2 reviewers regularly mention that the product is hard to set up and its UI isn’t very intuitive, which makes it super easy to get lost if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.
10 Top Pendo alternatives for SaaS companies
Now that we know what Pendo is, its main features, and some weaknesses, let’s look at some Pendo competitors that you may consider for your SaaS product.
1. Userpilot – the best overall Pendo competitor
Userpilot is a comprehensive product growth platform and the closest Pendo alternative in terms of features and use cases.
Just like Pendo, Userpilot offers a robust analytics layer and different visualizations, such as cohort tables, paths, trends, funnels, and dashboards. Also, Userpilot is the only other platform apart from Pendo that offers auto-capture (recording user actions such as clicks, form submissions, and text inputs by default, without manual tagging).
However, Userpilot’s autocapture functionality is much more intuitive and actionable than Pendo. The former stores labeled and raw events separately, while the latter bundles them together after 36 hours, making it difficult to sort.
Also, with Pendo, the Discoverability of important automatically captured features is poor. For instance, you can’t search by specificity, such as “clicked on __” or “page.” However, Userpilot lets you easily filter events by interaction types, CSS selectors, and pages.
Additionally, Userpilot offers event-based triggering, meaning you can trigger in-app flows and guides based on real-time user behavior and actions.
For instance, you can trigger a survey after a user engages with a new feature. It can help you understand how users feel about the said feature and whether it meets their needs.
That’s a major advantage over Pendo, which doesn’t support event-based triggers.
Plus, with Userpilot, you get the user profiles feature, which can be used to perform a very granular level analysis of each user (or account), including the flows and surveys they’ve engaged with. You can also see details about the events that occurred the most with a user and the number of sessions. These details are particularly useful for account-based marketing.
When it comes to UI patterns, Userpilot offers more variety than Pendo. You can choose from modals, hotspots, driven actions, banners, and tooltips to design in-app experiences. With the intuitive WYSIWYG editor, these elements become more customizable too. You can change the font size and color, add a background color, and even edit the level of backdrop needed.
You even get pre-built templates for each pattern, meaning you can avoid designing them from scratch. While Pendo also offers templates, there isn’t much variety. For instance, you get only one template for tooltips.
Userpilot also lets you create flawless onboarding checklists to guide users through key activation steps. Unlike Pendo, you have the option to create independent checklists or make them a part of any in-app flow. Plus, you get more customization options, such as modifying tasks, adding progress bars, and crossing over completed tasks.
When it comes to building an in-app resource center, Userpilot’s offerings are similar to those of Pendo’s. You can add product updates, in-app guides, and video tutorials. It’s also possible to create targeted modules for different user segments.
Userpilot even lets you link directly to your existing knowledge base. With Pendo, it’s only possible via integrations. Another area where the former stands out is the ability to localize the resource center using auto-translation or manual uploads.
Collecting user feedback is also a breeze on Userpilot with 30+ in-app survey templates. You can choose from CES, CSAT, and NPS surveys and even use branching logic to modify the flow of questions based on user responses. Userpilot also enables you to analyze qualitative responses, segment users based on their answers, and trigger personalized in-app flows.
In contrast, Pendo’s survey features are limited to basic templates that come as a part of in-app guides. The platform does compensate for this with other feedback features, such as roadmaps.
In terms of NPS survey features, Pendo and Userpilot are fairly similar. Both the survey templates and dashboard are an industry standard. However, Userpilot offers tags, which are labels you can create and optionally apply to individual NPS survey responses to filter and share responses and perform trend analysis.
Despite these impressive features, Userpilot does have a few limitations. It doesn’t support mobile apps for now, and it’s not suitable for employee-focused training options. Pendo works for both web and mobile apps.
Here’s a quick overview of how Pendo and Userpilot compare:
It’s no surprise that numerous businesses prefer to use Userpilot over Pendo due to its bunch of advantages.
Userpilot pricing
In the Pendo vs. Userpilot comparison, Userpilot offers more competitive pricing.
The lowest plan, Starter, is available from $249/month, and it offers higher usage limits and access to more features. For larger organizations, there are two more plans, Growth and Enterprise.
Looking at Pendo Competitors for Better Product Analytics? Try Userpilot!
2. Appcues – digital adoption platform alternative for mobile apps
If you’re looking for a Pendo competitor that works on both mobile and web apps, Appcues could be one.
When it comes to in-app engagement features, Appcues offers more functionalities than Pendo.
Apart from the UI patterns Pendo offers (which are tooltips, modals, hotspots, and banners), Appcues also allows its users to create slideouts.
In terms of user feedback, Appcues doesn’t offer much and only supports NPS surveys.
Appcues analytics are no match for Pendo either. You can use it to track events, set custom goals, and monitor how your flows perform, but you can’t create product analytics reports and visualizations such as paths or funnels. There are also segmentation and experimentation features, but that’s it.
You can make up for it by leveraging integrations with 3rd party tools, but that’s a bit of an extra hassle.
Appcues pricing
Appcues offers more competitive pricing than Pendo. There are three plans:
- Essentials – starting from $249/month
- Growth – starting from $879/month
- Enterprise – custom pricing
Before committing to any of the plans, check their usage caps, as they seem a tad limiting. All plans come with a 14-day free trial.
3. Chameleon – cheaper alternative with better user segmentation
Chameleon’s unique selling point is the high level of customization that you can apply to the in-app experiences. The catch is that such customization does require coding.
What’s more, Chameleon offers a decent number of UI patterns. There are hotspots, beacons, and labels, which you can sequence into Tours. You also get modals, banners, embedded cards, and tooltips. The good thing is that these patterns are included in all plans.
There is also a newly-released Helpbar, which is basically a search bar that allows users to find resources. There are also launchers, which are in-app widgets that you can leverage for in-app support. The launcher is the only way to trigger checklists.
Where Chameleon really stands out is user segmentation. Basically, you can use any kind of data from all available sources, such as Heap or Mixpanel, to create segments for more accurate analysis and targeting.
While Chameleon’s user behavior analytics are fairly basic, it does track data in real-time, which means you can respond to events as they happen.
Chameleon pricing
There are 3 Chameleon pricing plans available along with the Helpbar plan (which is free):
- Startup – from $279/month
- Growth – from $1,500/month
- Enterprise – custom pricing
Please note, however, that the pricing is based on usage. If you exceed the number of MTUs, you will be charged extra, even if you’re on a lower plan.
4. UserGuiding – affordable Pendo competitor for startups
UserGuiding is the most affordable adoption platform which makes it an excellent Pendo alternative for early-stage companies.
You get all standard features, such as no-code product tours, in-app resource centers, and onboarding checklists. Also, you can create different types of microsurveys to collect user feedback.
However, its analytics capabilities are limited to tracking the performance of in-app content, so forget about funnels, trend analysis, custom events, feature tagging, or heatmaps.
UserGuiding pricing
For what you’re getting, UserGuiding is not expensive at all. It offers 3 pricing plans:
- Basic – from $69/month
- Professional – from $199/month
- Corporate – Custom pricing
All plans include a 14-day free trial. Pricing is based on the number of MAUs, though.
5. Whatfix – best Pendo competitor for employee onboarding
Whatfix is another DAP in the roundup. Unlike Userpilot, Appcues, and Chameleon, it’s more suitable for employee onboarding, so if that’s what you’re after, it’s a worthy Pendo competitor.
You can easily create in-app onboarding experiences without any coding as long as you’re not too fussed about customization. To give it a native look, you will need to use CSS, though.
In terms of UI patterns, both Pendo and Whatfix offer limited variety compared to other digital adoption platforms. You can create standalone checklists, though, and there’s a resource center and knowledge repository functionality as well.
User feedback features are restricted to NPS surveys only. Like Pendo, Whatfix offers advanced analytics features like funnels, trends, user journey tracking, and cohort analysis on all plans. However, the latter lacks session replays and AI-based insights.
Whatfix pricing
Whatfix’s pricing structure is fairly complex. There are plans for Web, Desktop, Mobile, and Enterprise solutions; within them, you can find Standard and Premium plans.
Unfortunately, no pricing information is available on the website, but users report paying over $2k/month.
6. WalkMe – product experience platform for employees and customers
WalkMe is an enterprise-level product experience platform.
If you’re after a tool to support a digital transformation project, WalkMe is a solid Pendo alternative.
What’s more, WalkMe is also SCORM and xAPI compliant, so you can expand its functionality by integrating it with your learning management system.
The analytics features are pretty robust, too. They allow you to track user in-app behavior in real-time—every click, page view, key press, form submission, or element selection. You can also watch user interactions with the product with Session Playbacks.
The main downside of WalkMe, when compared with Pendo, is that it is more complex to set up and use. It requires a fair bit of coding.
If you’re looking for a DAP with robust user engagement and native analytics features, WalkMe can be a good fit only if your team members have a fair bit of technical knowledge. Pendo would be better suited for non-technical users.
WalkMe pricing
WalkMe offers no information about the pricing of its two plans, WalkMe for employee experience and WalkMe for customer experience. However, the plans are believed to be in the same pricing range as Pendo’s, with customers paying $9,000-$50,000 a year.
Looking at Pendo Competitors for Driving Your Product Experience? Try Userpilot!
7. Userlane – user onboarding software for non-tech teams
Userlane is a no-code product adoption solution that offers all the features you need to design in-app onboarding experiences for your customers and employees alike.
Besides creating targeted interactive in-app flows called ‘lanes’, you can also record tutorials and share them with your users.
Overall, its features may not be as advanced as Pendo’s, but it comes with an easier and more intuitive UI and it’s easier to set up.
Userlane pricing
This platform offers only custom pricing plans tailored to the needs of different organizations based on the number of users, features, and support packages.
8. Gainsight PX – best Pendo competitor for customer success teams
Gainsight PX offers all the standard features you’d expect from a product experience platform. These include interactive walkthroughs, checklists, banners, in-app notifications, and knowledge centers.
In-app feedback capabilities include CES, CSAT, NPS, and other microsurveys.
What sets Gainsight PX apart are its advanced user analytics features. Besides monitoring feature usage and funnel conversions, you can also map user paths and track customer health scores. That makes it particularly suitable for customer success teams looking to improve retention and reduce churn.
Like Pendo, Gainsight PX uses AI to generate actionable insights from user behavior data. However, according to its users, one of Gainsight’s downsides is its learning curve. It’s a fairly complex product, and its UI is not always intuitive.
Gainsight PX pricing
Gainsight pricing is not publicly available, so you have to request a custom quote. Users report paying $500+ a month.
9. Mixpanel – best Pendo competitor for product analytics
Mixpanel is not a product growth tool but a dedicated product analytics platform.
While it doesn’t offer any feedback or engagement features, its analytics are superior to those of Pendo. Hence, it’s a better alternative if you’re looking for a tool for granular product insights.
Mixpanel’s analytics features include user segmentation, flows, custom events and dashboards, and funnel and retention analysis, which you can also find in Pendo.
In addition, Mixpanel offers impact analysis and real-time reporting.
What’s more, you can analyze the data in more detail with breakdowns. For example, in funnel analysis, you can compare the conversion rates of different products sharing the same funnel or different user segments, which is not possible in Pendo.
Mixpanel pricing
Mixpanel offers transparent pricing based on 3 plans:
- Free
- Growth – from $24/month
- Enterprise – custom pricing
Of course, if you go down the Mixpanel path, you need to factor in the cost of an engagement tool.
10. Google Analytics – Free Pendo analytics alternative software
Google Analytics doesn’t require introductions, right? Well, not quite. Many people associate it with web analytics without realizing that GA4 allows you to track events inside digital products.
What features does GA offer?
For starters, you can track user activity and events in real-time without writing a single line of code. In contrast to GA, Pendo logs user activity data with a 1-hour delay.
You also have the option to set up and analyze conversion funnels, generate audience, acquisition, and behavior reports, and set custom goals. While Pendo has many of these features, like funnel analysis and goal tracking, GA offers these for free.
Like Pendo, GA lets you set up custom dashboards to track analytics reports, charts, and metrics that matter the most to you. With GA, you can also choose between standard and real-time widgets, depending on the data and events you want to track.
Google Analytics pricing
Google Analytics is the only tool in the article that is almost completely free to use.
Why almost? There’s a paid plan through Analytics 360 that gives you access to advanced features like attribution modeling and costs $50,000 a month as reported by some users.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for Pendo competitors, you’ll be spoilt for choice. While some platforms offer more extensive UI patterns and user engagement features, others stand out due to user segmentation capabilities.
Then, there are platforms with basic engagement and analytics features that offer good value for money. It’s up to you to select the right Pendo alternative based on your team’s goals and needs.
If you’re looking for an all-around Pendo alternative that excels in both user engagement and analytics, Userpilot is a smart choice. Book a demo today to see how Userpilot can help you streamline user onboarding, drive product adoption, create personalized user journeys, and more.
Looking at Pendo Competitors to Drive User Engagement? Try Userpilot!
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