- Employees, customers or developers: which job is yours?
- What does each guidance tool aim at?
- Where do the other customer-side tools fit?
- What's my advice before you rebuild the first flow?
- Which tools made the list, and in what order?
- What happens to the tours you've already built?
- Frequently asked questions
Choose a Whatfix replacement by who you're guiding. Tools for employees sit on top of enterprise software you don't own, tools for customers live inside your own product, and code libraries let developers build tours themselves. Those groups barely overlap, so settle that question first and only compare options inside the group that matches your job.
Usetiful's site now says it's part of Fullstory's in-app guidance, and Spekit's now leads with AI sales enablement, so Spekit isn't a row. Both changes show how far the label digital adoption platform has stretched: it now covers three different jobs, and the first question is who's on the other end of the tour.
Employees, customers or developers: which job is yours?
The vendor pages show the split clearly. Apty and Userlane aim at enterprise and regulated-industry software, the kind your staff use every day but your company didn't build. Userflow and Chameleon aim at onboarding inside product-led SaaS, where the people being guided are your own customers. Driver.js is different again: it's a code library your developers install, not a platform with an editor.
If a tool you like has joined a larger company, check what that means for the standalone product before you plan around it: read its own news page and ask the vendor how the product will be sold.
For the wider field, my digital adoption platforms guide covers more names, and if you're comparing enterprise options the WalkMe alternatives page has a different set.
What does each guidance tool aim at?
| Tool | Free option | Group on this page |
|---|---|---|
| Apty | Not stated | Guiding employees |
| Chameleon | Free trial | Guiding customers |
| Driver.js | Free, open source | Code library for developers |
| Gainsight PX | Not stated | Guiding customers |
| Helppier | Not stated | Guiding customers |
| Inline Manual | Not stated | Guiding customers |
| Userflow | Free trial | Guiding customers |
| Userlane | Not stated | Guiding employees |
| Usetiful | Not stated | Guiding customers |
Where do the other customer-side tools fit?
Three more tools guide customers inside your own product. Gainsight PX is the large vendor of the group and calls itself a digital product experience platform. Inline Manual calls itself a digital adoption platform for use inside your product. Helppier says it builds interactive user guides and in-app messages.
If you need usage insight as well as tours, ask each vendor whether it reports on feature use or only on tour completion. The answer separates the wider platforms from the tour builders quickly, and it tells you whether you'll still need a separate analytics tool.
It also helps to list the three flows you rely on most today, such as first login, a key setup step and a compliance walkthrough, and ask each vendor to show those exact flows in a demo rather than its own sample.
Make an in-app guidance tool for employees or customers? Put it forward for this list.
What's my advice before you rebuild the first flow?
Rebuild one flow you already run, not a demo. Take the onboarding tour or walkthrough that matters most today, rebuild it in two shortlisted tools from the same group, and watch who on your team finds the editor easy. A tool your content or success team can update without filing a ticket will stay up to date.
- Confirm the tool can target the right people: roles in an internal app, or plan and lifecycle stage in your product.
- Check how a flow behaves when the page underneath changes, such as a new button label or layout.
- Ask how completion data is reported and where you can send it.
- For employee guidance, ask your IT or security team which browsers and extensions they allow.
Which tools made the list, and in what order?
Nine tools, in no particular order; quoted words are the vendor's own.
Apty
Best for: Onboarding and compliance work, on a platform built to "improve how work gets done".
Chameleon
Best for: Spotting friction before building a tour, as it "builds context on your product" first.
Driver.js
Best for: Adding tours and highlights with a library that's "MIT licensed and free for everyone".
Gainsight PX
Best for: Using product insight to "prevent churn and create personalised journeys".
Helppier
Best for: Non-developers building guides and tours "without bugging your dev team".
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Inline Manual
Best for: Interactive tips and tutorials that help users "reach their goals".
Userflow
Best for: Feature adoption and fixing friction "without waiting on engineering".
Userlane
Best for: Proving a fix worked, with the aim to "see where applications create friction, fix it in context and prove it worked".
Usetiful
Best for: Retention-focused onboarding with "product tours, smart tooltips and onboarding checklists".
What happens to the tours you've already built?
Plan on rebuilding them. Tours, tooltips and checklists are stored in each vendor's own format, and I wouldn't count on an export another tool can read. Make the move easier by listing every live flow before you start, noting who owns it and when it was last updated, and retiring anything nobody has opened in months.
Then move the flows that matter most first, starting with first-run onboarding and any walkthrough tied to a compliance requirement. Run old and new side by side for a short overlap so nobody loses help in the middle of a task, and switch the old snippet off only once the new flows are live. Your written list of flows doubles as the checklist for the move.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a product tour and a digital adoption platform?
A product tour is one guided walkthrough. A digital adoption platform adds checklists, tooltips, targeting and analytics, and some aim at software your staff use rather than your own product.
Do I need a developer to install in-app guidance?
Someone usually adds a snippet or extension once. After that, no-code tools let non-developers build flows. A code library needs a developer for each change.
Can one tool guide both staff and customers?
Some vendors cover both, but the tools here lean one way. If you need both, compare each group separately rather than forcing one tool to do two jobs.
Will in-app guidance slow my product down?
Any added script brings some load. Ask each vendor how its snippet loads, then test page speed with it switched on and off.
Why aren't WalkMe, Pendo or Appcues here?
They each have their own page on this site, so this list keeps to other names.
How long should a trial run?
Long enough to rebuild one real flow and see a few days of use. If nobody wants to edit the flow after a week, that tells you a lot.
