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Which Appcues Alternatives Should You Try in 2022?

In this article, I will discuss some alternatives to Appcues, why you should try those out, and which one would be most suitable for your pricing range.
Alternatives mentioned in this article will be Pendo, Userpilot, WalkMe, and Userguiding. I will mainly give insights regarding what they provide and how much money they provide it for.

Why Should You Look For A Appcues Alternative?

Appcues is a reliable tool. It has a 4.8 out of 5 in Capterra and a 4.7 out of 5 in G2. However, high scores do not always mean that the product in your hands is perfect. It might have some critical shortcomings or might not provide certain features you desperately need.

Although Appcues has good ratings, the customer base talks about how random crashes disrupt their workflow. It is also common to have problems since Appcues does not provide many export options for you to utilize.

There are also complaints regarding how the user interface provided by the Appcues can be lacking. These complaints are made not only from an interface standpoint but also regarding how features are implemented. These sorts of problems might make you reconsider using Appcues.

Here are some of the cons Appcues has:

  • Difficult to use a checklist
  • Minor bugs that might force you to restart Appcues
  • Hard to inspect surveys

Pendo

Pendo is a software tool designed to improve the value you and your customers get from your services. Pendo achieves this by increasing your user engagement and user adoption.

Pendo was founded by Todd Olson, Erik Troan, and Rahul Jain in 2013. Pendo is currently based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. All of the founders of Pendo were product managers, allowing Pendo to gain an edge over its competitors in this matter.

Pendo has a 4.5 out of 5 in G2 and Capterra. These ratings solidify that Pendo is one of the most solid tools in the field.

However, before checking out Pendo’s features, I recommend you check out integrations for Pendo since they are almost as important as its features.

  • BigQuery
  • Domo
  • Intercom
  • Looker
  • Slack

You can always check out the integrations page of Pendo for more information regarding which integrations are provided by Pendo.

1. Segmenting Your Users

One of the most vital features of Pendo is how it enables you to group your users according to your liking. You can create segmentation options to your liking. If you want to retain your existing users by increasing your user activation rate, you can group your users accordingly.

Segmenting your users through Pendo will enable you to track which users have high LTV, allowing you to focus your efforts on a specified base. These options are a great way to increase the efficiency with you do your marketing.

Pendo even connects to your marketing campaigns, saving you from the hassle of changing your marketing options every time your user segmenting changes.
Pendo also provides a smooth interface to utilize while deciding on your segmenting options. Having all of the possible grouping options right under your hand is a great way to make comparisons and notice any changes or marketing possibilities.

From Pendo Segmenting Page

2. In-app Messages

Segmenting your users do not only allow you to track their behaviors. In addition to conventional ways of SaaS marketing like Email campaigns, Pendo enables you to connect to your users through in-app messages.

These in-app messages are not only sendable through an app but also your website. By adding a chatbox to your website, you will increase the potential platforms through which you will reach your customer base. This method will add an option to advertise your product and create a foundation for your customers to get help for their existing problems.

In addition to providing a chatbox, you can also utilize certain notification methods to make your users aware of the existing discounts or how they can rate your product in the AppStore. These methods will enable you to use your customer base in the most efficient way. 

From Pendo In-app Messaging Page

3. Direct Your Customers to What They Need Most

Segmenting your users not only allows you to track your most profitable users. You can also follow the customers’ behavior and direct them to what they need the most. Let that be cheaper packages or more features.
This approach is achieved by tracking their behavior while using your website and any similar website. By measuring your customers’ actions on the website and analyzing their spending for your software, you will be able to suggest which kind of software would be most suitable for them.

This is something that is often overlooked in SaaS marketing. Although customers might have a general outlook regarding what they want, they often do not know what they need and what would be best. Combining your customers’ needs with profitability is one of the foundations of marketing.

From Pendo Insights Page

Pricing

Pendo offers four different packages called Free, Team, Pro, and the Enterprise. All of their pricing changes according to your website and its needs. Thus, there is no pricing information on the Pendo website.

From Pendo Pricing Web Page

Userpilot

Userpilot is a cloud-based software that aims to increase the efficiency you deal with your customers. Userpilot offers multiple ways to enrich your user adaption rates. Although it is a relatively newer company, founded in 2018, the user reviews speak highly of Userpilot. Userpilot currently has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 in G2 and 4.6 out of 5 in Capterra.

Thabet Gharabeh and Yazan Sehwail founded Userpilot. Both of them are Palestinian nationals living in the USA. Userpilot is currently based in San Francisco Bay Area, the USA.

Userpilot has many features that might help you to consider it over Appcues.

Before talking about features Userpilot provides for its customers, I want to share a shortlist of the integrations Userpilot has:

  • Kissmetrics
  • Heap
  • Amplitude
  • Intercom
  • Segment

If you want to learn more about Userpilot integrations, you can always check their integrations web page.

1. Create Tasks

One of the critical aspects of user interactions for SaaS is how it enables you to create tasks for your users to complete. By directing your users to complete certain tasks, like subscribing to a certain page or following your Twitter account, you will be able to increase a certain action you would like to be completed.
This method can allow you to direct your users to use a certain feature, check out your other websites and even give you a review. These tasks offer unlimited opportunities for you to use your customer base to increase your customer reach.

From Userpilot

2. Segmenting your users… In a different way

All of the software tools mentioned in this article have one thing in common. That is how they allow you to segment your users. However, Userpilot goes one step forward in this regard. Userpilot allows you to segment your users in very authentic ways.
This feature can range from segmenting your users according to which language your users prefer to simply classify which sections of your website they prefer to visit most often. Albeit simple, the segmentation provided by Userpilot will enable you to make the most out of what you have.
These options provided by the UserPilot are especially useful for bigger or more widely known companies that have a following worldwide. In this way, you will be able to track in which sections of the world your product is more prominent.

From Userpilot

3. Adjust Elements

Userpilot allows you to keep track of your website’s elements and where they land on your web page. By utilizing a heatmap provided by the Userpilot, you will be able to see how well a certain feature is doing in your compared to the other ones.
Utilizing the heatmap provided by the Userpilot will enable you to determine which sections of your websites are more interesting to your customers. You can, in turn, use this to your advantage by putting sections you would like to get more spotlight.
Userpilot also provides its users with a simplified interface tracking system that warns you if two different segments of your website coincide while editing.

From the Userpilot editing page

Pricing

Userpilot offers two distinct packages for its users. The first one is titled Growth, which starts from 249 USD every month. The other is called the Enterprise plan. This plan starts from 749 United States Dollars every month.

From Userpilot Pricing Page

WalkMe

WalkMe identifies as a tool to increase the user adoption rates of your customers. It was founded in 2011 by Dan Adika, Rafael Sweary, Eyal Cohen, and Yuval Shalom Ozanna. WalkMe’s headquarter is in San Francisco, U.S.
Although WalkMe provides its users with many features, it markets itself as a tool to increase your user adoption rates. This focus makes WalkMe especially useful for relatively new companies or companies with high user churn rates.

Before talking about the features, Walkme has, I want to give you a piece of brief information regarding some of the integrations it has. Here is a shortlist of them: 

  • Segment
  • Slack
  • LiveAgent
  • Purechat

You can learn more about integrations provided by Walkme by simply visiting their integrations web page. However, most of the integrations Walkme has are mainly about customer relations. 

1. Tutorials

One of the most important factors, when a new user tries out your product is how complicated your product looks at first glance. Although you might not be able to solve this problem at its core all the time, you can always make the customer journey easier for your users.
WalkMe provides you with the right tools to create tutorials for your customers to try out. These tutorials can include videos, pictures, and notifications.
You can also combine how your tutorials will be presented with segmenting. If the user you are dealing with is an existing user or has reviewed some articles regarding a certain topic, you can opt to skip some tutorials. This feature allows you to create more personalized interaction options.
One of the most critical aspects of these tutorials is how they allow the use of “Tip ballons” that draw your users’ attention without putting your tutorials right up to their faces. This method also allows your users to ignore your tutorials if they like, making your tutorials more sympathetic to the user base.

From Walkme

2. Track User Behaviour

Walkme provides you with vital information regarding how your users behave. Through WalkMe, you will be able to which features your customers are more inclined to try out while which features are left out. This will give you insight regarding where you should focus your user adoption methods.
Combined with the tutorials provided by WalkMe, this is a great way to increase your user adoption rates. Although tracking your users is provided by most of the software tools in the field, WalkMe is one of the rare software tools that enable you to combine this feature with another aspect of their software.
Walkme allows you to track user behavior and combines it well with user segmentation options. In this way, combining these two features will enable you to group your customer base according to the most optimized way.
All of these options make Walkme one of the most flexible tools in this field.

From Walkme Insights Page

3. Live-Chat

Walkme also creates the foundation for you to create a live chat option for your customers. In case your tutorials do not work out, this is a great way to solve your customers’ problems or simply interact with them.
However, the Live-chat of Walkme is not limited to simple chatboxes. Walkme also allows you to utilize its other features. Not only will user tutorials reduce the need for a live chat option, but you will also be able to use Walkme’s features regarding tracking user behavior to give your customers the best advice.
Combining live-chat options with user segmentation will enable you to predict which price range your users belong in. By creating user profiles through user segmentation, you will be able to maximize the efficiency you chat with your customers with.

From Walkme

Pricing

Walkme provides two plans for its customers. These are titled the Basic Plan and the Custom Plan. However, since both of these pricing depends on the options you pick within the plans, there are no announced pricing statistics regarding these packages.

From Walkme pricing page

UserGuiding

UserGuiding is another software tool that aims to increase your user adoption rates. UserGuiding claims t achieve this mainly by segmentation, NPS surveys, and customizable resource centers.

UserGuiding was founded in San Francisco, California, United States. It was founded by Mert Aktaş, Mert Alican Bektaş, Muhammet Enginar and Osman Koç in 2017. This makes UserGuiding one of the newest tools in the field.

UserGuiding has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 in both G2 and Capterra.

Here is a shortlist of integrations provided by UserGuiding:

  • Segment
  • Google Analytics
  • Mixpanel
  • Woopra

To learn more about integrations provided by UserGuiding, you can check out their integrations web page for more information.

1. Resource Center

UserGuiding provides you with a resource center. The resource center provides you with cloud software where you store your data. This data ranges from your user segmentation to blogs you would simply wish to read a while later.
You can also design your Resource center to be usable by whoever you would like. Allowing your resource center to act like cloud storage will help you increase the cooperation between your team.
You can also, as a moderator, track your users’ behavior and track your team members’ shortcomings and strong sides.

From Userguiding

2. Segmentation

Although it is one of the main things you would expect a tool like Userguiding to do, it would be unfair if I did not talk about how the user segmentation process of the Userguiding works.
Userguiding allows you to classify your users according to a multitude of features. By far, UserGuiding has the highest number of categories for you to categorize your customer base. You can even segment your users according to their aha moments. This gives UserGuiding an edge over its competitors like Walkme and Userpilot.

From Userguiding

3. Net Promoter Surveys

Userguiding allows you to track your customers’ happiness through Net Promoter Surveys, often referred to as NPS. UserGuiding is the only software tool mentioned in this article that allows you to conduct net promoter surveys.

Conducting Net Promoter Surveys is a great way to increase your user segmentation efficiency and get customer feedback. If your company depends on inbound marketing, net promoter surveys are simply a must to have.

From Userguiding

Pricing

Currently, Userguiding offers three distinct packages for its customers. These are called the Basic Plan, the professional Plan, and the Corporate Plan. Their respective prices are 99, 399, and 699+ United States Dollars. However, you can get a discount if you decide to make a yearly subscription.

From UserGuiding Pricing Page

Conclusion

In this article, I have analyzed different software tools that claim to be an alternative to the Appcues. Although all of these software tools have their advantages and shortcomings, their capabilities depend mainly on what you expect from that software tool.

FAQ

Does Appcues have a free plan?

Yes. Appcues provides its users with a 14-day free trial.

Is Appcues expensive?

Although the pricing of the Appcues might seem acceptable at first, it becomes more expensive as you have to deal with more customers.

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