The Best User Onboarding Software for SaaS: 25+ Tools

Are you looking to refine your user onboarding process and wondering which tools can boost your SaaS business’s user activation? Struggling to identify the perfect solutions?

It’s fascinating to see how significant user onboarding has become. Recent statistics show that 63% of customers evaluate a company’s onboarding process before purchasing a product. 

Just a few years ago, user onboarding was an unfamiliar concept to most consumers. Today, the majority expect a high standard of onboarding that not only helps them get started but also communicates value, trust, and fosters loyalty towards your brand.

Investing effort into how you onboard your SaaS users is crucial, and various user onboarding tools are designed to assist you. In this guide, you’ll discover over 25 top user onboarding platforms for SaaS companies, categorized to help you find the right tool for your needs.

What Does User Onboarding Software Do?

User onboarding software includes any tools used to educate customers about the features of your product. Its primary goal is to help new users quickly understand and realize the value of your product.

Speed is essential because the quicker users grasp your product’s value, the more likely they are to continue using it. This swift realization is also known as the “aha moment” — the point when a user fully understands the benefits of your product.

User onboarding tools help you deliver materials and guidance to achieve this, including:

• In-app messages to assist with setup and navigation.
• Self-service options like knowledge bases for quick answers.
• Welcome emails and tips to familiarize new customers with the product.
• Step-by-step walkthroughs, video tutorials, tooltips, and more to boost user adoption and retention.

The ultimate goal is to guide users to the “aha moment” as quickly as possible, ensuring they perceive the value and benefits of your app early on.

The Best User Onboarding Software for SaaS

Email Automation

#1. Userlist

With Userlist, you can onboard entire company accounts, not just individual users, with comprehensive email automation features that support account-level data. 

Userlist tracks user activity, segments users, and sends behavior-based emails and in-app messages, making it a powerful tool for user onboarding. 

#2. Customer.io

Customer.io is a versatile automation platform that communicates with users through email, push notifications, and SMS. 

Using real-time data, Customer.io ensures the right messages reach users at the right time based on their actions, enhancing the onboarding experience. 

Its robust workflow builder allows you to create sophisticated onboarding sequences that respond dynamically to user behaviors, such as sign-ups, feature usage, or inactivity. 

#3. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an advanced marketing platform that features robust email automation capabilities. You can create complex workflows to welcome new users, monitor customer engagement, and combine data from other channels to refine your campaigns.

ActiveCampaign’s intuitive interface and powerful automation tools make it easy to design personalized onboarding journeys, while its in-depth analytics help you track user progress and identify areas for improvement.

#4. Ortto

Ortto goes beyond basic email automation, offering tools to create in-app messages and capture user attention. It helps educate users about your product and gather feedback to improve their experience, enhancing the overall onboarding process. 

By segmenting users according to their behavior and preferences, Ortto delivers targeted messages that address their specific pain points and needs.

#5. Gist

Gist is an all-in-one email marketing solution offering tools for building onboarding flows, creating knowledge bases, providing self-serve options, and engaging with customers via live chat. This holistic approach makes Gist a valuable asset for user onboarding. 

You can create a seamless onboarding process that guides users from their first contact to full product adoption, while real-time communication enables you to address users’ questions and concerns.

Tooltips and Tours

#6. Intercom

Intercom is a renowned customer communications platform that also excels in user onboarding. It offers in-app messages and product tours to help users acclimate to your app. It also supports email and in-app notifications to boost feature adoption and re-engage inactive users. 

Intercom’s powerful messaging capabilities allow you to create personalized onboarding experiences that guide users through key features and workflows, ensuring they understand how to get the most value from your product.

#7. Chameleon

Chameleon empowers users to explore your tool independently within the product. It allows you to build product tours, offer in-line help with tooltips, create informational widgets, and conduct micro surveys to identify user experience roadblocks. 

Chameleon’s flexible and customizable tours can be tailored to different user segments, providing a guided onboarding experience that adapts to each user’s needs and preferences. This helps users feel more confident and capable as they navigate your product.

#8. Userflow

Userflow enables teams to build custom in-app tours, checklists, and surveys without requiring code. It helps convert more customers and increase retention by offering a tailored user onboarding experience. 

Your onboarding process can be continuously optimized based on real-time analytics, ensuring users receive the guidance they need to succeed with Userflow’s real-time analytics.

#9. Helppier

Helppier focuses on creating user guides, manuals, product tours, and in-app messages to assist new users. Its features aim to provide a comprehensive onboarding experience, helping users navigate your app with ease. 

Helppier’s interactive guides and tooltips offer step-by-step instructions, making it easy for users to understand complex features and workflows. 

#10. Appcues

Appcues is dedicated to user onboarding, offering interactive in-app messages, welcome popups, product tours, and more. Its simplicity allows you to create effective onboarding experiences without needing extensive technical knowledge. 

Appcues’ user-friendly interface and powerful customization options make it easy to design onboarding flows that engage and educate users, while its analytics tools help you measure the effectiveness of your onboarding efforts and identify areas for improvement.

#11. Userpilot

Userpilot offers functionality for setting up tooltips, tours, tutorials, and contextual hints. It also allows for personalized onboarding flows based on buyer personas, ensuring a relevant and engaging user experience. 

Userpilot’s advanced segmentation capabilities enable you to tailor onboarding content to different user segments, providing a customized experience that addresses each user’s specific needs and preferences. 

#12. Zumvie

Zumvie provides fully clickable demos, enabling potential users to preview your product without signing up. This feature can significantly enhance user onboarding by allowing users to understand the product’s value before committing. 

Zumvie’s interactive demos provide a hands-on experience that showcases your product’s key features and benefits, helping users see the value and potential of your product from the start. 

#13. Inline Manual

Inline Manual helps you build product walkthroughs, announce new features, and set up tooltips. Its customizable messages and analytics improve user onboarding by providing timely and relevant information. 

Inline Manual’s interactive guides and tooltips offer step-by-step instructions, making it easy for users to understand complex features and workflows. 

Customer Onboarding Portals

#14. Dock

Dock creates personalized onboarding workspaces for each customer, consolidating resources like implementation checklists, product demos, walkthrough videos, and user guides. 

It simplifies the onboarding process and ensures a smooth experience for new users. Dock’s collaborative workspaces allow you to share important information and resources with users, making it easy for them to find the support they need.

#15. Arrows

Arrows is a collaborative onboarding platform that scales your onboarding efforts by driving engagement and task completion. Its HubSpot integration allows for automation and reporting, enhancing the overall onboarding strategy. 

Arrows’ collaborative approach makes it easy to involve multiple stakeholders in the onboarding process, ensuring that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals. 

Helpdesk Software

#16. Help Scout

Help Scout offers a range of support options, including a shared inbox, knowledge bases, and live chat. Its user-friendly design and functionality make it a popular choice for handling customer inquiries and support needs. 

Help Scout’s shared inbox allows your support team to collaborate efficiently, ensuring that customer inquiries are addressed promptly and effectively. 

#17. Zendesk

Zendesk is an all-in-one customer service solution offering advanced live chat, messaging, email, and phone support. It also provides tools to build a help center and community forum, facilitating self-service and reducing support strain. 

Zendesk’s powerful support tools make it easy to manage customer inquiries and provide timely assistance, while its self-service options empower users to find answers to their questions independently. 

#18. HelpSpace

HelpSpace centralizes support messages in one place, making it easier to manage customer inquiries. It offers a managed team inbox, knowledge base, and in-app messaging to enhance user support. 

HelpSpace’s centralized support system ensures that customer inquiries are addressed promptly and effectively, while its knowledge base and in-app messaging features provide users with the information and support they need to succeed. 

#19. CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a call center software that improves customer satisfaction and team performance. It features advanced call management tools, CRM integrations, and detailed customer insights, making it a valuable asset for customer support teams. 

CloudTalk’s powerful call management tools make it easy to handle customer inquiries and provide timely assistance, while its CRM integrations and customer insights help you understand user needs and preferences.

Video and Webinars

#20. Vimeo

Vimeo is a professional video platform that excels in collaboration and information sharing, making it ideal for creating and hosting onboarding videos. Users can easily capture their screen and produce high-quality videos using Vimeo Record’s features.

Vimeo’s comprehensive video hosting solutions ensure seamless access to videos, while its collaborative tools allow team members to work together on video projects. 

#21. Wistia

Wistia is a B2B-focused video hosting service that offers tools for recording, screen capturing, and embedding videos. Its features are designed to enhance user onboarding by providing clear and engaging visual content. 

Wistia’s powerful video tools make it easy to create professional-grade onboarding videos that engage and educate users, while its hosting and embedding features ensure that users can access the information they need, when they need it.

#22. Loom

Loom allows quick video recording directly in the browser, making it perfect for creating feature explainer videos. Its simplicity and ease of sharing make it an excellent tool for onboarding new users. 

Loom’s intuitive interface makes it easy to create and share videos that explain complex features and workflows, helping users understand how to get the most value from your product.

#23. Clarityflow

Clarityflow (formerly Zip Message) facilitates asynchronous video communication by allowing users to record clips from their browsers. It’s ideal for ongoing video conversations with prospects and customers, enhancing the onboarding process. 

Clarityflow’s asynchronous communication tools make it easy to provide personalized support and guidance to users, helping them overcome any obstacles they encounter during the onboarding process.

#24. Livestorm

Livestorm supports various online meetings, including events, webinars, and training sessions. Its autopilot webinars are particularly useful for pre-recorded demos and onboarding sessions, providing a flexible and engaging way to educate new users. 

Livestorm’s powerful webinar tools make it easy to create and deliver engaging onboarding sessions that educate and inspire users, while its analytics and reporting features help you measure the effectiveness of your onboarding efforts.

User Behavior Analytics

#25. Hotjar

Hotjar offers tools to analyze user behavior, such as heatmaps, recordings, and feedback tools. These features help you understand how users interact with your product and identify areas for improvement in the onboarding process. 

Hotjar’s powerful analytics tools provide insights into user behavior and engagement, helping you optimize your onboarding process and ensure that users receive the guidance they need to succeed.

#26. InnerTrends

InnerTrends provides product analytics with pre-built reports and playbooks to optimize user onboarding. It helps SaaS companies understand account conversion, feature adoption, and other key metrics to improve the onboarding experience. 

InnerTrends’ advanced analytics tools provide insights into user behavior and engagement, helping you identify areas for improvement and optimize your onboarding process.

#27. FullStory

FullStory captures user sessions and provides detailed engagement data, helping you identify issues like slow page loads or script errors. Its comprehensive data helps refine the onboarding process and improve the user experience. 

FullStory’s powerful analytics tools provide insights into user behavior and engagement, helping you identify areas for improvement and optimize your onboarding process.

#28. Mixpanel

Mixpanel focuses on product usage and user behavior analytics, providing data to drive product development and user onboarding.

Mixpanel’s advanced analytics tools provide insights into user behavior and engagement, helping you optimize your onboarding process and ensure that users receive the guidance they need to succeed.

Optimizing Your User Onboarding Process

Choosing the right user onboarding tools depends on your product and customer needs. Investing in these tools can significantly enhance your SaaS business’s user activation and retention. 

As we’ve explored, the landscape of user onboarding has evolved, with customers now expecting seamless and informative onboarding experiences. By leveraging the over 25 tools highlighted in this guide, you can streamline your onboarding process, help users reach the “aha moment” faster, and build long-term loyalty and trust with your brand.