I'm in a bit of a bind and need to make a decision by Friday. We're looking at options for creating product tours to enhance onboarding for our app. I considered building the solution in-house, which seems cost-free, but it's going to take around six weeks and then we'd need to manage it forever. Plus, any changes would have to go through engineering, which isn't ideal.
I've looked into Pendo; it appears powerful, but I'm worried it's overkill for our needs and the pricing was pretty steep after talking to sales. Appcues has received positive feedback, but I'm aware it can become expensive as we scale. Then there's Hopscotch, which seems newer and has better pricing, but I haven't found many user reviews, making it hard to gauge its maturity.
We're Series A with approximately 5,000 monthly users, and we primarily need basic tours, tooltips, and perhaps some in-app messages—nothing too complex. If you were in my shoes, which option would you choose and why? I'm especially concerned about load times and the ease of use for our product manager.
10 Answers
Honestly, at 5k users, building your own solution is a trap. Six weeks of development could easily turn into three months, plus your PM will be constantly bothering you for simple changes. Pendo is definitely overkill at this stage, and Appcues gets complicated with pricing as you grow. I'd suggest looking at Hopscotch or Userflow since both allow your PMs to create content independently without pulling engineering into every change. Just try them out with a trial and see if your PM can create a tour solo; if they can, then that's a solid option. Stop overthinking it!
The free option usually turns out to be the most expensive in the long run. Especially with tools you'll be using internally. I'd suggest checking out something like Appcues for where you're at now.
Pendo's a powerful tool but feels better suited for teams with significant budgets and analysts on hand. If simple tours are your main need, it often ends up being more than you require.
I'd recommend going with either Appcues or Hopscotch. Building it yourself sounds tempting but can become a big headache down the road, and Pendo is too much for what you need right now. If you’ve worked with either Appcues or Hopscotch, I’d love to hear which handled basic tours better without unnecessary bloat.
If you're using React, check out React Joyride—it might be a simple solution for you without the overhead of these larger tools.
You might want to check out the coding agents before you settle on building it yourself, as they could simplify the process significantly!
Building your own solution always seems feasible until you realize maintenance is an endless cycle. Onboarding needs will change frequently for your company right now, so unless you want to fully own the process forever, stick with a pre-built solution unless absolutely necessary!
Appcues is like the Goldilocks choice for you—mature enough that it won’t disappear, affordable enough to avoid needing constant budget approval, and user-friendly for your PMs without making them rely on the engineers all the time. Though Hopscotch is fine, putting all your onboarding needs in a startup's hands could be a risk if they pivot in the next couple of years.
Having used both Appcues and Inline Manual in my last job, I can say the product works well, but just be cautious about how quickly the pricing scales up. A useful litmus test: if your PM can sign up for a free trial and get a live tour up and running in an hour without needing to talk to sales, that’s a good sign. Also, consider Userorbit, designed for speed and fits your use case without assuming you're scaling to enterprise levels. Building your own could offer some flexibility but you'd lose on analytics and targeting unless you commit further to development.
Appcues has been a solid middle ground for us: easy to focus on onboarding, friendly for marketers/PMs, and not as heavyweight as some enterprise options. Just be aware you'll pay more as your user base grows, but for now, it should serve your needs well—basic tours, tooltips, and simple in-app messages. A lot of early-stage product teams go with this.
That's good to know! Building did feel like a risky option, and Pendo seemed way too heavy. Between Appcues and Hopscotch, any preference once you've used them for basic tours?