The main WalkMe alternatives are Whatfix, Pendo, Appcues and Userlane. WalkMe, owned by SAP since September 2024, is an enterprise digital adoption platform with quote-only pricing. Whatfix is its closest like-for-like rival, Pendo leads on product analytics and has a free plan, Appcues targets product-led onboarding, and Userlane focuses on employee software in regulated industries.
Key Takeaways
- A digital adoption platform (DAP) adds in-app guidance, walkthroughs and usage analytics on top of existing software, for employees, customers or both.
- SAP announced its purchase of WalkMe on June 5, 2024, for about US$1.5 billion ($14.00 per share in cash) and completed it on September 12, 2024; WalkMe was then delisted from Nasdaq.
- As of September 2026, none of the five vendors publishes list prices for paid plans; Pendo offers a free plan for up to 500 monthly active users, and Whatfix and Appcues offer free trials.
- Choose by audience first: employee-facing tools (WalkMe, Whatfix, Userlane) versus product teams guiding their own customers (Pendo, Appcues).
Understanding the technicalities of the best possible type of WalkMe competitors in the industry is considered to be a great idea so that implementation of the digital adoption platform will be done with efficiency with the following best possible strategy.
Several digital adoption platforms compete with WalkMe, and they differ mainly in who they are built for (employees or a product’s own customers), how deep their analytics go and how they are priced, which makes the choice harder than it first looks.
The sections below compare WalkMe with four of its best-known competitors, Whatfix, Pendo, Appcues and Userlane, and explain what each one is best suited to.
WalkMe versus Whatfix
Whatfix is the alternative most similar to WalkMe. According to its Wikipedia entry, Whatfix was founded in 2014 by Khadim Batti and Vara Kumar, is based in San Jose, California, and Bengaluru, India, and provides in-app guidance, training and performance support for business applications used by both employees and customers.
As of September 2026, Whatfix sells three products (Digital Adoption Platform, Product Analytics and Mirror, an AI-based training simulation tool launched in February 2024) in Standard, Premium and Enterprise tiers. Whatfix does not publish prices, but its pricing page says each plan is a flat fee plus user license fees, and it offers a free trial, which WalkMe’s pricing page does not mention.
WalkMe versus PENDO
Depending on PENDO is a better fit than WalkMe when the main goal is understanding and guiding a product’s own customers rather than training employees. Pendo was started in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2013, and its founders are listed as Todd Olson, Erik Troan and Rahul Jain.
Pendo’s strength is analytics: the company describes its platform as combining software usage analytics with in-app guidance and user feedback, and says it serves more than 14,000 companies.
Pendo also includes feedback collection and roadmap features that help product teams decide what to build next and keep customers engaged in that process. As of September 2026, Pendo has a free plan for up to 500 monthly active users (product analytics, in-app guides, Pendo-branded roadmaps and NPS surveys); its paid Base, Core and Ultimate plans are priced on request, based on monthly active users and features.
WalkMe versus APPCUES
Appcues describes itself as a customer engagement platform for software products. It is aimed at product and growth teams that want to build onboarding flows, checklists and announcements without engineering help, while WalkMe is aimed mainly at large enterprises rolling out internal software.
Appcues is installed inside a company’s own product, so the guidance appears as part of the customer experience. As of September 2026, Appcues lists three plans, Start (for up to 3,000 monthly active users), Grow (from 3,000 MAUs) and Enterprise (custom volumes), without published prices, and offers a free trial that needs no credit card.
Because Appcues is priced by monthly active users, it tends to suit software companies whose customer base is still growing; teams can target flows at specific user segments.
WalkMe versus Userlane
Userlane is a Munich-based company founded in 2015 whose software guides users step by step inside browser-based applications, in real time. As of September 2026, Userlane markets itself as a software adoption platform for regulated industries and names customers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, the NHS, Vodafone and Deutsche Bahn.
Userlane can collect user feedback and send messages directly inside the application, and it is added on top of existing software, so the underlying application does not need to be changed.
Its analytics (which Userlane calls Application Intelligence) show how people use each application and walkthrough. Userlane offers application-based pricing (a fixed annual fee per application with unlimited users) or consumption-based pricing; prices are quoted on request, and no free trial is listed on its pricing page.
In short, comparing the audience, features, analytics and pricing model of WalkMe competitors are equally important for people so that things will be sorted out very easily and there will be no scope of any kind of practical difficulty for concerned organisations at any point in time.
What Is a Digital Adoption Platform?
A digital adoption platform (DAP) is software that sits on top of other applications and adds in-app guidance, such as step-by-step walkthroughs, tooltips, checklists and help widgets, along with analytics on how people actually use the software. Companies use a DAP to shorten training for new systems, reduce support tickets and increase use of features they already pay for.
DAPs serve two broad audiences. Employee-facing deployments guide staff through tools such as HR, ERP or CRM systems, which ties them closely to employee onboarding. Customer-facing deployments guide users of a company’s own product through signup and first use.
WalkMe at a Glance
WalkMe was founded in 2011 by Dan Adika, Rafael Sweary, Eyal Cohen and Yuval Shalom Ozanna and launched its product in April 2012. WalkMe listed on Nasdaq on June 16, 2021, under the ticker WKME.
SAP announced its intent to acquire WalkMe on June 5, 2024, at US$14.00 per share in cash, an equity value of about US$1.5 billion, and completed the deal on September 12, 2024. SAP said WalkMe’s AI capabilities would add context-aware help to Joule, SAP’s AI copilot. As of September 2026, WalkMe still sells its platform for employee and customer applications, with pricing by quote only.
WalkMe vs. Competitors: Comparison Table
| Platform | Founded / base | Best suited to | Published pricing (September 2026) | Free plan or trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WalkMe | 2011; San Francisco; owned by SAP since 2024 | Large enterprises, employee and customer apps | Quote only | None listed |
| Whatfix | 2014; San Jose and Bengaluru | Enterprises wanting a like-for-like WalkMe rival | Quote only (flat fee plus user licenses) | Free trial |
| Pendo | 2013; Raleigh, North Carolina | Product teams needing analytics plus guides | Quote only for paid plans | Free plan up to 500 MAUs |
| Appcues | Product onboarding vendor | SaaS product and growth teams | Quote only (plans by MAU) | Free trial, no card needed |
| Userlane | 2015; Munich | Employee software in regulated industries | Quote only (per application or consumption) | None listed |
Plan names and trial terms change often, so confirm them on each vendor’s pricing page before a purchase.
Why Choose a WalkMe Competitor Over WalkMe?
Organizations usually look at WalkMe alternatives for one of four reasons:
- Budget and entry point: Pendo’s free plan and the Whatfix and Appcues free trials let a team test guidance before signing a contract; WalkMe’s pricing page lists no trial.
- Audience: Pendo and Appcues are built around guiding a product’s own customers, while WalkMe, Whatfix and Userlane focus heavily on employee software.
- Analytics needs: Pendo centers on product usage analytics, and Whatfix sells a separate Product Analytics product.
- Vendor direction: since the SAP acquisition, some buyers that do not run SAP systems may prefer an independent vendor, while SAP customers may see the tie-in with Joule as an advantage.
How to Choose a Digital Adoption Platform
- Define the audience. List the applications to support and whether the users are employees, customers or both.
- Count users the way vendors price. Customer-facing tools such as Pendo and Appcues price by monthly active users; Whatfix prices employee apps by total users; Userlane can price per application.
- Check application coverage. Confirm that guidance works in every application in scope, including desktop or mobile apps if needed.
- Test with a real workflow. Use a free plan or trial to build one walkthrough for a real task and measure completion.
- Review data handling. In-app tools capture usage data, so check hosting region and compliance terms, especially in regulated sectors.
- Plan ownership. Decide who will build and maintain content; walkthroughs must be updated whenever the underlying software changes.
A DAP complements, rather than replaces, a support desk: many teams pair in-app guidance with help desk software, and HR teams often combine it with HR onboarding software. For more on the wider market, see this list of top SaaS companies in the USA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns WalkMe now?
SAP owns WalkMe. SAP announced the acquisition on June 5, 2024, for about US$1.5 billion and completed it on September 12, 2024, after which WalkMe was delisted from Nasdaq.
What is the best alternative to WalkMe?
Whatfix is the closest like-for-like alternative to WalkMe for enterprise employee and customer guidance. Pendo is usually the stronger choice when product analytics matter most, Appcues suits SaaS onboarding, and Userlane targets employee software in regulated industries.
Is there a free alternative to WalkMe?
Pendo offers a free plan for up to 500 monthly active users as of September 2026, covering product analytics, in-app guides, roadmaps and NPS surveys. Whatfix and Appcues offer free trials rather than free plans.
How much does WalkMe cost?
WalkMe does not publish prices. As of September 2026, its pricing page asks buyers to request a quote, and the same is true for the paid plans of Whatfix, Pendo, Appcues and Userlane.
What is the difference between WalkMe and Pendo?
WalkMe is primarily a digital adoption platform for guiding employees and customers through enterprise software, while Pendo is a product experience platform built around usage analytics, in-app guides and feedback for a company’s own product. Pendo also has a free tier; WalkMe does not list one.
