The world of software is changing. As more and more companies are adopting digital products, the need for improving the user experience (UX) of your products has never been higher.
With that comes a new set of challenges for product managers: How can you track what’s actually happening in your product as users interact with it?
And, how can you easily collect feedback from both users and non-users alike?
Fortunately, there are plenty of digital adoption and product experience tools out there that can help you streamline your product journey, increase customer satisfaction, and boost your bottom line.
The two major players in this industry are WalkMe and Pendo. Both companies have been around for years, and they’re constantly innovating and improving their offerings.
But which one is right for you?
In this post, I’ll compare the features and functionality of both platforms to help you decide which one is best for your products. I’ll also explore how they work with your team to give you valuable insight into what each can do for you.
Pendo vs WalkMe: Introduction
What is WalkMe?
WalkMe is software that helps companies create, manage, and optimize their online user experience without having to build out an entire platform from scratch.
It was launched in 2011, and since then it has grown into a very popular tool that’s been used by companies like IBM and BMO to help users navigate their websites.
The app lets you create simple flows that guide users through any process they want, like buying something on your website or filling out a form, and then track how well those flows work.
It does this by, for example, measuring things like the time spent on each step and the number of steps completed successfully versus abandoned due to error messages (which are also customizable).
In short, WalkMe allows you to understand your users’ behaviors and preferences across all channels, attract new customers with personalized UX experiences, and improve loyalty with continuous engagement.
What is Pendo?
Pendo has been at the forefront of customer experience management since its founding in 2013. Today, it’s used by companies like Salesforce, Zendesk, and Verizon Connect to improve user engagement, product analytics, and sales intelligence.
Like WalkMe, Pendo offers a comprehensive digital adoption platform that helps businesses optimize customer interactions across all channels with no coding required.
You can also use Pendo to automate your existing customers’ journeys, create and deliver customer support, optimize your website or app performance, and more.
WalkMe vs Pendo: Sign Up
WalkMe
Unfortunately, you can’t just sign up to try out WalkMe’s platform.
You have to request a demo from their sales team by filling out an application with your name, company, work email address, and phone number.
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Pendo
Pendo also offers a “Request Demo” option, but unlike WalkMe, you can sign up for a free trial version.
The process is easy. To create an account:
- Navigate to Pendo.io
- Click on the “Try free” button in the top right corner of the screen.
- In the next window, click on “Get Started Free”.
- Then, fill out the form with your company name, first and last name, and email, and hit “Create Free Account”.
- Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to verify your email account by clicking on the link they’ll send to your email.
- You’ll then be directly taken to a setup page where you have to create your password.
- Next, you’ll need to specify your role within your company, what type of customers you target (B2B, B2C, or B2E), and what you are trying to achieve with Pendo.
- After that, you can either start exploring the software’s demo with sample data or install it directly into your application.
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WalkMe vs Pendo: Dashboard
WalkMe
The dashboard is a user’s one-stop shop for all things WalkMe. It gives you an overview of your systems and workflows, as well as access to all the features and functionality you need to use the software to its fullest potential.
The main dashboard is divided into three sections: “Top 5 Systems by user activity”, “Top 5 used systems by activity time”, and “Monitored Systems”.
These are designed to give you a clear picture of how your operations look in real time, providing you with a live feed of all the data that matters most to your organization.
Pendo
Unlike WalkMe, Pendo allows you to create multiple dashboards, each with different metrics tailored to specific goals.
Once you’ve created one, you can share it with other users within your organization so they can access it and see the information that’s important to them as well.
The main dashboard, located in the center of the screen, allows you to see how users are interacting with your product in one place. You just have to scroll down to check all of the data.
For example, there’s a “Visitors Overview” section that lets you see how many visitors have come to your website, and what day of the week and time of day they visited.
Another important section is “Account Overview”, which lets you know about your account’s overall health: how many accounts are active, and how many users are actively using them.
If you need more information about a specific account, you can use the “Weekly Visitors” and “Weekly Accounts” graphs to see who has been visiting that account over the last week or over the last 90 days.
You’ll also be able to see where those visitors came from (geographic location) and what device they used while browsing your site by looking at the “Browser Usage” chart.
And right next to it, you can dig even deeper into your product journey with other sections like “Page Overview”, “Features Overview”, “Active Unique Visitors per Hour”, and more.
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WalkMe vs Pendo: User Interface & Ease of Use
WalkMe
The layout of WalkMe is simple and intuitive, but robust enough to give you access to all of the important information you need.
The left side panel features an array of different options that allow you to quickly find what you’re looking for, and there are no complex menus or confusing icons to get in your way.
This makes it perfect for those who want to get right into designing and building their own UX workflows without needing to spend time learning how the product works.
Pendo
Like WalkMe, Pendo’s interface is clean, intuitive, and easy to use. It’s designed with the user in mind, and its navigation system is simple and straightforward.
You can find what you’re looking for without having to spend time searching through unnecessary options and menus.
For example, you can easily navigate between each of the main sections of Pendo by clicking on their corresponding tabs at the left side of the screen: “Dashboard”, “Product”, “People”, “Behavior”, “Guides”, and “NPS”.
Pendo also has a “Getting Started” guide that you can access directly from its login page. The guide walks users through all the basic functions of the platform so that they can start using it right away.
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WalkMe vs Pendo: Digital Adoption Platform
WalkMe
WalkMe’s digital adoption platform is an end-to-end solution for creating and monitoring user journeys, which means it has everything you need to get started building your workflows, including a no-code editor, analytics, templates, and more.
The first thing you’ll notice when you log into WalkMe’s platform is the editor. You can use it to build your workflows using drag-and-drop elements that let you connect pages with various triggers and actions.
For example, you can create workflows that can be triggered by a user opening a specific view or clicking on a particular button. You can also set up conditions and actions to take place after an event occurs, such as playing an animation or sending a notification.
Additionally, Walkme lets you create chatbots that interact with users through natural language processing and AI, and build tooltips, which are great ways to provide additional information on screen without taking up too much space or distracting from the main purpose of your app/website
Once you have created your workflows and added them to your application or website, WalkMe’s AI will monitor for errors or issues with each workflow as well as its overall performance over time. You can then use this information to make adjustments or changes as needed.
Pendo
Like WalkMe, Pendo offers a platform that allows users to build, manage, and analyze their customer data.
With Pendo’s platform, you can create actions that track user behavior, then use the platform’s visualizations to better understand how they interact with your product.
You can also create personalized experiences for each user based on their behaviors and preferences, which will help increase engagement.
In addition, it lets you create in-app guides to help your users get through every step of the journey. This includes guided tours for onboarding, walkthroughs for key features, tips for using a specific feature, or even just a list of FAQs about something within your product!
WalkMe vs Pendo: Mobile Application
WalkMe
WalkMe Mobile is an app that helps you move your users through the different stages of the app life-cycle, from onboarding to activation and beyond.
It’s compatible with both Android and iOS devices, so you can use it to create an intuitive, user-friendly experience for your customers no matter which device they’re using and where your product is.
You can easily add it to your app and have it functioning within minutes, and just like its desktop version, it has some great features that make it easy to customize your user experience without having to develop new code.
Pendo
Pendo supports native Android, iOS, React, and Xamarin mobile applications. It’s easy to install and you can do it for free with its limited version, Pendo Free.
You can use Pendo Mobile to capture feedback from users and customers, analyze it to improve your product and push updates to users’ devices. It’s like having a dedicated customer support team, but without the cost.
It also offers built-in analytics that can help you track usage patterns and find out what they are doing within your app.
WalkMe vs Pendo: Pricing
WalkMe
WalkMe provides a demo version so that you can try its software out. Once you’ve decided that it’s the right tool for you, you can choose from one of their two premium plans: WalkMe For Employee Experience and WalkMe For Customer Experience.
With the first plan, you get a tailored-specific solution for automating elements of your employee experience, custom reports capabilities, and prebuilt journeys among other features.
But if, on the other hand, you’re looking for a software for digital adoption for your applications or websites aimed exclusively at your clients, the second plan offers a wider variety of features that can help you build a better experience for your customers.
Unfortunately, WalkMe’s prices are not available on their official website. You will have to access their pricing page to request a quote.
Their sales team will inform you of the total cost of both subscriptions (depending on your specific needs).
Pendo
Unlike WalkMe, Pendo doesn’t only offer a free demo. It also has a free plan for up to 1,000 monthly active users.
It works both for computer and mobile devices, but if you need more features, you can upgrade your account by choosing between its three paid plans:
- Growth Plan: This subscription is designed for digital strategies that are based on single-application products only.
- Portfolio Plan: This option is for organizations with a wide suite of applications.
- Premium Plan: It focuses on helping scale large companies with a hefty portfolio of apps.
Like WalkMe, you’ll need to contact them through their pricing page if you want to get more information on each one of these packages’ prices.
Additionally, Pendo offers a customized option for startups that are just starting out, so they can help you launch your product efficiently. Just like the previous plans, you need to contact their sales department to get a quote.
WalkMe vs Pendo: Integrations
WalkMe
WalkMe comes with built-in integrations for popular enterprise tools like:
- Amazon Web Services
- Salesforce
- Google Analytics
- Slack
- Zendesk
- Azure Active Directory
- Okta
- Webhooks
It also offers its own API so you can build custom integrations if you want more control over how your data is processed.
Pendo
Pendo also integrates with your most used applications and it offers more options than WalkMe. You can connect Pendo to:
- HubSpot
- Jira Software
- Salesforce
- Zendesk
- Calendly
- Confluence
- Figma
- Drift
- HelpDocs
- And more
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WalkMe vs Pendo: Customer Support
WalkMe
If you want to learn more about WalkMe’s features and how it works, you can contact their team through the in-app chatbot. This is a great option for those who have questions or need help with something specific.
However, if you have an issue that needs urgent attention, you’ll have to check their Support Center, send them an email, or make a phone call to one of their headquarters in Germany, the UK, Australia, and France.
Pendo
Pendo also has a chatbot you can use if you need an answer your questions about its features quickly.
However, if you want to get in touch with them directly via email, you can’t do that. You have to fill out a request form on their site. They respond within 48 hours or less.
WalkMe vs Pendo: Resources Library
WalkMe
WalkMe’s Resources Library is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the world of digital adoption.
It provides in-depth content about products’ digital journeys, as well as information on the factors that can influence your decision when choosing various types of digital adoption platforms.
The library includes blog posts, articles from industry experts, webinars, and videos, as well as comprehensive reports and ebooks on customer analytics.
Pendo
Pendo also has a Resource Library, and it’s actually more extensive than WalkMe’s. It has helpful information on topics like user research methods, digital strategies, and how to measure the success of your in-app experience through A/B testing using Pendo’s software.
It includes articles, e-books, a hub full of product information, a glossary, and plenty of webinars that are all geared toward helping you be the best product manager or customer success manager possible.
Plus, it has two online communities: ProductCraft, the largest community of product managers; and Pendo Neighborhood, where you can connect with other users and talk about all things digital adoption.
WalkMe vs Pendo: Help Center
WalkMe
The WalkMe Help Center is a good place to go if you have any questions about the product. You can use the search bar that’s located at the top of the page to find specific topics or scroll down to check all the options.
The sections are extensive and cover everything from how to install the product to how to use it after installation. It also includes guides on how to build customer journey workflows on mobile and desktop, as well as comprehensive information on how to manage your account.
There are also several tutorials available that walk users through how to use specific features in WalkMe. These include articles on how to create walkthroughs, set up exit popups, and set up micro-interactions.
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Pendo
Like WalkMe, Pendo has a Help Center to help you find answers to any questions you might have about your Pendo account. It’s divided into three main sections that cover everything from monitoring your products to setting up integrations and managing your data.
You can search for topics using the search bar at the top of your screen, or you can use the links below to browse through all of their articles.
WalkMe vs Pendo: Pros & Cons
WalkMe
Pros
- It has a simple and very easy-to-use user interface.
- It provides users with multiple customer support options.
- It supports integration with a wide range of popular business tools.
- It’s compatible with all major browsers and includes a desktop app.
- It also works on mobile devices running iOS or Android operating systems.
- It offers an analytics dashboard that shows you how your users are interacting with your workflows so you can make improvements based on what they’re doing.
- It has a no-code editor with drag-and-drop functionality that makes it easy to build and design your customers’ journeys.
Cons
- It doesn’t offer a free plan.
- You can’t check their prices on the website.
Pendo
Pros
- It offers a free tier.
- It has a clean user interface that’s easy to navigate.
- It provides a version for desktops and it’s also compatible with iOS, Android, Xamarin, and React Native mobile applications.
- It offers a variety of tailored premium packages.
- It allows you to access a large amount of analytics about your users’ data from one place.
- It supports integration with a wide range of popular business tools.
Cons
- You can’t check their prices on the website.
- If you have an issue with your account, you can only get in touch directly with their support team by submitting a request form.
Similarities & Differences
| Walkme | Pendo | |
| Free Plan | X | ✔ |
| Digital Adoption Platform | ✔ | ✔ |
| Intuitive Dashboard | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customer Support | ✔ | ✔ |
| Resources Library | ✔ | ✔ |
| Help Center | ✔ | ✔ |
| Analytics | ✔ | ✔ |
| No-code editor | ✔ | X |
| Mobile Application | ✔ | ✔ |
| Third-party Integrations | ✔ | ✔ |
Verdict: WalkMe vs Pendo – Which is Better?
Pendo and WalkMe are both great tools that can help you get the most out of your software.
If you’re looking for a tool that can help you manage your entire customer lifecycle process from onboarding to retention, then WalkMe is your best bet.
But if you need advanced features such as A/B testing and analytics reports so you can track changes over time, I recommend Pendo.
