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10 Best Digital Adoption Platforms To Explore In 2023

Digital Adoption Platform Shortlist

Here’s the list of the tools that I’ll cover in this article.

  1. 1. Product Fruits — DAP with detailed adoption analytics
  2. 2. Plotline — Best for consumer brands—across mobile and web platforms
  3. 3. Absorb LMS — Create interactive digital adoption content
  4. 4. Constructor — Adoption software that allows companies to create personal learning experiences
  5. 5. Apty — Discover pain points within your tech stack
  6. 6. Whatfix — Full-featured DAP
  7. 7. Appcues — DAP with user personalization features
  8. 8. WalkMe — DAP software to maximize investment value
  9. 9. Usetiful — DAP with tools for quickly implementing software help
  10. 10. Inline Manual — DAP with easy-to-use visual tour builder

Even the easiest-to-use software can be tough for new users to get to grips with. Many businesses try to get around this with employee training and in-person onboarding programs, but these are costly to run and often ineffective. A digital adoption platform helps address user engagement and retention at a fraction of the cost.

What Is A Digital Adoption Platform?

Digital adoption platforms are software that you add to an existing app, website or digital product to help users with software adoption. You may have seen this as the in-app guidance that gives you hints on how to navigate the user interface. It is also seen as step-by-step guides and onboarding checklists that take you through your first x number of items using the platform.

Overviews Of The 10 Best Digital Adoption Platforms

Here’s a brief description of each digital adoption solution to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.

1

Product Fruits

DAP with detailed adoption analytics

Product Fruit’s step-by-step walkthroughs guide users through complex software processes, helping them understand how to use the software and complete tasks efficiently. Additionally, Product Fruits provides real-time guidance, meaning users can get help as they work, rather than having to stop and consult an external resource.

One standout feature of Product Fruits is its ability to provide personalized guidance to users. The tool tracks individual user behavior and can adapt its guidance based on a user's specific needs and skill level. This feature helps ensure that users are receiving the guidance they need to master new software, regardless of their experience level.

Product Fruits offers integrations with popular software platforms, including Slack, Google Analytics, Heap, Segment, and HubSpot. 

Pricing for Product Fruits begins at $89/month. A 14-day free trial is also available.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 13

14-day free trial available

From $89/month

2

Plotline

Best for consumer brands—across mobile and web platforms

Plotline is an in-app engagement platform for consumer brands that provides digital adoption tools such as tooltips, in-app videos, animations, and spotlights. You can use it to communicate with your users in your app and improve new feature adoption within your product. You can craft personalized onboarding flows, create tours and tutorials and highlight new features with their UI template library.

You can also run user feedback surveys right in the system, collecting invaluable insights to inform your product strategy and roadmap. Their segmentation engine allows you to target specific user cohorts with in-app messages.

Integrations include Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Mixpanel, Slack, Clickhouse, Amplitude, Segment, Rudderstack, and OneSignal. Paid plans start from $499 per month, and a 21-day free trial is available.

Paid plans start from $499 per month, and a 21-day free trial is available.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 11

21-day free trial

From $499/month

3

Absorb LMS

Create interactive digital adoption content

Absorb LMS is a cloud-based learning management system that can be used to improve user adoption through product education and training. You can create, track, and manage online courses for your customers, helping them better understand how to make the most out of your product. The course builder lets you create engaging and interactive courses with multimedia elements like videos, quizzes, and interactive scenarios.

What sets Absorb LMS apart from other tools in the market is its focus on the user experience. It's not just about delivering content, but about creating more engaging and interactive content. With features like gamification, social learning, and personalized learning paths, Absorb LMS makes learning more enjoyable and effective. You can even reward users with badges and certificates, helping to turn new customers into power users.

The software integrates with other tools like Google Suite, Microsoft Azure, Namely, Okta, Salesforce, WebEx, Workday, Zoom, and more. Pricing is available upon request, and a free trial and demo are both offered.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 282

Free trial + free demo

Pricing upon request

4

Constructor

Adoption software that allows companies to create personal learning experiences

Constructor is a digital adoption platform designed to help organizations onboard and train employees in using different digital tools and software.

It can be used to onboard new employees, train people to use software and tools, support employees using different resources, track employee progress and provide analytics, and create custom tutorials to meet a company’s specific requirements.

Constructor features a learning management system, and an enterprise resource planning solution to help train people to adopt digital tools. Employees and customers will be able to learn using different interactive content. Constructor’s LMS allows organizations to create custom quizzes and provides people with hands-on learning environments, and their ERP streamlines all an organization’s financial operation needs. Using the different tools that Constructor provides effectively helps users train people to use a company’s tools and products and makes learning complex topics much easier. Both the Virtual Lab and Coding Lab are instrumental in optimizing training and demonstrations for employees, partners, and customers.

The platform comes with real-time data collection to support a trainee’s personalized training program and trainees can have a personalized learning journey, learn with other people, and have an intuitive and reliable platform to create interactive courses. Using this platform can help boost course completion rates and ensure that trainees can effectively use the software on which they’re trained. 

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
5 3

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

5

Apty

Discover pain points within your tech stack

Apty is digital adoption software that helps get your employees up to speed with new technologies. This ensures you get the most from your software investment.The tool has plenty of analytics features. Managers can see how employees use the software and which business processes work.

You can see technology adoption and how this changes over time. The tool will even highlight the specific points that are causing issues.When you spot a point of friction, it’s easy to create in-app help that guides people past these barriers. This improves employee onboarding, new product adoption, and how people use your existing tools.

The tool works with any web-based application, meaning you can use it across your tech stack.

The company doesn’t advertise pricing, but you can contact the team for a quote via the website.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 107

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

6

Whatfix

Full-featured DAP

Whatfix is a digital adoption platform that promises to streamline how people use your product. You can use it with both employees and customers. The software has several helpful features. Flows help you create product tours that are targeted toward specific user segments.

Use these alongside in-app task lists to get users up to speed with your tool. Beacons are another useful feature—these allow your product team to highlight specific features, for example, new releases or updates. Or you can use in-app pop ups with videos to communicate information to all users, while surveys allow you to collect customer opinions without dedicated customer feedback software.

The final feature is knowledge bases. You can build these directly into the app so that users can easily access all they need to use your product.

Thanks to the browser plugin that works with Chrome and Firefox, all these features are easy to use. And you can customize all the content so that it matches your branding.

Whatfix doesn’t advertise pricing, but you can contact the company for a quote.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6 194

Free Trial

Pricing Upon Request

7

Appcues

DAP with user personalization features

Appcues is easy-to-use software that lets you build onboarding flows. It uses no-code tools so anyone can create workflows and publish them within a day.The tool has personalization features so you can build customized journeys. For example, you can create different onboarding workflows depending on the user’s role in the company.

You can show a designer the most relevant features, while leading a manager through the features someone in their role is most likely to use.The tool lets you create checklists with a progress bar that shows customers how far into the onboarding process they are. This automatically updates as they complete more tasks, so they can see exactly how far they have come on their journey with your product.

There are also features designed for introducing users to product updates and new functionality. For example, you can create introductions and product flows to quickly get people up to speed, then add further information via the announcement center.

Appcues starts at $299 per month for up to 2,500 monthly active users. You can get started for free on the website.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 173

14-day free trial

From $249/month (billed annually)

8

WalkMe

DAP software to maximize investment value

WalkMe is a digital adoption tool with plenty of features to help you teach employees about your software.The biggest draw is that you can build on-screen experiences that guide users through each step in a process. This helps your team get up to speed with new software or features.

WalkMe also has powerful analytics and reporting. These tools show user behavior such as how long people use different tools and the places where they struggle. Use this to see underutilized apps and build help flows to increase engagement. The tool is easy to use—the no-code platform lets anyone in your team build learning experiences.

It also integrates with plenty of other tools to increase the data you collect. And you can use the tool with any app that uses Amazon Web Services.

The company doesn’t provide pricing, but you can request a quote via the website.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5 129

Free demo

From $2-3000/annually

9

Usetiful

DAP with tools for quickly implementing software help

Usetiful is digital adoption software with plenty of features to help people get up to speed with your tools. It’s used for onboarding, customer self-service help, and feature adoption. The onboarding features help customers see the value of your tools faster. This can, in turn, lead to a reduction in churn. Create a product tour that guides them through the setup process and include a checklist so they get everything done.

You can also use these tours to guide people through new features and updates.The tool makes it easy to get started. You can begin with one-off smart tips to quickly provide help if you don’t have time to create a full onboarding sequence. Just use it to highlight essential information about your product’s most important features.

The product tours are easy to create using the Usetiful no-code tools. They use a visual interface, so it’s easy for anyone to create flows, and then you use the customization tools to match the tour with your branding. You can also easily review tours with the browser extension to make real-time improvements. Another helpful feature is the ability to create different product tours for user segments, device types, or pages.

This ensures everyone gets the most relevant help content. It’s easy to integrate your tours with your product by adding a code snippet. Pricing starts at $29 per month with a free trial. There’s also a completely free version that allows you to create a single product tour.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8 25

Free trial

From $29 per month

10

Inline Manual

DAP with easy-to-use visual tour builder

Inline Manual is a digital adoption platform with features for creating in-app walkthroughs, tooltips, surveys, and support articles. Use this for staff training, onboarding, or teaching employees about new tools. In-app walkthroughs are the main feature. Create them with easy-to-use no-code tools—just point-and-click at elements on the screen to create each step.

The result is that it’s easy to build a new walkthrough whenever you identify an issue.The tool has plenty of analytics features. Use these to understand how people are using your software. This is especially useful during onboarding, a time when employees need to take on a lot of new information.

Inline Manual pricing starts at $158 per month for up to 250 monthly active users.

You can try the software for free before committing.

14-day free trial

From $158 per month

Need expert help selecting the right Product Management Software?

We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!

The 10 Best Digital Adoption Platform Comparison Chart

Here is a table you can use to compare all the tools we just covered in the overviews.

Tool Free Option Price
1
Product Fruits

DAP with detailed adoption analytics

14-day free trial available

From $89/month Visit Website
2
Plotline

Best for consumer brands—across mobile and web platforms

21-day free trial

From $499/month Visit Website
3
Absorb LMS

Create interactive digital adoption content

Free trial + free demo

Pricing upon request Visit Website
4
Constructor

Adoption software that allows companies to create personal learning experiences

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
5
Apty

Discover pain points within your tech stack

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Visit Website
6
Whatfix

Full-featured DAP

Free Trial

Pricing Upon Request Visit Website
7
Appcues

DAP with user personalization features

14-day free trial

From $249/month (billed annually) Visit Website
8
WalkMe

DAP software to maximize investment value

Free demo

From $2-3000/annually Visit Website
9
Usetiful

DAP with tools for quickly implementing software help

Free trial

From $29 per month Visit Website
10
Inline Manual

DAP with easy-to-use visual tour builder

14-day free trial

From $158 per month Visit Website

Other Options

Here are a few more that didn’t make the top list but are worth your consideration.

  1. Userlane - Increase your product’s user adoption
  2. Walnut - Build personalized product demos to help with sales
  3. OnScreen - Enterprise digital adoption platform
  4. Baton - Manage software implementation and onboarding
  5. Intellum - Complete toolkit for creating educational experiences
  6. Lemon Learning - Digital adoption tool for users and employees
  7. Userflow - Easily create product onboarding workflows
  8. Pendo - Create personalized in-app guides based on analytics

How I Picked The Best Digital Adoption Software

What do I look for when I select the best digital adoption platform software solution? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria: 

User Interface (UI)

A clean user interface is important for both software users and the people creating the learning experiences.

Usability

Funny enough, I see how easy it is to adopt these tools. Therefore, I look at any userguiding products they have, like training videos, knowledge base, and manuals.

Integrations

I look at the ways in which the platforms can extend their capabilities by connecting with other apps. These could be other cloud-based SaaS tools like Salesforce, or maybe Microsoft software. Integrations come mainly in 3 types: pre-built, custom, and through a third-party vendor.

Pricing

These tools have high business value. Depending on how you use them, they either increase the value of your software investment or help you keep users for longer. But, you still need to choose one at a price point that makes sense for your business.

What is digital adoption?

Digital adoption is the capacity to learn to use and adopt a new product, whether that is an app, a website, or some other digital product.

Digital adoption is crucial for end-users to have a positive customer experience and the reason why so many companies invest in these platforms to build customizable self-help guides that improve customer success and reduce reliance on customer support tickets and other costly alternatives.

What key features are in digital adoption platforms?

Here are some of the key features I look for when choosing digital adoption software. 

  1. Product tours: Product tours are a type of automation that guide users through your software features from within the app.
  2. Checklists: Checklists keep track of the tasks users need to do to complete onboarding of new technology.
  3. Analytics: Analytics features let you track how people use your app. Use this data to build learning experiences for pain points or track the impact of your efforts. 
  4. No-Code builders: No-code, visual builders make it easy for anyone in your team to create learning experiences for your app.

What is a digital adoption software used for?

A digital adoption platform is a tool with features that encourage people to use the software. It has two main use cases. 

The first is to increase the adoption of the software organizations use in their businesses through onboarding experiences. This ensures companies get maximum value from software investments and is an essential part of digital transformation. It also ensures organizations make the most of the $700 billion spent annually on digital adoption. 

The second use case allows software companies to improve the adoption of their tools. It's especially useful for onboarding new customers or educating existing users about new products. Ultimately, it should lead to a better user experience.

You can use your digital adoption platform alongside product experience management software to improve how people use your tools. 

What Do You Think About This List?

This list includes ten of the best digital adoption platforms, plus a few more thrown in for good measure. 

When deciding on a tool, first choose your use case and look for products with the features you need. You can then take advantage of either free trials or demos to find out more.

For more information about product management, sign up for our newsletter. We send out insightful content every week. You can also check out our list of the best product management tools currently available. 

By Ben Aston

Ben Aston is an online media entrepreneur and founder of Black & White Zebra, an indie media company on a mission to help people and organizations succeed.

Ben applies his expertise in design and strategy to enable businesses to deliver innovative products and services that delight customers. Ben is passionate about understanding customer needs through design research, identifying opportunities based on those insights, and empowering designers and technologists to create solutions. He is driven to develop and uncover new opportunities for clients, establishing strong connections with their customers through product solutions that create lasting value.

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