Pendo vs WalkMe vs Jelliflow: Which Onboarding Tool is Right for You?

Pendo and WalkMe are two of the most well-known names in the onboarding and digital adoption space. But they serve very different use cases, and neither may be the right fit for teams that prioritize speed and simplicity.

In this comparison, we'll look at how Pendo, WalkMe, and Jelliflow differ—and help you understand which is right for your specific needs.

Quick Overview

| Aspect | Pendo | WalkMe | Jelliflow | |--------|-------|--------|-----------| | Primary Focus | Product analytics | Enterprise DAP | AI-powered onboarding | | Best For | Analytics-first teams | Large enterprises | Teams wanting speed | | Starting Price | Free (500 MAU) | ~$10K+/year | $99/month | | Setup Time | Days | Weeks-months | 10 minutes | | AI Features | Limited | Limited | Core product | | CSS Selectors | Manual | Manual | Auto-generated |

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Pendo: Analytics First, Onboarding Second

Pendo is primarily a product analytics platform with onboarding capabilities. If you need deep user behavior insights and want basic onboarding in the same tool, Pendo is worth considering.

Who Pendo Is For

• Product teams that need comprehensive analytics
• Companies tracking feature adoption metrics
• Teams that want roadmap management features
• Mid-market to enterprise SaaS companies

Key Strengths

• Industry-leading analytics: Event tracking, funnels, retention analysis
• Feature tagging: Track which features users engage with
• Roadmap management: Capture and prioritize feedback
• Free tier: Up to 500 MAUs (limited features)
• Established vendor: Used by thousands of companies

Limitations

• Onboarding is secondary: Not as feature-rich as dedicated tools
• Complex setup: Days of implementation work
• Manual CSS selectors: You identify elements manually
• Expensive at scale: Custom pricing, typically $500+/month
• No AI-powered creation: Build everything manually

Pricing

• Free: 500 MAUs, limited features
• Growth: Custom pricing (typically $500+/month)
• Portfolio: Custom pricing (enterprise)

Best Use Case

Product teams at larger companies who need deep analytics and basic onboarding. If analytics is your priority and onboarding is a nice-to-have, Pendo makes sense.

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WalkMe: Enterprise Digital Adoption Platform

WalkMe is a digital adoption platform (DAP) designed for large enterprises. It handles both customer onboarding and employee training, particularly for complex internal applications.

Who WalkMe Is For

• Large enterprises (1000+ employees)
• Companies rolling out Salesforce, SAP, Workday
• Organizations with complex digital transformation needs
• Teams with dedicated adoption/enablement staff

Key Strengths

• Most comprehensive DAP: Handles any use case at scale
• Employee + customer: Works for both audiences
• Multi-platform: Web, desktop, mobile support
• Workflow automation: Beyond just guidance
• Enterprise features: Security, compliance, SSO, audit logs

Limitations

• Very expensive: $10,000-$100,000+/year
• Complex implementation: Weeks to months
• Requires dedicated resources: Not self-service
• Overkill for SaaS: Built for enterprise complexity
• No AI-powered creation: Manual building throughout

Pricing

• Custom enterprise pricing only
• Typically $10,000-$100,000+/year depending on scope
• Usually requires professional services

Best Use Case

Large enterprises with complex digital adoption needs across multiple internal and external applications, with budget and staff to support long implementations.

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Jelliflow: AI-Powered Speed

Jelliflow takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of being the most comprehensive or most analytical, it focuses on being the fastest and easiest way to ship user onboarding.

Who Jelliflow Is For

• Teams that want to ship onboarding in minutes, not days
• Product managers who don't want to depend on engineering
• Companies frustrated with CSS selector maintenance
• Startups and mid-market SaaS companies

Key Strengths

• AI-powered creation: Record journey, AI generates the flow
• 10-minute setup: From signup to live onboarding
• No CSS selectors: Auto-generated with fallback alternatives
• PM independence: No engineering tickets needed
• Affordable: $99/month starting price
• "Jelli" assistant: Chat to refine flows in natural language

Limitations

• Newer platform: Less established than Pendo/WalkMe
• Fewer integrations: Growing but smaller library
• No deep analytics: Use with separate analytics tool
• Customer-focused: Not for employee training
• SaaS-focused: Web applications, not desktop

Pricing

• 14-Day Trial: Full Pro features free
• Starter: $99/month (2,500 MAUs)
• Pro: $299/month (10,000 MAUs)
• Business: $799/month (50,000 MAUs)

Best Use Case

Teams that prioritize speed and ease over comprehensiveness. If you want to ship onboarding today, not next quarter, Jelliflow is the fastest path.

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Feature Comparison

Onboarding Components

| Feature | Pendo | WalkMe | Jelliflow | |---------|-------|--------|-----------| | Tooltips | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Modals | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Checklists | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Banners | Limited | Yes | Yes | | Smart Walkthrough | No | Yes | Yes (AI) | | Email triggers | No | Yes | Yes |

Analytics & Tracking

| Feature | Pendo | WalkMe | Jelliflow | |---------|-------|--------|-----------| | Event tracking | Excellent | Good | Good | | Funnel analysis | Excellent | Good | Basic | | Feature adoption | Excellent | Good | Basic | | Retention analysis | Excellent | Limited | Basic | | Real-time data | Yes | Yes | Yes |

Setup & Ease of Use

| Feature | Pendo | WalkMe | Jelliflow | |---------|-------|--------|-----------| | Time to first flow | Days | Weeks | 10 minutes | | CSS selector work | Manual | Manual | Auto | | Engineering needed | Some | Yes | No | | AI-powered creation | No | No | Yes | | Self-service | Mostly | No | Yes |

Enterprise Features

| Feature | Pendo | WalkMe | Jelliflow | |---------|-------|--------|-----------| | SSO | Yes | Yes | Business plan | | SOC 2 | Yes | Yes | In progress | | Role-based access | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Audit logs | Yes | Yes | Business plan | | SLA | Enterprise | Yes | Business plan |

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Cost Comparison

For a team with 10,000 monthly active users:

| Tool | Estimated Annual Cost | |------|----------------------| | Pendo | $6,000 - $15,000+ | | WalkMe | $20,000 - $50,000+ | | Jelliflow | $2,868 (Pro annual) |

Note: Pendo and WalkMe prices vary significantly based on features and negotiation. These are rough estimates based on market data.

The price difference is significant, but so is what you're getting:

• Pendo: Deep analytics + basic onboarding
• WalkMe: Comprehensive DAP for any use case
• Jelliflow: Fast, AI-powered customer onboarding

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How to Choose

Choose Pendo If:

• Product analytics is your primary need
• You want onboarding as an add-on to analytics
• You have budget for enterprise pricing
• You can dedicate time to setup and configuration
• Feature adoption tracking is critical

Choose WalkMe If:

• You're a large enterprise with complex needs
• You need both employee and customer onboarding
• You're rolling out Salesforce, SAP, or similar
• You have dedicated adoption staff and budget
• Comprehensive digital adoption is the goal

Choose Jelliflow If:

• Speed to market is your priority
• You're tired of writing CSS selectors
• Product managers want to own onboarding
• You want AI to do the heavy lifting
• You need onboarding live in days, not months

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The Modern Approach

Here's the thing: Pendo and WalkMe were built for a different era. They assumed:

• Engineering would be involved in implementation
• Setup taking weeks was acceptable
• Manual CSS selector work was unavoidable
• Comprehensive meant better

For many teams today, those assumptions don't hold. You don't have weeks for implementation. Your PMs want to ship without engineering help. And you'd rather have something live and iterating than perfect and delayed.

Jelliflow was built for this reality:

• Record instead of build: Click through your app once, AI does the rest
• Auto-selectors instead of manual: No CSS knowledge needed
• Minutes instead of weeks: Ship your first flow today
• Iterate instead of plan: Test and improve in real-time

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The Bottom Line

| Need | Best Choice | |------|-------------| | Deep product analytics | Pendo | | Enterprise digital adoption | WalkMe | | Fast, AI-powered onboarding | Jelliflow |

If you're a large enterprise with complex needs and big budgets, Pendo and WalkMe are proven choices.

If you're a team that wants to ship onboarding in minutes, test different approaches quickly, and iterate without engineering dependencies—Jelliflow is worth trying.

Ready to see how fast onboarding can be? Start your free 14-day trial →

No CSS selectors. No weeks of setup. Just record, generate, and publish.