Should I Choose Userflow or Tandem for Product Onboarding?

Updated February 02, 2026

TL;DR: Userflow excels at creating linear onboarding checklists and guided tours for straightforward product flows. Just under two thirds of users complete tours they start, but complexity kills completion rates. Tandem functions as an embedded AI agent that sees what users see and provides contextual help by explaining, guiding, or doing actions for them based on each situation. Choose Userflow for traditional tours and checklists. Choose Tandem if you're solving high volumes of complex, level 2 support tickets in B2B products where users need an agent to complete work, not just learn how.

Your support team drowns in complex, level 2 support tickets while users abandon during complex onboarding workflows. You've tried product tours, but only a fraction of users complete them. Traditional digital adoption platforms point to UI elements but don't help users complete the actual work. Users need assistance from AI agents that finish tasks, not just instructions on how to do them.

This comparison examines two fundamentally different approaches to product adoption. Userflow represents the best of traditional guided tours with modern no-code tooling and AI-generated content. Tandem represents a different category entirely, an embedded AI agent that understands user context and can explain features, guide through workflows, or execute tasks directly when that's the most helpful path.

Executive Summary: The Shift From Guided Tours to Contextual Action

The core question isn't which platform has more features. Ask yourself whether you want to build flows for users or give users an agent that works with them.

Userflow optimizes the guided tour model. You build beautiful onboarding checklists, tooltips, and step-by-step walkthroughs using a no-code builder. Users who follow the tour learn where features live and how workflows operate. The platform now includes an AI agent powered by GPT-4o that answers questions by searching your knowledge base and documentation. It's a well-executed traditional DAP with modern AI-enhanced content creation.

andem operates differently. It's an embedded AI agent that sees the user's actual screen state, understands their context and goals, and provides appropriate help. Sometimes that means explaining why a feature matters. Sometimes that means guiding step-by-step through a non-linear workflow. Sometimes that means executing the task directly, filling forms and configuring settings while the user watches. At Aircall, activation for self-serve accounts rose 20% because Tandem understood user context and provided appropriate help rather than forcing everyone through the same pre-defined tour.

Core Philosophy: User Flows vs. User Journeys

User flows describe specific, discrete interactions that make up a common pathway through a product, like signing up for email updates or updating a profile picture. User journeys describe holistic, high-level experiences across channels and over time. This distinction reveals the fundamental difference between these platforms.

Userflow optimizes for flows. You define a linear path, users follow it, completion tracking shows who finished.

This approach works beautifully for straightforward onboarding where most users have similar needs and the happy path serves 80%+ of cases. The platform's strength lies in its no-code builder, which lets product teams create and update tours without engineering involvement.

This approach hits limits when users deviate from the expected path. If a user already completed step three before starting your tour, or if they have different permission levels that change which UI elements appear, or if their account has unique data states that alter the workflow, pre-built tours struggle to adapt. According to research on product tour completion rates, three-step tours see 72% completion, but seven-step tours drop to just 16% completion. Complexity kills engagement with static tours.

Tandem focuses on journeys. Instead of forcing users into a pre-defined flow, we meet them wherever they are in their non-linear reality. The AI sees the actual screen state in real-time, understands user context, and adapts its help accordingly. When users encounter friction, they describe what they're trying to accomplish. Tandem responds by explaining, guiding, or executing based on what that specific user needs in that specific moment. At Qonto, this approach helped over 100,000 users discover and activate paid features like insurance and card upgrades by providing contextual assistance rather than generic tours.

Feature Deep Dive: Comparing Capabilities Head-to-Head

Userflow: Best-in-Class for Linear Onboarding Checklists

Userflow delivers what traditional DAPs promise. The no-code builder lets product teams create onboarding experiences without writing code. You point and click to target elements, define the sequence, write copy, and publish. Users praise the CSS selector technology that handles complex UIs smoothly, noting you're not constantly pushing unique IDs into your application just to target elements for tours.

The AI features focus on content creation and search. AI Rephrase polishes in-app copy, AI Translation handles multiple languages, and Smartflow generates onboarding flows automatically from your clicks. The AI agent provides automated answers by learning from your website, help center, and documentation. When users ask questions, the agent searches your knowledge base and delivers factual information through a chat interface. If it doesn't know the answer, it refers customers to your support team rather than hallucinating responses.

Pricing starts at $240 per month for 3,000 monthly active users on annual billing, with Pro plans at $680 per month for 10,000 MAUs. The platform charges for additional MAU bundles and AI message capacity as usage scales.

What Userflow doesn't do: Userflow points to UI elements but doesn't interact with them. It explains workflows but doesn't complete them. When users encounter complex multi-field forms requiring technical decisions they don't understand, Userflow shows which fields to fill, but users still carry the cognitive burden of figuring out what to enter and why.

Tandem: The AI Copilot That Explains, Guides, and Executes

Tandem operates as an embedded AI agent that appears as a side panel in your application. You add a JavaScript snippet once, no backend integration required. When users encounter friction, they describe their goal. Tandem processes the request using full context about what's on screen, who the user is, and what they've already tried.

The platform's differentiation comes from three capabilities working together:

Explain: Sometimes users don't need task completion, they need understanding. At Carta (a platform serving over 40,000 companies whose employees access the platform), workers need explanations about equity value and how features impact their financial situation. Tandem provides contextual explanations based on each user's specific circumstances, helping them understand concepts rather than just complete actions.

Guide: When users need direction through complex workflows, Tandem provides step-by-step guidance that adapts to what they're actually seeing. Unlike static tours that break when users deviate from the expected path, Tandem's guidance responds to the real-time screen state and adjusts as users progress.

Execute: For repetitive configuration tasks or complex multi-field forms, Tandem can handle the work directly. It fills fields, clicks buttons, navigates interfaces, and completes multi-step workflows while users watch. At Qonto, this execution capability drove feature activation for processes like account aggregation, which jumped from 8% to 16% activation.

The key architectural difference is screen awareness. Tandem sees what the user sees in real-time, with no pre-indexed knowledge base to maintain. It responds to actual on-screen state rather than cached data, allowing it to handle dynamic interfaces and user-specific contexts that would break pre-defined tours. Tandem adapts to most interface changes automatically, reducing technical overhead so teams focus on content refinement.

Product teams configure experiences through playbooks (no-code instructions that teach Tandem about your product workflows) and deploy in days rather than weeks. Like all in-app guidance platforms, the real work is configuring experiences and writing content. Teams continuously refine messages and targeting as products evolve, but focus on content quality rather than fixing technical issues when UIs change.

AI Capabilities: Generative Text vs. Screen-Aware Execution

Both platforms incorporate AI, but for fundamentally different purposes.

Userflow's AI enhances tour creation and content search. The AI features help teams build faster (Smartflow auto-generates flows from recorded clicks), write better copy (AI Rephrase polishes messaging), and provide instant answers (AI agent searches documentation). It's RAG-based architecture, meaning it retrieves relevant content from your knowledge base and generates responses. This works well for documentation search and content optimization, but the AI cannot see what users see on screen or take actions on their behalf.

Tandem's AI understands context and executes tasks. The architecture is screen-aware, meaning it processes the actual DOM state, understands element relationships, and can interact with UI components. When a user says "help me connect Salesforce," Tandem doesn't just search documentation about Salesforce integration. It sees which step of the integration flow the user is on, what they've already configured, what's missing, and can guide them through authentication, field mapping, and testing while executing repetitive steps.

The architectural difference matters for complex products. If your onboarding includes multi-step integrations, permission configurations, or data setup requiring technical knowledge, execution capabilities provide value that explanation alone cannot deliver.

Implementation: Speed to Value

Both platforms require JavaScript snippet installation (under an hour for technical setup) and ongoing content management as your product evolves. The difference lies in speed to first value and where teams spend time after launch.

Userflow teams build tours step-by-step using the no-code interface. You define targeting rules, create content, and test experiences. Users report the CSS selector technology eliminates worrying about elements' text or selectors, you just point and click what to target. Most teams deploy first tours within weeks.

Tandem teams configure playbooks through a no-code interface, defining which workflows to target and what help to provide. Users report Tandem helps them complete onboarding 3x faster compared to traditional approaches. Most teams deploy first experiences within days.

Like all digital adoption platforms, both require continuous content work. Teams write messages, refine targeting, and update as products evolve. This ongoing content management is universal. You'll own this work regardless of platform choice.

ROI Analysis: Measuring Deflection and Activation Impact

Support operations leaders measure success through ticket deflection and activation rates, not feature counts.

Baseline reality: Only 36-38% of SaaS users successfully activate, leaving 62-64% who never reach their aha moment. Product tours help some users, but completion rates drop dramatically with complexity. Three-step tours see 72% completion, but seven-step tours drop to 16%. The users who abandon tours become support tickets.

Userflow's impact comes from guiding users who are willing to follow structured paths. For products with straightforward onboarding, checklists and tours improve completion rates meaningfully. The AI agent deflects documentation searches and common questions. However, the platform's tour-based approach inherently serves the segment of users patient enough to read and follow instructions, typically 5-25% depending on tour length and complexity.

Tandem's impact targets the users who abandon traditional tours. At Aircall, activation rose 20% for self-serve accounts because users got help completing work, not just instructions on how to do it. At Sellsy (a European CRM platform), Tandem guided users through complex onboarding flows that previously required human intervention.

The math for a typical support operations scenario:

If your product has 10,000 annual signups, 35% baseline activation, and $800 average contract value, lifting activation to 42% (20% relative improvement like Aircall achieved) generates 700 incremental activations worth $560,000 in new annual recurring revenue. Even a 10% activation improvement delivers $280,000 in new ARR.

On the deflection side, if your support team handles 5,000 tickets monthly at $15 cost per ticket ($75,000 monthly support cost), deflecting 20% of complex, level 2 support tickets saves $15,000 monthly or $180,000 annually. Combined with activation improvement, the ROI case becomes compelling for complex B2B products.

Final Verdict: Which Solution Fits Your Support Ops Strategy?

The platforms serve different needs and product types.

Choose Userflow if:

• Your product has straightforward, linear onboarding where most users follow similar paths

• You want traditional tours, checklists, and progress tracking

• You need AI-powered documentation search and content generation tools

• Your budget favors transparent, published pricing starting at $240 monthly

• Your team can handle standard content updates as your product evolves

Choose Tandem if:

• Your product has complex, multi-step workflows where users get stuck despite documentation

• You face high volumes of complex, level 2 support tickets consuming your support capacity

• You need contextual assistance that adapts to user situations rather than forcing everyone through identical tours

• You want execution capabilities for repetitive configuration tasks

• You're solving activation problems in mid-market to enterprise B2B products

The honest assessment: Userflow is a mature, well-executed traditional DAP with modern AI content features. Tandem represents a different approach entirely, treating the adoption problem as helping users complete work rather than teaching users how to work. For products with genuine complexity and high support burden, execution capabilities address root causes that tours alone cannot solve.

See Tandem execute your most complex workflow. Schedule a 20-minute demo where we show Tandem guiding users through your actual onboarding workflow. You'll see how explain, guide, and execute modes adapt to different user contexts.

Specific FAQs

What is the typical completion rate for product tours? Just under two thirds of users complete tours they start, but rates vary dramatically. Three-step tours achieve 72% completion while seven-step tours drop to 16%. Launcher-driven tours reach 67% completion compared to 31% for tours triggered after delays.

Can Userflow execute tasks on behalf of users? No. Userflow creates guided tours, checklists, and provides AI-powered documentation search, but it does not interact with UI elements or complete actions for users. It points to where users should click but doesn't perform the clicks.

Does Tandem work on mobile apps? Not currently. Tandem is web-only. iOS and Android native app support is not available.

What happens when Tandem can't resolve a user's issue? When the AI cannot resolve an issue, Tandem hands off to human support with full context of what's been tried, allowing your support team to pick up efficiently rather than starting from scratch.

How long does implementation take for each platform? Technical setup (JavaScript snippet) takes under an hour for both. Userflow teams typically deploy first tours within weeks. Tandem teams typically deploy first experiences within days. Both require ongoing content work as products evolve.

What is Tandem's pricing model? Tandem uses custom pricing targeting mid-market deployments. Pricing is not published and requires sales conversations based on user volume, complexity, and needs.

Key Terms Glossary

Activation Rate: The percentage of users who reach a defined "aha moment" or complete key setup steps. Industry baseline sits at 36-38% for B2B SaaS. Target varies by product but typically 50%+ for well-optimized experiences.

Digital Adoption Platform (DAP): Software that overlays on applications to guide users through workflows, typically using tooltips, tours, and checklists. Traditional DAPs point to UI elements without executing actions.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation): AI agent architecture that searches a knowledge base for relevant content, then generates responses based on retrieved information. Used by AI agents for documentation search.

User Flow: Specific, discrete interactions that make up a common pathway through a product, focused on accomplishing a short-term objective like completing signup or updating settings.

User Journey: Holistic, high-level experience across channels and over time, capturing emotions, thoughts, and motivations rather than just individual steps.

Ticket Deflection Rate: Percentage of potential support tickets resolved via self-service rather than human agents. Target typically 30-50% for mature support operations.

Cost Per Ticket: Total support spend divided by ticket volume. Target varies by average contract value but typically $5-25 for efficient operations. Used to measure support efficiency.

Contextual Intelligence: The ability to understand user context (who they are, what they're trying to do, what they see on screen) and provide appropriate help in the moment. This capability differentiates modern AI agents from static guidance and enables higher deflection rates by addressing individual user situations rather than showing generic instructions.