The Battle for the Best Onboarding Experience Starts Here

In the competitive world of customer onboarding software, the right tool can make or break your user adoption rates. The choice between Saltfish.ai and Userpilot is one that many product managers, SaaS founders, and marketers face. 

Both tools promise smooth onboarding experiences, but they go about it in very different ways. Saltfish.ai specializes in interactive AI-powered video flows that keep users engaged, guide them through your product, and drive conversions. Userpilot, on the other hand, focuses on in-app guidance with tooltips, modals, and walkthroughs.

In this deep dive, we’ll compare Saltfish.ai and Userpilot in terms of features, onboarding styles, integrations, analytics, and support, and we’ll even touch on other well-known tools like Pendo, Appcues, and WalkMe for context.

By the end, you’ll know exactly which tool fits your needs, and why Saltfish.ai is more than just an alternative to Userpilot, it’s a smarter way to turn curious visitors into active, paying customers..

Saltfish.ai: Interactive Video Onboarding That Feels Personal

Saltfish.ai is a new but fast-growing player in the customer onboarding software space. Its core selling point? No-code, interactive videos that live inside your app or on your site, guiding users through signups, product tours, pricing explanations, or feature deep-dives.

With branching flows, localization, and built-in analytics, Saltfish.ai is designed for teams that want to engage users in a more personal and memorable way. And because it’s video-first, it avoids the cluttered look that sometimes comes with too many pop-ups or tooltips.

Here’s what sets it apart:

• No-code builder: Create onboarding flows without a single line of code.

• AI avatars & videos: Personalize onboarding with life-like AI presenters.

• Embedded directly into your product: Keep users engaged without redirecting them elsewhere.

• Smart branching: Tailor the onboarding journey based on user actions.

• Analytics dashboard: See exactly how users interact with your videos and where they drop off.

• Seamless integrations: Connect with your CRM, analytics tools, and more.
  
  
  

Saltfish.ai isn’t just about onboarding, it’s about conversion. The platform turns first-time users into loyal customers by delivering clear, visually engaging guidance that removes friction from the adoption process.

Userpilot: Traditional In-App Onboarding With a Proven Track Record

Userpilot is an established onboarding platform known for tooltips, modals, banners, checklists, and resource centers. It’s widely used by mid-sized and enterprise SaaS companies to create in-app guidance without coding. While Userpilot offers a broad feature set for event-based onboarding, it’s more text-and-popup heavy. For products that need a visually engaging, story-driven approach, the format can feel less dynamic compared to interactive video.

Key capabilities include:

• UI patterns like tooltips, modals, slideouts, and checklists.

• Segmentation & targeting to deliver different flows to different user groups.

• Event-based triggers for contextual onboarding.

• Basic analytics for flow performance tracking.

• Integrations with analytics and customer engagement tools.

While Userpilot is a solid option for traditional onboarding, it lacks the video-first approach and personalized interactivity that Saltfish.ai brings to the table. Its design tools can be powerful for simple walkthroughs, but it doesn’t match Saltfish.ai’s ability to create human-like, engaging video experiences embedded within the product.

Feature Face-Off: Saltfish.ai vs Userpilot

Features & Customization, Engagement vs Event-Driven

Saltfish.ai puts interactivity at the heart of onboarding. With clickable paths, embedded CTAs, and branching storylines, you can tailor the experience based on user choices. It’s ideal for product-led growth teams who want onboarding to feel like a conversation rather than a lecture. Userpilot is more about trigger-based messaging, think: “User visits feature page, show tooltip.” It’s effective for guiding users through discrete tasks, but lacks the narrative immersion of video.

Saltfish.ai is video-first, offering immersive AI-generated flows that make onboarding feel like a conversation, not a lecture. Its branching logic adapts to each user’s needs, reducing friction and increasing product stickiness. Userpilot is UI-pattern-first, relying on tooltips, banners, and modals. While effective for simple tasks, it lacks the dynamic storytelling that makes users feel truly guided.

Both tools integrate with CRMs and analytics platforms, but Saltfish.ai’s integrations are designed to feed data back into your marketing and product teams for deeper personalization. Userpilot’s integrations focus mainly on analytics and NPS tools.

Saltfish.ai’s interactive approach creates a richer, more engaging onboarding journey. Instead of users passively clicking through tooltips, they interact with AI-powered videos that feel like a real conversation. Userpilot’s feature set is robust for traditional onboarding, but it lacks the deep personalization and embedded video experience that makes Saltfish.ai so effective for product-led growth.

Onboarding Styles: Conversational vs Instructional

Think of onboarding styles like teaching styles. Saltfish.ai is the charismatic teacher who draws diagrams on the board, tells stories, and gets students actively participating. Userpilot is the methodical instructor who leaves clear written notes, sets tasks, and checks progress.

Saltfish.ai’s video-first model means your users aren’t just reading, they’re seeing your product in action. That’s a huge psychological difference. In SaaS onboarding, seeing creates confidence faster than reading. The clickable choices within videos make it feel less like “watching” and more like “exploring.”

One practical use case: a FinTech app could use Saltfish.ai to show a quick 2-minute explainer on setting up a first savings goal. The video could branch depending on whether the user is creating a goal for short-term purchases or long-term investments. By the end, the user has already been shown how to do it, not just told.

Userpilot’s tooltip-first approach is fantastic when you need micro-interactions. If your SaaS has a dozen little features that users discover gradually, tooltips can highlight them naturally during use. The downside? The experience can feel scattered, like getting instructions piece by piece instead of as a whole.

Support & Ease of Use

Saltfish.ai’s team (including the founders) actively works with clients to customize onboarding experiences, troubleshoot issues, and suggest improvements. As a new company, they’re highly invested in every customer’s success.

Userpilot provides ticket and email support with helpful documentation. While reliable, it’s a more traditional enterprise support experience.

Bottom Line, Which Should You Choose?

If you want dynamic, interactive onboarding that can live anywhere, Saltfish.ai delivers a more engaging, cost-effective solution, especially for teams that value personalization and creative control.

Userpilot remains a solid choice if you need in-app checklists, tooltips, and banners for guiding users through specific tasks. But for teams ready to turn onboarding into an experience instead of a chore, Saltfish.ai is hard to beat.

Your onboarding experience shapes the first impression users have of your product. Saltfish.ai gives you a modern, interactive, AI-driven approach that builds connection and drives conversions from day one. Try Saltfish.ai today and see how interactive onboarding can transform your product adoption.

FAQs

What is Saltfish.ai?
Saltfish.ai is an AI onboarding tool that generates lifelike avatar videos from text. It helps businesses embed interactive, personalized videos inside their products or websites to guide users, showcase features, and drive conversions.

What is the difference between Saltfish.ai and Userpilot? While both Saltfish.ai and Userpilot are designed to improve onboarding and product adoption, their approaches are very different. Userpilot focuses on traditional in-app experiences: like tooltips, checklists, and modals that guide users step by step. It’s strong on segmentation and analytics but relies on text-based UI elements. Saltfish.ai, on the other hand, is video-first and AI-powered. Instead of static tours, Saltfish generates interactive onboarding videos with avatars, voiceovers, and embedded CTAs that can be tailored to different user segments. This makes onboarding feel more personal, engaging, and memorable. Saltfish is also easier to update, AI can regenerate scripts and videos quickly—while Userpilot requires manual editing of flows. In short, if you want classic UI-driven onboarding, Userpilot works well; but if you’re looking for a modern, video-led experience that captures attention and accelerates activation, Saltfish.ai is the better choice.