Candu

Candu is a web-based platform for creating branded onboarding, adoption and upgrade guidance inside a product. It suits growth product managers, designers and developers who need targeted experiences across a web interface. The strongest case is a team that wants more than simple tours; teams needing mobile app support or inline content on a lower-cost plan should look elsewhere.

Overview

Candu combines in-product prompts with fuller guidance such as tours, walkthroughs and onboarding checklists. Experiences can be segmented by user, adjusted with responsive design and CSS controls, and published in real time. Reusable components help maintain a consistent product language across campaigns. The main implementation qualification is technical: the product must receive Candu’s JavaScript snippet in its header, so a developer is needed for launch even though the builder itself is no-code.

Its AI can generate in-product UI from a written prompt, screenshot or design. Because the resulting work can be reviewed and edited before publishing, the feature is best viewed as a production shortcut rather than automatic release control. Candu also supplies user and content analytics, engagement measurement and A/B testing. A/B testing is confined to Enterprise, limiting experimentation for smaller teams.

Key features

• Broad experience formats: Inline and overlay experiences cover checklists, homepages, banners, empty states, modals, forms and hotspots, as well as tours. This supports coordinated onboarding and upgrade messaging, but inline formats start only with Growth.
• Targeting and design control: Segmentation, reusable components, responsive behavior and CSS styling let teams tailor guidance to audiences while preserving their product’s visual system.
• AI-assisted creation: A prompt, screenshot or design can become a draft interface for review, editing and publication. That can reduce repetitive setup without removing editorial oversight.
• Measurement: User and content analytics and engagement metrics help teams judge whether guidance is being used. A/B testing is an Enterprise capability, not a lower-tier inclusion.
• Integrations: Starter includes integrations and webhooks, and Candu connects with analytics providers. These connections matter for teams that need product-guidance activity in a wider measurement workflow.
• Reliability and security: Candu states a 99.9% SLA, TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 encryption at rest and a SOC 2 Type II audit covering December 2023 through November 2024. Its SDK fails open if the service cannot be reached, reducing the risk that unavailable guidance blocks the product.
• Data handling: Customer data is stored in AWS eu-west-1 by default, Candu says it does not require or actively collect personally identifiable information, and it deletes data within 30 days of contract termination.

Pricing

Candu uses a freemium structure with a 14-day trial. The Free plan costs nothing and permits overlays only, three live experiences and unlimited user licenses. It is a sensible way to trial basic prompts, but the experience cap and lack of inline formats make it unsuitable for a broad onboarding program.

Starter costs $199 a month, billed annually. It remains overlay-only but removes limits on modals, hotspots and tours and adds segmentation, analytics, integrations and webhooks. This is the practical tier for a web product focused on targeted overlay guidance and willing to commit to annual billing.

Growth costs $799 a month, billed annually. It adds inline experiences, banners, checklists, forms, empty states and homepages, along with unlimited workspaces and goal tracking. A dedicated customer success manager and Slack support make it the better fit for multiple teams or a more operationally important adoption program, though the price is a substantial step up from Starter.

Enterprise has custom pricing. It adds A/B testing, a CMS, SSO, custom contracts and SLAs, 10 service hours per quarter, premium support and volume discounts. Those requirements justify a sales-led arrangement; smaller teams should not choose it solely for features already absent from the lower plans.

Platforms

Candu runs on the web and is delivered through a browser extension and JavaScript integration. It does not support mobile apps, so products whose primary onboarding surface is iOS or Android need another tool.

Who it's for

Candu is aimed at growth product managers, designers and developers working on onboarding, product adoption and product-led growth. Starter fits a focused web product using overlays; Growth fits organizations that need inline guidance, varied formats and several workspaces; Enterprise fits teams requiring SSO, formal service terms or advanced experimentation. It is a poor match for a mobile-first product or for a team that cannot add a header snippet.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Many guidance formats: The combination of tours, checklists, prompts and inline states covers more journeys than a tour-only utility.
• Strong brand control: Reusable components, segmentation, responsive design and CSS controls support product-specific presentation.
• Operational safeguards: A 99.9% SLA, fail-open SDK behavior and stated encryption standards reduce deployment risk.
• Useful support escalation: Growth includes a dedicated customer success manager and Slack channel.

Cons

• Lower tiers are overlay-only: Inline onboarding and several important formats require the $799 Growth plan.
• Annual commitment: Starter and Growth prices are billed annually, which raises the commitment for teams still validating demand.
• Developer setup remains necessary: The JavaScript header snippet prevents a completely non-technical rollout.
• No mobile apps: Candu cannot serve native iOS or Android onboarding.
• Testing is gated: A/B testing appears only in Enterprise.

Alternatives

Wakeline is the better choice when Android and iOS support matters, with web and extension coverage as well; its Free plan allows three flows, 1,000 monthly active users and one teammate, while Pro is $41.00 per month billed annually.

Clew suits teams wanting self-hosting, with a Free plan for one site, one seat and up to three published tours, plus a $14.99-per-month Pro plan.

Driver.js is a free option for unlimited projects and personal or commercial use, with Android, iOS and web platforms.

Guidez offers extension, web and API delivery; its free Hobby plan includes 100 MAU per month, one team member and one environment, while Pro costs $79.00 per month.

Tour Kit is a web-focused paid product whose free development and evaluation use requires a license for production.

Guida.js is a free, MIT-licensed web library of about 4.8kB minified and gzipped with no external dependencies.

Usertour is worth considering when open-source deployment matters: its MIT-licensed core is public and can be self-hosted with Docker, with Starter at $59.00 per month billed monthly.

Appcues is a paid alternative with Android, iOS, API, extension and web support; its Start plan covers up to 3,000 MAUs and 10 published experiences, with Grow beginning at 3,000 MAUs.

For broader comparisons, see User Onboarding Software, Digital Adoption Platforms and Product Adoption Software.

Verdict

Choose Candu when a web product needs branded, segmented onboarding and adoption guidance in several formats, and when Growth or Enterprise pricing is justified by inline content, workspaces or governance. Its design controls, analytics and fail-open delivery are compelling for product-led teams. Look elsewhere if mobile support, a lightweight implementation or low-cost inline experiences are non-negotiable.