Whatfix
Enterprise guidance with Flows, Smart Tips, Self Help, Mirror simulations and Product Analytics. Whatfix covers web, desktop, mobile and Citrix, including employee rollouts. Pricing is quote-based: a flat fee plus user license fees.
Compare
Whatfix alternative: Cues decide when; HelpAlive decides what
Whatfix is an enterprise digital adoption platform with guidance and automated steps. HelpAlive is an AI product expert: it lives inside your app, answers users' questions, builds guides on the fly from your docs and the page they're on, and does the steps for them. The difference is how the guidance is prepared for the user's task. Someone who has already completed most of a setup may need help with just one step. In Whatfix, your team prepares and publishes a Flow. Branching rules can tailor the path, and Cues can deliver help at the right moment, but the steps and conditions still need to be configured. HelpAlive generates the guide at runtime for that user and the task they just asked about, on the page they are on. It works on any web app in the browser and does not replace Whatfix's desktop, mobile or sandbox-training tools.
What each is for
HelpAlive
Personalized help inside the SaaS product you sell, for your own users. Your published documentation and the current page supply the context; HelpAlive guides the user or does the steps for them. You control guidance or permitted actions per customer account and per user.
Side by side
| Comparison | Whatfix | HelpAlive |
|---|---|---|
| Who authors the guide | A person, in Whatfix Studio, published through Draft, Ready and Production. The Authoring Agent drafts a Flow "for you to then edit and configure". | Nobody. Every guide is generated at runtime for that user, from your docs and the page they are on. |
| Covers a task nobody wrote a guide for | No. Cues (beta) open an existing Flow when their rules are met; the Flow has to be built and published first. | Yes. There are no pre-built guides, so nothing is missing from a library. |
| Answers a question mid-task | Self Help and the Guidance Agent answer from documentation, beside the Flow. Pausing a Flow to ask about the step in front of you is not described on its site. | Yes. The user can pause a guide, ask about the control in front of them, then continue. |
| Does the steps for the user | Yes, on steps an author set to Automated inside a published Flow. | Yes, on the steps of a generated guide, when you allow actions. |
| Setup | A JavaScript embed in your app's code, or a browser extension rolled out through IT policy; then author Flows in Studio. | One script plus identify(), then connect your documentation. Guides work on the first page a user opens. |
Cues decide when; HelpAlive decides what
The Authoring Agent drafts a Flow for a person to edit and publish. Cues, currently in beta, decide when that existing Flow appears. HelpAlive creates the walkthrough when a user asks, using your published documentation and their current page.
The same split runs through automation. Whatfix Flow Automation can "automatically perform certain steps of a Flow for your end users" (Auto Click, Auto Input, Auto Select) on steps an author marked Automated. HelpAlive clicks, fills fields and scrolls through a generated guide when you allow actions, handing user-only steps back to the user.
Choose Whatfix when
- You need desktop, mobile or Citrix coverage.
- You want Mirror sandbox training or a product analytics suite.
- Fixed tips, task lists and authored processes need targeting and predefined automated steps.
Choose HelpAlive when
- Your own users need walkthroughs for tasks nobody wrote a Flow for.
- You want permitted actions, with controls for each customer account and user.
- You want guidance that uses the current page without republishing a Flow.
Keep Whatfix where it fits
Keep Whatfix for employee rollouts and fixed processes that benefit from authored Flows. Add HelpAlive inside the product you sell for customer how-to questions, using its own script.
Read what an AI product expert is, see the features, or watch a demo.
Frequently asked questions
Can we keep our employee guidance and add HelpAlive?
Yes. Keep Whatfix for employee rollouts on software your company uses. HelpAlive goes inside the product you sell, for its own users; it has no browser extension for third-party software.
Is Whatfix's automation the same thing?
Not necessarily. Whatfix automates steps an author marked inside a published Flow. HelpAlive builds the walkthrough from your docs and current page, then performs permitted steps and returns user-only steps to the user.