Pendo vs WalkMe
Pendo starts from usage analytics and attaches in-app guides to it, with a free plan for up to 500 monthly active users. WalkMe is the category's original guidance platform, now a wholly-owned SAP subsidiary and sold only through a sales process. Teams wanting to try before talking to anyone start with Pendo; large, SAP-centred enterprises look at WalkMe.
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Choose Pendo ifyou want to see real analytics and guides working on up to 500 monthly active users before any sales call, and usage data is your starting point.
Choose WalkMe ifyou are a large enterprise, probably running SAP, that wants the long-established guidance platform and values its integration with SAP's Joule copilot over a self-service start.
Pendo and WalkMe side by side
| Pendo | WalkMe | |
|---|---|---|
| Our digital adoption platform rank | #5 of 11 | #8 of 11 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| Pricing | Free plan up to 500 MAU; Base, Core and Ultimate tiers quoted on request | Quoted; two packages, for employees and for customers |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Free up to 500 monthly active users; paid plans quote only | Quote only |
| Free tier | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
Both are reviewed in full in our digital adoption platform ranking: Pendo and WalkMe.
Where they differ
Pendo 1 · WalkMe 1 · open 3- 01
Trying it without a sales call
Pendo has the only genuinely usable free plan in this category: up to 500 monthly active users with real analytics and in-app guides. WalkMe discloses no pricing and every deployment is sales-led, starting with a demo. If you want hands on the product before a procurement conversation, only Pendo allows it.
Edge: Pendo
- 02
The SAP question
SAP completed its acquisition of WalkMe on 12 September 2024, and the announcement tied WalkMe's AI to SAP's Joule copilot. For an SAP customer that is a reason to shortlist it. WalkMe's site still names Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow and Microsoft Dynamics 365 among supported applications, and offers a dedicated product for SAP GUI. Pendo has no such tie. Which way this cuts depends on your estate.
Depends on the buyer
- 03
What each product leads with
Pendo is analytics-first: product analytics and no-code guides targeted by user or account segment come in every plan, with session replay from Core and surveys on Ultimate. WalkMe leads with guidance across other vendors' applications and adds adoption analytics of its own, covering app discovery, forms, workflows and licence optimisation. Product teams measuring their own software suit Pendo; IT teams covering an application estate suit WalkMe.
Depends on the buyer
- 04
Where guidance can run
WalkMe sells separate packages for employees and for customers and lists a native mobile SDK for iOS and Android, a desktop product for SAP GUI on Windows and a menu that spans web, mobile and desktop. Pendo describes guides for web and mobile applications, including employee-facing ones. If the software your staff struggle with is a Windows desktop client, WalkMe states that coverage.
Edge: WalkMe
- 05
Knowing the cost at scale
Neither tells you. Pendo's paid tiers, Base, Core and Ultimate, are sold on a custom volume of monthly active users and quoted on request, so the free plan is not a price signal. WalkMe's pricing page shows its two packages with a request-a-quote button and no figures. Get a written quote from both before building anything that would be painful to move.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
Neither suits a small software company that wants a printed price list and a card payment. Product Fruits publishes plans from 1,500 monthly active users with a public slider, and UserGuiding publishes Starter and Growth prices from a 2,000 user base.
Pendo or WalkMe: questions
4 answersIs Pendo cheaper than WalkMe?
It cannot be said from published information. Pendo is free up to 500 monthly active users, but every paid tier is quoted on a custom volume.
WalkMe publishes no figures and asks buyers to request a quote. Above Pendo's free limit, you need quotes from both to compare.
Does SAP own WalkMe, and how does that compare with Pendo?
Yes. SAP completed the acquisition on 12 September 2024 and linked WalkMe's AI to its Joule copilot. WalkMe still lists Salesforce, Workday and ServiceNow among the applications it supports. Pendo is not part of SAP and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Should I pick Pendo or WalkMe if I already have an analytics tool?
Pendo leads with its own usage analytics, so a second copy of the same events can add cost and disagreement; decide which tool is the source of truth first.
WalkMe's analytics focus on adoption of other applications, such as workflow completion and licence use, which overlaps less.
What does Pendo's free plan include?
Product analytics and in-app guides for up to 500 monthly active users, plus roadmaps and NPS surveys that carry Pendo branding.
Session replay arrives with the paid Core plan, and sentiment surveys without the branding limits come with Ultimate. WalkMe has no free plan on its pricing page.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Pendo pricing page: Pendo free plan limit and what Base, Core and Ultimate include.
- Pendo in-app guides page: Pendo guides are no-code, segment-targeted, web and mobile.
- WalkMe pricing page: WalkMe packages for employees and customers, mobile SDK, SAP GUI desktop product, no published prices.
- WalkMe home page: WalkMe adoption analytics and the third-party applications it supports.
- WalkMe news release on the SAP acquisition: SAP completed the WalkMe acquisition on 12 September 2024 and the Joule link.