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Customer Success · head to head

Appcues vs Heap

Appcues logo

Appcues

Customer Success

In-app onboarding flows and product announcements built without engineering time

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Heap logo

Heap

Technology

Product analytics for the modern product team

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Heap has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Appcues appcues no longer publishes any prices; the pricing page shows tiers and limits but no dollar figures, so what used to be a self-serve purchase now requires a sales call and there is no way to compare cost against alternatives before contact.; Heap no built-in A/B testing or feature flags; requires integration with separate tools for experimentation
  • They diverge on capability: Appcues covers No-code flow builder, Heap covers Autocapture.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Appcues and Heap actually diverge.

Attributes where Appcues and Heap differ
AttributeAppcuesHeap
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
CategoryCustomer SuccessTechnology
FoundedUnknown2013

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Appcues

  • No-code flow builder
  • Onboarding checklists
  • Segmentation and targeting
  • NPS and in-app surveys
  • Mobile SDK
  • Experience analytics
  • Workflows
  • A/B testing of flows

Only in Heap

  • Autocapture
  • Retroactive analytics
  • Session replay
  • Funnel analysis
  • User segmentation
  • Path analysis
  • Data science
  • Virtual events

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Appcues

  • A SaaS company whose trial-to-paid conversion stalls because new users never reach the action that demonstrates valuenot Heap
  • A product team shipping a significant feature that needs an in-app announcement and walkthrough on launch day, not three sprints laternot Heap
  • A customer success team wanting to replace repetitive onboarding calls with a self-serve checklist for smaller accountsnot Heap
  • A team that needs contextual NPS or feedback prompts targeted at users who have actually used the feature in questionnot Heap

Heap

  • User behavior analysisnot Appcues
  • Conversion optimizationnot Appcues
  • Product adoptionnot Appcues
  • Customer journey mappingnot Appcues
  • A/B testing analysisnot Appcues

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Appcues

  • Appcues no longer publishes any prices; the pricing page shows tiers and limits but no dollar figures, so what used to be a self-serve purchase now requires a sales call and there is no way to compare cost against alternatives before contact.
  • Published experience caps bite well before user limits do: Start allows only 10 live experiences and Grow only 25, so a mature product with tooltips across many features hits the upgrade trigger regardless of how many users it has.
  • Flows are DOM overlays pointed at elements in your live application, so a front-end refactor or a class name change silently breaks a walkthrough, and nobody notices until activation metrics drop.
  • Pricing scales with monthly active users, which means cost rises as the product succeeds, whether or not the additional users ever see an Appcues experience; the bill tracks your growth, not the tool’s contribution.
  • The platform reports on its own influence, so completion and goal metrics attribute activation to the flow without a proper counterfactual; justifying renewal on Appcues’ own numbers is circular unless you run holdout groups yourself.

Heap

  • No built-in A/B testing or feature flags; requires integration with separate tools for experimentation
  • Group analytics and advanced features require a sales conversation, not self-serve
  • Cloud-only deployment; no self-hosted option for data security or compliance requirements
  • Session replay lacks developer debugging tools compared to PostHog
  • Pricing for Growth and Pro plans requires direct sales contact; no transparency on how pricing scales

Pricing, plan by plan

Appcues

On request
  • Start$undefined/month
    • Up to 3,000 monthly active users
    • 10 published experiences
    • 12 months reporting history
  • Grow$undefined/month
    • From 3,000 monthly active users upward
    • 25 published experiences
    • 24 months reporting history
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom monthly active user volumes
    • 100 published experiences
    • 36 months reporting history
  • Spark$undefined/month
    • Programme for teams under 25 people
    • Intended for a first set of in-app experiences
    • Terms quoted on application

Heap

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 10,000 monthly sessions
    • Basic charts
    • 6 months data history
  • Growth$undefined/custom
    • Custom session pricing
    • Sense AI assistant
    • 12 months data history
  • Pro$undefined/custom
    • Custom session pricing
    • Account analytics
    • Engagement matrix
  • Premier$undefined/custom
    • Custom session pricing
    • Data warehouse integration
    • Unlimited projects

Which should you pick?

Choose Appcues if

  • You need no-code flow builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want onboarding checklists.
Appcues review

Choose Heap if

  • You need autocapture.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want retroactive analytics.
Heap review

Questions people ask

Is Appcues or Heap better?
Neither clearly leads. Appcues starts at On request and Heap at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Appcues or Heap?
Heap has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Appcues and Free for Heap.
Does Appcues or Heap run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Heap for free?
Yes. Heap has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Appcues starts at On request.
What is Appcues best used for?
Appcues is most often used for a saas company whose trial-to-paid conversion stalls because new users never reach the action that demonstrates value, a product team shipping a significant feature that needs an in-app announcement and walkthrough on launch day, not three sprints later, a customer success team wanting to replace repetitive onboarding calls with a self-serve checklist for smaller accounts, a team that needs contextual nps or feedback prompts targeted at users who have actually used the feature in question. Of those, a saas company whose trial-to-paid conversion stalls because new users never reach the action that demonstrates value and a product team shipping a significant feature that needs an in-app announcement and walkthrough on launch day, not three sprints later are not what Heap is typically brought in for.
What can Appcues do that Heap cannot?
Appcues covers No-code flow builder, Onboarding checklists, Segmentation and targeting, NPS and in-app surveys. Heap covers Autocapture, Retroactive analytics, Session replay, Funnel analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Appcues: How much does Appcues cost?

It no longer publishes prices. Start, Grow and Enterprise tiers show monthly active user limits and experience caps but no dollar amounts, and each routes to a call or a trial.

Heap: What does Heap's autocapture feature do?

Heap's autocapture is a single code snippet that automatically captures every click, swipe, tap, pageview, and form fill on your website and apps without requiring manual event setup. Once installed, Heap captures the entire digital experience of every user on every platform with no ongoing engineering maintenance needed.

Source
Appcues: Do I need a developer to install it?

A developer installs the snippet or SDK once and maps user properties. After that, building flows genuinely requires no engineering time.

Heap: What are Heap's pricing plans and how much do they cost?

Heap offers a Free plan for up to 10,000 monthly sessions. Growth, Pro, and Premier plans use custom session-based pricing that requires contacting sales for a quote. Free includes basic charts and 6 months data history. Growth adds the Sense AI assistant. Pro adds account analytics. Premier adds data warehouse integration and dedicated customer success management.

Source
Appcues: What breaks flows?

Front-end changes. Because experiences are anchored to elements in your live DOM, refactors and renamed selectors break walkthroughs silently.

Heap: Does Heap include session replay and A/B testing?

Heap includes integrated session replay showing exactly what users did on your site. However, Heap does not include built-in A/B testing or feature flags. Teams requiring these capabilities must use separate tools or integrate with third-party platforms.

Source
Appcues: What is the Spark programme?

A route for teams under 25 people shipping their first in-app experiences. Terms are quoted on application rather than listed.

Heap: What integrations does Heap support?

Heap supports over 100 integrations connecting to business tools including marketing platforms, CRMs, and data warehouses. This allows insights to reach relevant teams and ensures data flows to other business systems automatically.

Source
Heap: Does Heap offer self-hosting or is it cloud-only?

Heap is cloud-only and does not offer self-hosted options. Organizations requiring on-premises deployment should consider alternatives like PostHog which supports self-hosting alongside its cloud product.

Source
Heap: What is Sense and how does it help with analytics?

Sense Chat is Heap's AI assistant that enables users to access analytics without extensive technical knowledge. It allows teams to ask questions about user behavior and get answers directly without lengthy onboarding or technical expertise, making insights more accessible to non-technical stakeholders.

Source
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