# Product onboarding software: what usage limits mean for your guides

Compare onboarding software by MAU definitions, guide limits and what happens when usage exceeds a plan.

Canonical page: https://quillwell.com/guides/product-onboarding-software/
Updated 2026-10-30
Publisher: Quillwell Guides (https://quillwell.com/guides/about/). Editorial standards: https://quillwell.com/guides/editorial/

## The short answer

- Monthly active users (MAUs) depend on how the tool identifies people. Count anonymous traffic and cross-device use before requesting a quote.
- UserGuiding says [guides stop displaying](https://userguiding.com/pricing) when the MAU quota is exceeded until quota increases or usage falls.
- Appcues counts [anonymous identifiers and scheduled experiences](https://docs.appcues.com/account-subscription/managing-your-subscription) toward its respective allowances. Ask how your plan handles a spike.
- If uninterrupted guides are essential, test the quota boundary and get the recovery terms in writing before choosing a plan.

## Compare the limits that affect delivery

Price the same audience and authoring team across each quote. A plan can have enough user capacity while a separate experience allowance constrains what you can publish.

The table separates documented limits from questions the evidence leaves open. Ask each vendor to put the applicable seat count, billing cadence and any overage terms in your quote.

Documented comparisons to check against your needs

| Product | Billing unit and limit | Control or export | What to confirm |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Appcues | MAUs, installations and published experiences; Start lists up to 3,000 MAUs and ten published experiences | Anonymous identifiers count; scheduled and live experiences use the published allowance | Seat entitlement, price and overage behavior |
| UserGuiding | Unique users active in the previous thirty days; guides stop above quota until quota increases or usage falls | User identification changes counting; all-user CSV export | Seat entitlement, price and quota recovery |
| Userpilot | MAU and seat terms need a quote; mobile content is an annual add-on on Growth or Enterprise | Custom mobile-content roles require Enterprise | MAU definition, quota behavior and seat price |

Source: [Appcues: Appcues pricing](https://www.appcues.com/pricing), [Appcues: Manage your subscription](https://docs.appcues.com/account-subscription/managing-your-subscription), [UserGuiding: UserGuiding pricing](https://userguiding.com/pricing), [UserGuiding: What Is User Identification?](https://help.userguiding.com/en/articles/3405960-what-is-user-identification), [UserGuiding: Users Page Overview](https://help.userguiding.com/en/articles/5577155-users-page-overview), [Userpilot: Get started with mobile content](https://docs.userpilot.com/in-app-engagement/mobile-content/get-started-with-mobile-content)

[Appcues pricing](https://www.appcues.com/pricing) lists MAUs, installations and published experiences as pricing factors. Its Start allowance is a useful boundary to model, but Appcues’s pricing page contains no numerical price.

[UserGuiding pricing](https://userguiding.com/pricing) defines MAUs as unique users active in the previous thirty days. Its stated response to an exceeded quota is a delivery interruption, so ask how quickly additional capacity takes effect.

Userpilot’s pages do not provide a comparable MAU definition or overage rule. Treat those cells as open questions rather than assuming the same behavior.

Seats matter separately from the people who see onboarding. List everyone who needs to build, approve or administer a guide; request the included seats and the price of extra access. A viewer count alone cannot price the staff who maintain the experience.

## Set identity before forecasting MAUs

Forecast identifiers rather than assuming each person produces one billable user. Browser changes and anonymous sessions can change the count. So can the timing of identification.

[UserGuiding’s identification guide](https://help.userguiding.com/en/articles/3405960-what-is-user-identification) says its default identifiers and history live in browser storage. Clearing storage or changing browser or device can generate another identifier for the same person. With identification enabled, supplied IDs determine MAU counting and history persists in cloud storage.

For example, a customer opens your app in one browser and later in another. Under the default UserGuiding model, the same person can generate another identifier. Build that possibility into your capacity estimate, then test the behavior with your actual identification setup.

[Appcues subscription guidance](https://docs.appcues.com/account-subscription/managing-your-subscription) counts anonymous identifiers toward MAUs. Include traffic before login in your estimate and ask how an anonymous-to-known transition affects your own count.

Make the identification rollout a release dependency. [UserGuiding’s setup guide](https://help.userguiding.com/en/articles/2824058-how-can-i-set-user-id-for-user-persisted-storage) says active guides stop appearing when identification is enabled until the user ID is correctly set. Have a developer verify the ID path before changing the setting on live traffic.

Choose an identifier that remains stable through the lifecycle you intend to support. Test sign-out and a second device with synthetic users. Record the resulting IDs alongside the visible guide history so the team can explain any unexpected increase.

## Plan for a traffic spike

Decide what the business can tolerate when usage exceeds the plan. A guide that disappears during a launch can affect the very people it was intended to help.

[UserGuiding’s pricing FAQ](https://userguiding.com/pricing) says guides stop displaying above the MAU quota until the quota increases or usage falls. Ask when the counter changes, who can authorize more capacity and how the usage meter refreshes. The documentation does not prove a tested recovery time for your account.

Suppose a launch brings more active users than your agreed quota. Your decision is whether to reserve capacity ahead of launch or accept a possible interruption while arranging an increase. Record the expected notification and the person authorized to act.

Appcues and Userpilot do not document what happens to live guides above an MAU limit. Get a written answer for each proposed plan, including any grace period and whether extra usage triggers charges. A sales estimate without the delivery rule leaves a material operational question unresolved.

Appcues has another boundary to watch: [scheduled and live experiences](https://docs.appcues.com/account-subscription/managing-your-subscription) both count toward its published-experience allowance. Inventory scheduled launches as well as existing guides before deciding whether the plan has room for your next release.

Inspect the usage meter and its refresh timing in a trial. If vendors cannot safely simulate a quota breach, request a documented example and contract terms. Keep the answer with the launch plan and revisit it when traffic patterns change.

## Match the runtime and assign an owner

Check your actual app technology before paying for mobile access. A supported mobile browser and a native app can require different implementation work.

[Appcues’ framework guide](https://docs.appcues.com/en_US/installation-overview/supported-technologies-and-frameworks) lists native iOS and Android, React Native, Flutter and Ionic using Capacitor; it excludes Cordova. It also distinguishes mobile web in a browser from content inside native apps.

[Userpilot’s mobile documentation](https://docs.userpilot.com/in-app-engagement/mobile-content/get-started-with-mobile-content) requires an installed SDK and an annually purchased add-on for Growth or Enterprise. Starter users must upgrade. Its custom mobile-content roles require Enterprise, so include permissions in the plan conversation.

[Userpilot pricing](https://userpilot.com/pricing/) lists native iOS and Android support and mobile engagement as add-ons. It labels mobile session replay as coming soon. An older description of Userpilot as web-only would miss that distinction.

Assign a person to review targeting whenever the app changes. [Appcues segment guidance](https://docs.appcues.com/en_US/user-experiences-targeting/segments-overview) says edits to segment rules immediately affect connected experiences without republishing. Agree who can make the change and how the team will check its effects.

[Userpilot’s screen tracking guide](https://docs.userpilot.com/data-events/mobile-screen-tracking/mobile-screen-auto-capture) says automatic capture ignores manual screen calls. Changed screen names can stop engagements from triggering or split analytics. Map old and new screen names before switching capture modes, then check the affected targeting rules.

Frequency is another maintenance decision. [Userpilot’s ordering guidance](https://docs.userpilot.com/in-app-engagement/mobile-content/mobile-content-ordering) separates push controls from the shared in-app throttle for carousels and slideouts. Check both paths when a user qualifies for more than one message.

Choose the action your onboarding should help a user complete, then decide which guide format supports it. A completed tour is useful evidence of exposure; compare it with the actual product action you want to encourage. Give a named owner time to revisit the guide after interface changes.

## Run a delivery and exit worksheet

Use the same synthetic journey in each trial and record the results. Include the person who will maintain the guide and the developer responsible for identity.