Chameleon vs Pendo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Pendo grades higher than Chameleon: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Pendo grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Chameleon
In-app product tours, surveys and checklists for SaaS teams
Which one is for you
Pick Chameleon if
- Fits if you run a web product and want to guide new users in-app
- Works for product teams that can budget a few hundred dollars a month
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're small, at $279 a month for 2,000 tracked users
- Watch out: Pro caps at 20 live experiences, and unlimited needs Growth at $1,250
- Watch out: roles and unlimited localization are Enterprise
- Not for you if you build mobile apps, as no mobile option is listed
- Watch out: quotes above the listed steps need a call
Pick Pendo if
- Fits if you onboard users inside your product with tours and tooltips
- Works for small apps under 500 monthly users that want guides for free
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price on the page, as every paid plan is quoted
- Tight if you stay free and pass 500 monthly users, which freezes new guides, surveys and segments
- Not for you if you only want traffic numbers for a marketing site
- Watch out: replays start at Core, surveys and product discovery need Ultimate or add-ons, and Predict is priced apart
- Watch out: the free plan has no support, and the 30-day trial is set up through sales
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAChameleonFair | 2.4GPAPendoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$279 a month for 2,000 monthly tracked users, near the $299 dearest-tenth line, and Pro is $750. | CNo published figure for this size. A product with 10,000 monthly active users is far past the free 500, so it needs Base, Core or Ultimate, all quoted by sales from users and modules. Replays need Core, and surveys need Ultimate or add-ons. |
| Free plan and trial | C14-day trial with no card and 10,000 AI credits. No free plan. | CPendo Free covers 500 monthly active users with analytics, guides, and Pendo-branded NPS and roadmaps, but no support. Go past 500 and you can't make new guides, surveys or segments. The 30-day trial is set up through sales. |
| Features | CTours, tooltips, checklists, surveys, targeting and A/B testing. The listing shows gaps: Startup allows 10 live experiences and no mobile app is listed. | BProduct analytics with retroactive data, in-app guides on every plan, replays, NPS and surveys, feedback and roadmaps, and the Leo AI assistant. Graded against Amplitude and Mixpanel, it covers the job. Replays start at Core, and surveys need Ultimate or add-ons. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating read. Experiences to build and users to target. | CNo rating on record. The snippet goes into your app, then the work is building guides, targeting segments and setting up surveys, and paid plans start with a sales call. There's a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with HubSpot, Salesforce, Mixpanel, Heap and Slack. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app of its own. It works across unlimited web and mobile apps, and connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, Intercom, Jira, Gainsight, Marketo and Segment. |
| Best for | in-app tours and checklists for web products | walkthroughs and tips inside your own app |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Chameleon and Pendo. How we grade
Where they differ
- Chameleon also covers no-code and a/B testing.
- Pendo also covers web analytics and session replay.
At a glance
| Chameleon | Pendo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $279 per month for 2,000 monthly tracked users (Startup) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | Pendo Free, free forever: analytics, in-app guides, Pendo-branded roadmaps and NPS surveys for up to 500 monthly active users, across unlimited web and mobile apps. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card, with 10,000 AI credits | 30-day free trial of the whole platform, set up through sales |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Chameleon | Pendo.io, Inc. |
| Price read from | chameleon.io | pendo.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Chameleon
- Prices follow monthly tracked users; exact quotes above the listed steps need a call with sales.
- Pro is capped at 20 live experiences; unlimited needs Growth, which is billed annually.
- Roles and permissions and unlimited localization are Enterprise features.
- Runs in web apps; the plans page does not list a mobile app option.
Pendo
- No paid prices are published: Base, Core and Ultimate are quoted by sales from monthly active users and the modules chosen.
- On Pendo Free, going past 500 monthly active users stops you creating new guides, NPS surveys or segments until you upgrade.
- Session replay starts at Core, and surveys, product discovery and journey orchestration need Ultimate or paid add-ons.
- Churn prediction (Predict) and agent analytics are priced separately from the plans.
Key features
Chameleon
- In-app experiences
- Product tours, tooltips, checklists, modals, embeddables and microsurveys that display inside your web product.
- Segmentation and targeting
- Choose who sees an experience from user data, with display rules based on URLs, elements, clicks and behavior, and scheduling.
- A/B testing and goals
- Use a control group or multivariate tests to measure the effect of an experience against a goal.
- AI agents
- Copilot builds, tests and analyzes campaigns; Ranger runs governance jobs to keep an account tidy. Some AI features use credits.
- Interactive demos and HelpBar
- Interactive demos build clickable product walkthroughs; HelpBar adds a search launcher inside your app.
Pendo
- Product analytics
- Tracks feature use, paths and retention with retroactive data back to the day Pendo was installed, across any number of apps.
- In-app guides
- Walkthroughs, tooltips and announcements shown inside your app and targeted at user segments, included on every plan including Free.
- Session replay
- Replays of user sessions to give support and product teams context, included from Core and sold as an add-on on Base.
- NPS, surveys and feedback
- Sentiment tools for NPS and in-app surveys, plus product discovery for collecting and ranking feedback. Pendo-branded NPS comes with Free.
- Leo and Pendo AI
- Leo answers questions about your data in plain language on every plan; churn prediction and AI agent analytics are separate paid modules.
Plans
Chameleon
Startup$279
per month for 2,000 monthly tracked users
For small teams: 10 live experiences, targeting and customization, and email support.
Pro$750
per month from 5,000 monthly tracked users
Up to 20 live experiences, Copilot, themes and custom CSS, A/B testing, 5 languages and 10,000 free AI credits.
Growth$1,250
per month from 5,000 monthly tracked users, billed annually
Unlimited live experiences, Ranger agent and governance tools, AI interactive demos and a dedicated success contact.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds roles and permissions, unlimited localization and custom contracts and procurement.
Pendo
Free$0
Up to 500 monthly active users: analytics, in-app guides, Pendo-branded NPS and roadmaps. No support included.
BaseCustom
Sold through sales, priced by monthly active users: analytics, guides and support. Session replay and surveys are paid add-ons.
CoreCustom
Sold through sales: adds session replay. Product discovery and NPS or surveys remain add-ons.
UltimateCustom
Sold through sales: everything, including product discovery, NPS and surveys, and journey orchestration.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Chameleon or Pendo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Chameleon starts at $279 per month for 2,000 monthly tracked users (Startup), and Pendo publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Chameleon or Pendo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Pendo has a free plan. Chameleon does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.