Smartflow by Userflow

Overview

Creating seamless in-app onboarding and user guides has traditionally been a slow, resource-intensive process, often requiring days of development and engineering support. Enter Smartflow, the AI-powered builder from Userflow, designed to completely revolutionize this workflow. Launched on Product Hunt on December 3, 2025 (72 upvotes, 22 comments), Smartflow empowers teams to generate polished, interactive user experiences in minutes, not days, simply by clicking through their own product. The platform is available in Early Access through January 15th, 2026, with free access to generate up to 100 AI-powered flows during the evaluation period before standard pricing applies.

Smartflow fundamentally reimagines the onboarding builder paradigm by replacing manual drag-and-drop construction with AI-powered automated recording that translates real user interactions into production-ready flows, reducing typical build time from hours to minutes while eliminating engineering bottlenecks.

Key Features

So, what makes Smartflow so powerful? It all comes down to a set of intelligent, user-friendly features designed for speed and efficiency:

• AI-Powered Click-to-Build Recording: Simply perform the actions you want to teach your users within your application. Smartflow’s AI watches in the background and automatically records each step, gesture, page transition, form fill, and interaction to build your guide. The system intelligently recognizes UI elements, form inputs, navigation patterns, and multi-page flows, capturing the actual user journey rather than requiring manual configuration.
• AI Rephrase \& Content Optimization: Instantly refine your instructional copy with built-in AI-powered editing capabilities. The system can suggest copy improvements for maximum clarity, consistency, and impact, ensuring your messaging resonates with users while maintaining brand voice. The AI learns from engagement data to optimize microcopy based on linguistic best practices and what drives the highest user completion rates.
• No-Code Visual Editor: Once your flow is generated, you have complete creative control. Tweak, customize, and perfect every element with an intuitive visual editor that requires zero coding knowledge. Adjust UI patterns (tooltips, modals, speech bubbles, hotspots), add rich media, modify conditional logic, customize styling, and preview changes in real-time without technical expertise.
• Auto-Generated Multi-Step Guided Experiences: The AI doesn’t just record clicks; it intelligently constructs a complete, multi-step flow with appropriate UI patterns (tooltips, modals, speech bubbles, highlights, hotspots), automatic step descriptions, contextual messaging, and visual annotations. Flows are ready for you to review, adjust, and publish with minimal editing required compared to manual builder approaches.
• Conditional Logic \& Branching Flows: Create sophisticated, multi-path flows with branching logic based on user behavior, role, segment, or responses. The system supports conditional steps allowing different user groups to see customized experiences without manually recreating flows for each variant.
• Real-Time Flow Analytics \& Performance Tracking: Monitor completion rates, drop-off points, user engagement by step, and identify friction moments. The dashboard shows which steps drive completion and which require improvement, enabling continuous optimization based on real user behavior data rather than assumptions.
• One-Click Publishing \& Deployment: Deploy finalized flows to production instantly without code deployment cycles. The system handles version control, rollback capabilities, scheduling, and audience targeting through an integrated dashboard. All published flows automatically scale across responsive breakpoints and maintain compatibility with React, Angular, Vue.js, and other web frameworks.
• Pricing Flexibility \& Early Access Model: Available in Early Access through January 15th, 2026, with free access to generate up to 100 AI flows during evaluation. Standard pricing applies after Early Access concludes. Existing Userflow customers automatically receive Smartflow enabled in their accounts with no additional setup required.

How It Works

The magic of Smartflow lies in its simplicity. The process is incredibly straightforward:

Stage 1: Activate Recording
Start by activating the Smartflow AI recorder through either a browser extension or integrated SDK. Enter a purpose statement describing what the flow teaches users—this context directs the AI algorithm to focus on relevant steps and generate appropriate guidance content. Examples: “Help users create their first project” or “Teach users how to invite team members.”

Stage 2: Navigate Your Product
Navigate through your web application just as a user would to complete a task. As you click on buttons, fill out forms, navigate pages, and complete workflows, the AI intelligently captures these actions in real-time. The system identifies each UI element, tracks interactions, records page transitions, and detects complex multi-step processes without manual configuration.

Stage 3: Automatic Flow Generation
In seconds, the AI translates your recorded clicks into a fully-formed, interactive guide complete with automatically-selected UI patterns (tooltips, modals, speech bubbles, highlights), AI-generated step descriptions, contextual messaging, and visual annotations. The system intelligently structures multi-step flows, determines appropriate UI patterns for each step, and generates instructional copy based on the recorded actions.

Stage 4: Visual Editor Customization
Jump into the visual editor to make any adjustments: refine copy, adjust UI patterns, add additional steps, modify colors and styling, create conditional branching, or remove unnecessary steps. All changes display in real-time with instant preview capabilities. No technical knowledge required—drag-and-drop simplicity meets powerful customization.

Stage 5: Review \& Publish
Preview the flow from the user’s perspective to verify quality and completeness. Adjust audience targeting rules, set trigger conditions, and schedule publication timing. When ready, publish with one click to deploy live immediately or schedule for future release. Changes update across all responsive devices automatically.

Use Cases

Smartflow’s speed and simplicity make it a versatile tool for any team focused on user experience. Here are some of the most common applications:

New User Onboarding:

• Guide new users through your product’s core features from the moment they sign up, dramatically improving activation and retention rates
• Create multi-step onboarding flows that adapt based on user role, company size, or signup source
• Capture actual user journeys during beta testing and auto-convert into production-ready flows

Feature Announcements \& Adoption:

• Effortlessly create interactive tours to introduce new features the moment they launch, ensuring users discover and adopt the latest updates
• Build targeted feature guides for specific user segments most likely to benefit from particular functionality
• Automate feature announcement workflows triggered by user behavior or deployment timelines

Support \& Customer Success:

• Build contextual, step-by-step guides that help users solve problems directly within your app, reducing frustration and support queue volume
• Create targeted rescue flows for users stuck at common drop-off points in critical workflows
• Empower support teams to generate guides for complex issues without developer involvement

Sales Enablement \& Product Demos:

• Create automated product walkthroughs for free trial users showing key capabilities in sequence
• Build interactive demos highlighting specific features based on prospect role or company type
• Reduce demo fatigue by automating common product introduction flows

Reducing Customer Support Tickets:

• Proactively answer common questions and guide users through complex workflows, empowering them to self-serve and freeing up your support team
• Create in-app help resources addressing the most frequent support questions or problem areas
• Reduce support ticket volume by intercepting issues before users need to contact support

Pros \& Cons

Like any tool, Smartflow has its unique strengths and limitations. Here’s a balanced look at what you can expect.

Advantages

• Unmatched Speed to Deployment: Build and deploy a complete user flow in minutes (typically 3-5 minutes from recording to publishing), a task that could take hours with drag-and-drop builders or days with traditional developer-dependent approaches. The AI records actual workflows rather than requiring manual step-by-step construction.
• Zero Engineering Dependency: Empower your product, marketing, customer success, or support teams to create and manage user experiences independently without ever needing to write code or wait on developer resources. Teams regain control of their user experience roadmap and reduce cross-functional bottlenecks.
• AI-Assisted Content Generation: Get production-ready instructional copy, UI pattern selections, and guidance structure automatically generated based on the actual workflow, reducing editing burden compared to manual builders requiring complete content creation from scratch.
• Intelligent Automation with Human Control: The system generates flows automatically but maintains human review and customization throughout the process. Teams control final output quality while benefiting from AI-driven efficiency gains.
• Early Access Pricing Advantage: Access the platform during Early Access phase (through January 15th) with free generation of up to 100 AI flows, allowing full evaluation before production deployment and standard pricing apply.

Disadvantages

• Web-Based Only: Smartflow is currently designed for web-based applications and does not support native iOS, Android, or desktop apps. Organizations requiring mobile app onboarding solutions need alternative platforms.
• HTML Structure Dependency: The tool’s ability to identify and interact with UI elements relies on stable, well-structured HTML and consistent DOM selectors. Significant code refactors, dynamic element rendering, or custom component implementations may require flow updates or manual adjustments.
• Early Access Limitations: The product is in Early Access through January 15th, meaning some features may evolve, pricing structures will be finalized, and production-grade guarantees around uptime/SLA may not be in place yet.
• Learning Curve for Optimal Results: While simple to use, achieving optimal flow quality requires clear purpose statements that guide the AI appropriately. Vague or poorly-defined goals can result in flows requiring substantial manual editing.
• Complex Dynamic Workflows May Struggle: Flows with significant conditional logic, dynamic content generation, or highly personalized experiences may require more manual configuration than simpler linear workflows.

How Does It Compare?

Smartflow vs. Pendo

Pendo is an enterprise-grade product experience platform with advanced analytics, engagement tools, and a decade of market leadership.

Build Approach:

• Smartflow: AI-powered automated recording with minimal manual configuration; 3-5 minute typical build time
• Pendo: Manual drag-and-drop builder requiring step-by-step construction; 30+ minutes to hours for complex flows

Target Users:

• Smartflow: Product, marketing, customer success teams prioritizing speed; minimal technical skill required
• Pendo: More diverse—product managers, analysts, marketers; higher technical comfort expected

Analytics Capabilities:

• Smartflow: Real-time completion rates, drop-off identification, engagement by step; integrated into flow builder
• Pendo: Comprehensive engagement analytics, custom dashboards, funnel analysis, user journey mapping; separate analytics interface

Pricing Model:

• Smartflow: Early Access through January 15th with free 100 flows; standard pricing TBD post-launch
• Pendo: Enterprise pricing starting \$20K+/year; tiered based on features and users

Scale \& Enterprise Features:

• Smartflow: Early stage; focus on core onboarding flows; scaled built into Userflow platform
• Pendo: Mature enterprise platform; 700+ million users monitored monthly; extensive compliance, security, integrations

When to Choose Smartflow: For rapid prototyping, non-technical teams prioritizing speed-to-deploy, and when fast iteration on flows matters more than advanced analytics.
When to Choose Pendo: For comprehensive analytics, enterprise-scale deployments, complex segmentation rules, and when detailed engagement insights guide business decisions.

Smartflow vs. WalkMe

WalkMe is the category-defining digital adoption platform pioneering guided user experiences at enterprise scale.

Market Position:

• Smartflow: New entrant (2025) with AI-first approach; emphasizes speed and simplicity
• WalkMe: Market leader since 2011; emphasizes customization and complex workflow support

Build Time:

• Smartflow: 3-5 minutes from recording to deployment
• WalkMe: 30+ minutes to hours requiring manual configuration of each step

AI Capabilities:

• Smartflow: AI recording, content generation, copy optimization based on engagement data
• WalkMe: Limited AI integration; primarily manual builders with some NLP features for chat interfaces

Personalization:

• Smartflow: Segment-based targeting with conditional logic; simpler personalization model
• WalkMe: Advanced segmentation, role-based customization, complex business logic support; more granular personalization

Use Cases:

• Smartflow: Customer-facing onboarding, feature adoption, support guides
• WalkMe: Employee workflows, task automation, cross-application process guidance; stronger internal use

When to Choose Smartflow: For rapid customer onboarding implementation, smaller teams, and when speed-to-deploy is critical.
When to Choose WalkMe: For complex employee workflows, enterprise personalization requirements, and when cross-application process automation is needed.

Smartflow vs. Appcues

Appcues is a product-focused onboarding and engagement platform with strong design tools and analytics.

Build Philosophy:

• Smartflow: AI-automated recording converting user actions into flows
• Appcues: No-code drag-and-drop builder requiring manual flow construction

Target Audience:

• Smartflow: Non-technical product, marketing, customer success teams
• Appcues: Product managers, designers, marketing with higher technical comfort

Design Capabilities:

• Smartflow: AI-selected UI patterns with visual customization; less design flexibility
• Appcues: Extensive design tools, custom styling, advanced UI pattern library; more creative control

Analytics:

• Smartflow: Flow completion, drop-off, engagement by step
• Appcues: Comprehensive product analytics including Flow Analytics, advanced segmentation, conversion tracking

Pricing:

• Smartflow: Early Access free (100 flows); standard pricing TBD
• Appcues: Starts around \$500/month; scales with usage

When to Choose Smartflow: For teams needing rapid deployment without spending hours in builders, minimal design customization required.
When to Choose Appcues: For design-forward teams needing pixel-perfect customization, advanced analytics, and design team involvement.

Smartflow vs. UserGuiding

UserGuiding is an affordable, user-friendly no-code onboarding platform emphasizing simplicity and accessibility.

Ease of Use:

• Smartflow: AI automates most work; fastest time-to-flow
• UserGuiding: Simple drag-and-drop; faster than Appcues but slower than Smartflow

Pricing:

• Smartflow: Early Access free; standard pricing TBD
• UserGuiding: Budget-friendly starting ~\$99/month; more accessible for smaller teams

AI Capabilities:

• Smartflow: AI recording, content generation, automated UI pattern selection
• UserGuiding: Limited AI integration; primarily manual builders with templates

Feature Depth:

• Smartflow: Focused on core onboarding; backed by full Userflow platform
• UserGuiding: Comprehensive for SMBs; includes hotspots, modals, checklists, embedded videos

When to Choose Smartflow: When absolute speed and minimal manual work is priority; larger budgets acceptable.
When to Choose UserGuiding: For budget-conscious SMBs willing to trade some speed for cost savings and simplicity.

Smartflow vs. Chameleon

Chameleon is a product adoption platform emphasizing beautiful design and real-time personalization.

AI Integration:

• Smartflow: AI recording and content generation central to platform
• Chameleon: Primarily design-focused; limited AI capabilities compared to Smartflow

Design Quality:

• Smartflow: AI-selected patterns with visual customization; good but not design-focused
• Chameleon: Beautiful, design-forward experiences; stronger emphasis on visual polish

Speed:

• Smartflow: Significantly faster (3-5 minutes vs. 30+ minutes)
• Chameleon: Typical build time 30+ minutes with drag-and-drop

Pricing:

• Smartflow: Early Access free; standard pricing TBD
• Chameleon: Starts ~\$400/month; higher than some but lower than Pendo

When to Choose Smartflow: For maximum speed and when rapid experimentation is priority over design polish.
When to Choose Chameleon: For design-conscious teams prioritizing visual polish and brand alignment over speed.

Smartflow vs. Traditional Development

Traditional Developer-Built Onboarding remains the manual, engineering-dependent status quo.

Time Investment:

• Smartflow: 3-5 minutes to deploy
• Traditional: 40+ hours of engineering time per flow

Cost:

• Smartflow: Early Access free; future pricing TBD
• Traditional: Developer time cost typically \$2,000-\$5,000+ per flow

Iteration Speed:

• Smartflow: Minutes to adjust and republish
• Traditional: Days to weeks per change cycle

Non-Technical Empowerment:

• Smartflow: Product teams control their own content and deployment
• Traditional: Complete dependency on engineering availability and priorities

When to Choose Smartflow: For nearly all customer-facing onboarding needs; developer time better spent on product features.
When to Choose Traditional: For highly custom, complex integrations requiring deep product code changes.

Final Thoughts

In a world where user experience is paramount, the ability to react quickly and guide users effectively is a major competitive advantage. Smartflow by Userflow eliminates the traditional bottlenecks of creating in-app tours and guides through AI-powered automation that replaces hours of manual work with intelligent recording of actual user interactions.

The December 3, 2025 Product Hunt launch (72 upvotes, 22 comments) and Early Access availability through January 15th, 2026, with free generation of up to 100 AI flows positions Smartflow as a compelling alternative to established platforms that require hours of manual configuration. The 3-5 minute typical build time represents a 90% reduction in production time compared to traditional drag-and-drop builders, fundamentally changing the economics of in-app guidance creation.

The platform’s core innovation—automatic recording of actual user workflows with AI-generated production-ready flows—addresses a genuine pain point in the current competitive landscape. While established platforms like Pendo and Appcues have matured through years of incremental improvement, Smartflow approaches the problem from first principles using modern AI capabilities unavailable during their original development.

For product, marketing, customer success, and support teams who have historically depended on engineering resources or spent hours building flows in no-code editors, Smartflow offers a compelling alternative that reduces friction while maintaining customization control through the visual editor. The Early Access pricing advantage (free 100 flows through January 15th) removes barriers to evaluation and allows teams to experience the speed benefits before production pricing applies.

However, prospective users should consider: the web-only limitation excludes mobile app onboarding needs; early-stage product status means some features may evolve significantly; HTML structure dependency requires stable DOM selectors; and complex dynamic workflows may require more manual editing than simpler linear paths.

For product teams seeking rapid deployment of onboarding flows without engineering dependency or builders requiring extensive manual configuration, Smartflow represents a meaningful evolution in how organizations can scale user guidance at the velocity of their business. The tool particularly excels for:

• Product managers launching features and needing instant onboarding deployment
• Customer success teams creating support guides without technical skills
• Marketing teams building trial user walkthroughs in minutes
• Support teams addressing common questions with contextual in-app guidance
• Organizations needing rapid experimentation with minimal investment in flow creation

For teams requiring deep customization, extensive analytics dashboards, or complex employee workflow automation, established platforms like Pendo and WalkMe remain stronger fits. But for the specific use case of fast, AI-powered customer onboarding flow creation, Smartflow represents a genuine paradigm shift from the manual builders that have dominated the category for the past decade.