Userlane is a software adoption platform for the applications a company’s staff use every day, with a focus on regulated industries like healthcare, manufacturing, financial services and the public sector. It has two products: Application Intelligence, which measures how people use your apps and AI tools, and Contextual Assistance, with step-by-step in-app guidance, automated actions, an assistant that answers from your documentation, and validators that check entries. It’s deployed as a browser extension pushed through group policy, and priced by quote.
Cueston points the other way. It’s for SaaS teams guiding their own customers inside their own web app, with tours, tooltips, banners, checklists, surveys and an AI chat. You install a snippet, not a browser extension, and prices are on the website.
| Feature | Cueston | Userlane |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free plan; paid from $39/month | Not published; sales quote |
| Priced by | Monthly active users | Per application, or a per-user base fee plus interactions |
| Step-by-step in-app guidance | Yes | Yes |
| AI assistant answering from your docs | Yes | Yes |
| Usage insight across all company apps | No | Yes |
| Works on apps you don’t build | No | Yes |
| Self-serve sign-up | Yes | Demo or quote |
When Userlane is the better fit
- You want to help employees use software your company buys, such as an ERP, CRM or hospital system.
- You need to know which applications and AI tools people use across the company, and whether they’re worth the licence.
- You want the guidance rolled out by IT as a managed browser extension, without touching the apps’ code.
- You’d rather pay a fixed annual fee per application with unlimited users.
When Cueston is the better fit
- You’re guiding customers through your own SaaS product, and they won’t install anything.
- You want to start free and see the price before a demo. Cueston’s paid plans start at $39 a month billed yearly; Userlane doesn’t publish prices.
- You want to test whether a guide works. Hold back a control group and see results at 95% confidence on Ascent and Orbit.
- You want help offered when people struggle. Friction detection spots rage clicks, dead clicks and long pauses.
What each costs
Userlane: not published. It offers Application, Department and Organization plans, priced either as a fixed annual fee per application with unlimited users, or by consumption (a per-user base fee plus interactions) with unlimited applications. See Userlane pricing.
Cueston: a free plan (3 live guides, 1,000 monthly active users, 50 AI answers a month), then Launch at $39 a month billed yearly (15 live guides, 2,500 users, 500 AI answers), Ascent at $79 (unlimited guides, 10,000 users, 2,000 AI answers) and Orbit at $199 (50,000 users, 10,000 AI answers). Plans aren’t priced per seat. See Cueston pricing.
Moving from Userlane to Cueston
- Make sure the app you want to guide is one you build: Cueston needs its snippet in the page.
- Install the Cueston snippet and identify users with an ID and the attributes you target on.
- Rebuild guides in the Cueston Chrome extension. There’s no import.
- Add your help docs so the AI chat can answer from them.
Frequently asked questions
Can Cueston guide employees through software we buy?▾
No. Cueston runs inside a web app you control through a snippet. For software your company buys, Userlane’s browser extension approach is the better fit.
Is Cueston cheaper than Userlane?▾
We can’t say for certain: Userlane doesn’t publish prices. Cueston’s plans are $0, $39, $79 and $199 a month billed yearly, listed on the pricing page.
Do my users need to install anything for Cueston?▾
No. Guides load from the snippet in your app. Only the people building guides use the Cueston Chrome extension.