Appcues vs Chameleon: The MAU Billing Nightmare Both Tools Share

Your product has 10,000 monthly logins. Only 1,000 are new trial users who actually need onboarding.

Both Appcues and Chameleon will charge you for all 10,000 users—even though 9,000 of them never see a single tour.

This is the MAU billing trap, and it's costing you 10x what you should be paying.

Let me explain what neither pricing page will tell you—and show you the math that makes this pricing model broken for most SaaS companies.

The MAU Billing Scam Nobody Warns You About

Both Appcues and Chameleon charge based on Monthly Active Users (MAUs). Sounds fair—you pay for what you use.

Except MAUs aren't "users who see tours." They're "users who log in."

Here's why that matters:

If you have 8,000 monthly logins but only show onboarding tours to 800 new trial users, you're paying for 8,000 MAUs. That's 10x more than the users who actually engage with your tours.

Real example from Chameleon reviews: "Literally we had 2 people working on this and they charged us for 5,000. Chameleon uses their code snippet to search out any user, that has ever been in your database and counts them in the monthly user count. They simply point to a blog where they indicated that these users 'might' login and so they have to plan for that."

This isn't a bug. It's the business model.

Both tools count every authenticated user against your MAU limit, whether they see tours or not. You're paying for capacity across your entire user base, not just the users who need onboarding.

What $279-879/Month Actually Gets You

Let's talk features, because the pricing gap is where things get interesting.

Chameleon Startup ($279/month for 2,000 MAUs):

• Product tours, tooltips, modals, checklists
• 3 launcher seats (team member access)
• HelpBar (CMD+K search)
• Basic A/B testing
• Microsurveys (but limited to what you can actually do with them)
• No localization (English only)
• Analytics are "limited and can only be viewed by diving into the settings of each flow"

Chameleon Growth ($999/month for 2,000 MAUs):

• Everything in Startup
• Unlimited team seats
• Advanced segmentation
• Localization support
• Better analytics (still not great, but better)
• Priority support

Appcues Essentials ($249/month for 2,500 MAUs):

• Tooltips, modals, slideouts, hotspots, banners
• NO checklists (you have to upgrade to get the main thing people want)
• Limited to 5 user segments
• Only 10 custom event tracking slots
• No mobile support

Appcues Growth ($879/month for 2,500 MAUs):

• Everything in Essentials
• FINALLY get checklists
• Unlimited segments and events
• Mobile SDKs (iOS, Android, Ionic)
• Launchpads (self-service help centers)
• Better analytics (but still basic)

Notice the pattern? Both tools gate their best features behind higher-priced tiers.

Chameleon won't give you localization or good analytics on the $279/month plan. Appcues won't give you checklists on the $249/month plan. Both are designed to force you into upgrades.

The Customization Tax

Chameleon: "It's not completely code-free—customization requires CSS skills." Per reviews, you can build decent-looking tours without code, but advanced customization needs CSS. The native-look styling is strong, but you hit limitations quickly.

Appcues: Similar story. Chrome extension builder is simple for basic tours. But if you want custom styling beyond their templates, you need CSS. Mobile implementation can be "difficult to implement from a mobile-first or responsive standpoint."

So both tools market themselves as "no-code" but realistically require CSS knowledge for anything beyond basic templates.

The Analytics Gap That Costs You

Neither tool gives you real product analytics.

Chameleon analytics: "Limited and can only be viewed by diving into the settings of each flow," according to user reviews. You get basic completion rates and goal tracking per individual flow. But no unified dashboard. No funnel analysis. No retention cohorts. No understanding of WHY users drop off.

Appcues analytics: Slightly better than Chameleon but still basic. You can see completion rates, goal conversions, and some path tracking. But it's not a replacement for Mixpanel or Amplitude.

The hidden cost: Most teams using either tool also pay for:

• Mixpanel ($899/year Growth plan minimum) or
• Amplitude (starts at $61,000/year for paid plans) or
• Heap/Segment/etc.

So your $279-879/month onboarding tool becomes $279-879/month + $899-61,000/year for proper analytics.

That's $4,247-71,548/year total. Not cheap.

The Pricing Breakdown That Matters

Let me give you real numbers at different scales.

At 2,000 MAUs:

• Chameleon Startup: $279/month ($3,348/year)
• Appcues Essentials: $249/month ($2,988/year)
• Appcues Growth: $879/month ($10,548/year)

At 5,000 MAUs:

• Chameleon Startup: Pricing increases (not published, but likely $400-500/month)
• Chameleon Growth: $999/month+ ($11,988/year+)
• Appcues Growth: $879/month+ ($10,548/year+)

At 10,000 MAUs:

• Chameleon Growth: $999/month+ (actual pricing custom, likely $1,200-1,500/month)
• Appcues Growth: ~$1,200-1,500/month ($14,400-18,000/year)

Notice neither tool publishes precise pricing at scale. That's intentional—they want you to contact sales so they can charge based on "willingness to pay."

Negotiation leverage (from Vendr data):

• Chameleon: 35-50% discounts possible for multi-year deals
• Appcues: 40-60% discounts standard for annual contracts

But you shouldn't have to negotiate 50% off to get reasonable pricing.

The User Count Gotcha

Both tools have a nasty billing quirk: they charge based on the HIGHEST MAU count in your billing period.

So if you hit 3,500 MAUs in one month (say, a big product launch), you'll pay for 3,500 MAUs for the entire year—even if your average is 2,000 MAUs.

From reviews: "Pricing is based on MAUs, which means your costs will grow if you have more users even if you have the lowest-priced plan."

This makes budgeting unpredictable. If you're growing fast, your bill can jump 2x-3x mid-year with no warning.

When Chameleon Makes Sense

Choose Chameleon if:

• You're under 3,000 MAUs and need tours + microsurveys fast
• You value highly customizable UI that feels native to your app
• Your team is small (≤3 people need access to the tool)
• You don't need localization yet
• Budget is $3,000-6,000/year maximum

Skip Chameleon if:

• You're over 5,000 MAUs (pricing escalates quickly)
• You need robust analytics (you'll have to buy Mixpanel separately)
• You need more than 3 team seats without upgrading to Growth ($11,988/year)
• You need localization for global users (not available on Startup plan)

When Appcues Makes Sense

Choose Appcues if:

• You need native mobile SDKs (iOS, Android, Ionic)
• You're over 5,000 MAUs and growing fast
• You need checklists + full segmentation (requires Growth plan at $10,548/year)
• Your team already uses Segment/Mixpanel for analytics
• Budget is $10K-20K/year

Skip Appcues if:

• You're under 3,000 MAUs (Chameleon is cheaper at that scale)
• You can't afford $10,548/year for Growth plan (Essentials lacks checklists, the main feature people want)
• You need better analytics without buying a separate tool

The Comparison Matrix

Neither tool is clearly "better." They're optimized for different use cases at different scales.

What You Should Actually Do

Here's the uncomfortable truth: both tools are overpriced for what they deliver.

You're paying $3,000-10,000/year for tour builders with basic analytics. Then you're paying another $1,000-61,000/year for proper analytics. Then you're dealing with MAU billing that charges you for users who never see tours.

The total cost is $4,000-71,000/year. For features that improve activation by 5-15 percentage points IF you implement them well.

That ROI math doesn't work for most bootstrapped SaaS companies.

Before buying either tool, answer these:

1. What's your actual drop-off point? (Track manually if needed)
2. Is it education or UX? (Users don't understand vs. can't find the feature)
3. Can tooltips solve it? (90% of "tour" problems are tooltip opportunities)
4. Do you already have analytics? (If not, add $1K-61K/year to your calculation)

If you genuinely need tours after that audit, here's my recommendation:

What Indie Hackers Actually Need

If you're at $10K-100K ARR, spending $3,000-10,000/year on onboarding tools with MAU billing that charges 5-10x more than you actually use is financially reckless.

You need the same capabilities without the recurring cost structure designed for enterprise teams. Consider tools like Escourtly that offer similar onboarding features without MAU-based pricing that penalizes growth.

For more comparisons: Appcues vs Userflow | Chameleon vs Userflow | Appcues vs Pendo

When to Use What

Use Chameleon if:

• You're at $100K-500K ARR
• You're under 5,000 MAUs and don't need mobile SDKs
• You want highly customizable UI that feels native
• You can negotiate 35-50% off list price

Use Appcues if:

• You're at $500K+ ARR
• You need native mobile SDKs (iOS/Android)
• You're over 10,000 MAUs
• You can negotiate 40-60% off list price

The Bottom Line

Chameleon and Appcues are solid products that solve real problems.

But they share the same broken pricing model: MAU billing that charges you for users who never see tours.

At small scale (under 3,000 MAUs): Chameleon is cheaper ($279/month vs $879/month), but you hit feature limits fast. Appcues Essentials is similarly priced but lacks checklists.

At medium scale (3,000-10,000 MAUs): Pricing converges around $1,000-1,500/month for both. Neither is clearly better—pick based on mobile needs (Appcues) vs. UI customization (Chameleon).

At any scale: Both require separate analytics tools, making total cost $4,000-71,000/year.

For bootstrapped founders at <$100K ARR, that math doesn't work. Consider affordable alternatives and save your cash for things that actually drive revenue.

For teams at $100K-500K ARR, test lower-cost options first. If you need enterprise features, negotiate hard (aim for 40-50% off) with Chameleon or Appcues.

For teams at $500K+ ARR, Chameleon or Appcues make sense. Get 3 quotes, negotiate, and pick based on your specific needs (mobile, customization, analytics).

But first, figure out if tours solve your actual problem. Your activation issue might be UX, not education. Fix that before spending thousands on tour builders.

Related comparisons: Appcues vs Userflow | Appcues vs Pendo | Chameleon vs Userflow | Chameleon vs Userpilot