Userflow vs Intercom Product Tours: The Add-On Trap

You're comparing Userflow ($240/month standalone) and Intercom Product Tours ($99/month add-on) because Intercom's pricing looks cheaper. After all, $99 < $240, right?

Here's the trap: Intercom Product Tours only works if you already pay for Intercom Messenger. That's minimum $87/month for Essential plan, usually $132-660/month for most teams. So you're actually comparing Userflow at $240/month against Intercom at $186-759/month total for messaging + tours.

And Intercom's tours are severely limited compared to Userflow. No checklists, basic analytics, clunky builder. The $99/month add-on is cheap for a reason—it's half-baked.

Let's break down when each tool makes sense and whether you should buy a messaging platform just to get tours.

What You're Actually Comparing

Userflow is a dedicated onboarding platform. You get tours, checklists, surveys, resource centers, and decent flow analytics. The Kanban builder is intuitive. Setup takes 10 minutes. Pricing is standalone: $240/month for 3,000 MAUs, no dependencies on other platforms.

Intercom Product Tours is an add-on to Intercom Messenger (their customer support platform). You must already pay for Intercom Essential ($87/mo), Advanced ($132/mo), or Expert ($660/mo) to add tours for $99/month. The tours are basic—no checklists, limited customization, analytics described as "basic" in reviews. It's clearly a bolt-on feature, not a core product.

The price difference only exists if you're already paying for Intercom. If you're not, buying Intercom just to get tours is financially absurd.

The Hidden Cost: Ecosystem Lock-In

Intercom's strategy is clear: get you on Messenger for customer support, then upsell add-ons (Product Tours, Resolution Bot, etc). Each add-on is $99/month, but you can't use any of them without the base platform.

Real scenario: You start with Intercom Essential ($87/mo) + Product Tours ($99/mo) = $186/month total. Seems cheaper than Userflow's $240/month. But then you realize you need more than 1,000 monthly active seats for support, so you upgrade to Advanced ($132/mo). Now you're at $231/month—more expensive than Userflow but with worse tours.

Then your team grows and you need more seats, so you hit Expert tier ($660/mo). Now you're paying $759/month for messaging + basic tours that are worse than Userflow's $240/month offering.

The lock-in is intentional. Once you're on Intercom for support, switching to another platform means migrating all your customer conversations, macros, and workflows. That switching cost makes you tolerate expensive add-ons even when standalone alternatives are better.

Feature Comparison: What Intercom Tours Can't Do

Intercom Product Tours launched as a competitive response to Appcues and Userflow, not because Intercom deeply invested in onboarding. The limitations show:

According to reviews comparing the tools, Intercom's tours work for "very basic, linear onboarding flows" but struggle with complex scenarios. One user noted: "If you are already using Intercom Messenger since you can showcase the product tours within the messenger, or order resolution bots to suggest product tours in certain cases" — that's the sweet spot. You're already on Intercom, so the $99/month add-on is incremental.

But if you're not on Intercom, you're buying a $2,232-9,108/year messaging platform to get tours that are worse than dedicated alternatives.

When Intercom Product Tours Makes Sense

Choose Intercom if you already use Intercom Messenger for customer support and need very basic tours. At $99/month incremental cost, it's cheaper than adding Userflow separately. The integration is native—tours can trigger from support conversations or bots.

The use case is narrow but legitimate: you're a small team already paying for Intercom Essential ($87/mo), you need simple linear tours, and $99/month is easier to justify than $240/month for a separate tool. You're willing to accept limited features because the convenience of one platform outweighs the functionality gap.

When Userflow Makes Sense

Choose Userflow if you don't use Intercom for support, or if you need real onboarding capabilities (checklists, surveys, A/B testing, deep analytics). At $240/month standalone, you get a focused product built for onboarding, not a messaging platform with tours bolted on.

Userflow works best when onboarding is critical to activation. If you're investing in optimizing user journeys, you need the full feature set—not Intercom's limited add-on. The Kanban builder is more intuitive, analytics are deeper, and you're not locked into an ecosystem.

The Real Cost Comparison

Let's run the 3-year math based on realistic usage:

If you're already on Intercom, the $99/month tours are genuinely cheaper than Userflow's $240/month. You save $5,076 over 3 years.

If you're NOT on Intercom, buying it just for tours costs $7,037 over 3 years—less than Userflow's $8,640, but you're paying for a messaging platform you might not need.

The question isn't "which is cheaper?" It's "do you actually need Intercom Messenger?"

What Bootstrapped Founders Should Do

If you're at $10K-50K MRR, evaluate whether you need either tool. Both use MAU billing that charges for all logins, not just users who see tours.

Don't buy Intercom ($2,232-9,108/year) just to get tours. That's like buying a house to get a garage. If you need customer support and onboarding, Intercom Essential + Tours at $186/month is reasonable. If you only need onboarding, Userflow at $240/month is cheaper than Intercom's total cost.

Consider alternatives like Escourtly that offer onboarding features without subscription lock-in. For more comparisons: Userflow vs Appcues | Intercom vs Appcues | Userflow vs Chameleon

The Bottom Line

Intercom Product Tours and Userflow solve different problems for different customers.

Intercom Tours: Cheap add-on ($99/mo) if you already use Intercom Messenger. Basic features, limited customization, good enough for simple linear flows. Total cost $186-759/month depending on Intercom tier.

Userflow: Dedicated onboarding platform ($240/mo) with full feature set. Checklists, surveys, A/B testing, better analytics. Works standalone without requiring messaging platform.

The decision matrix:

Don't let Intercom's "$99/month" pricing fool you into thinking it's cheaper. That's just the add-on cost on top of $87-660/month for Messenger. Unless you already pay for Intercom, the total cost makes Userflow more straightforward.

And before you buy either, ask whether tours solve your actual problem. If users drop off because your UX is confusing, tours won't fix that—better product design will.

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