5 best user engagement tools for your SaaS success
The quick answer
Quick answer: user engagement tools bring users back to your product and deepen how they use it, through in-app messages and guides, lifecycle email, feedback surveys and analytics. This list picks one tool per job: SurveyMonkey for feedback, PLG OS for in-app engagement components, Intercom for in-app messaging and support, Mailchimp for email and Google Analytics for measurement. If your biggest gap is in-product onboarding, dedicated platforms such as Userpilot or Pendo go deeper. Prices below are as of September 2026.
You have created a fantastic SaaS solution, but people simply join up, explore, and then leave. Isn't this frustrating? The key to keeping customers captivated is a tremendous product and involvement. If users do not engage with your platform regularly, they will leave faster than you can say "goodbye revenue."
This is where user engagement tools come in. These solutions help convert interested sign-ups into devoted customers by providing tailored onboarding, in-app messaging, and behavior tracking. Are you ready to increase your product's retention, adoption, and customer satisfaction? Here are the 5 best user engagement tools for SaaS.
What is customer engagement?
Customer engagement is the process of developing relationships with your customers. The goal is to enhance brand exposure, keep customers engaged, and build long-term loyalty. According to Salesforce research, 88% of customers say good service makes them more likely to purchase from the same company again.
Customers can be engaged through various channels, including social media posts, marketing efforts, and website content. It's also vital to complete this in-app and via email.
Here is a good example:
Postfity, a social media scheduling tool (it has since joined Simplified), announced a feature update to its users.
A typical SaaS company presumes that users will learn about the change; thus, there is no purpose in informing them. Consumers expect quick responses: according to The Sprout Social Index, most consumers want brands to respond within 24 hours or sooner. However, informing users this way is an excellent approach to keep them informed and interested as your service expands.
How does a customer engagement tool work?
A customer engagement tool provides a bird's-eye view of a customer, allowing firms to see patterns in consumer behavior and preferences. Teams are able to devote more time to strategic engagement thanks to this tool's ability to automate repetitive tasks and personalize interactions.
In addition, it enables companies to use first-party data to measure consumer engagement, which improves decision-making and helps to optimize engagement initiatives. Here is a rundown of the nine steps that these tools go through in practice:
- Collect information from various online resources, including apps, social media, and websites.
- Centralize your data for more straightforward analysis.
- Categorize clients according to their characteristics, habits, and tastes.
- Make each client segment's interactions and communications unique.
- Send out emails, text messages, push alerts, and social media posts to keep consumers interested.
- Emailing and responding to inquiries are two examples of automated tasks.
- Discover new insights by analyzing consumer behavior and advertising results.
- Survey clients to find out what they think so you can make your products and services better.
- Iteratively adjust tactics in light of data and comments.
User engagement tools compared
Each tool below does one engagement job well. Paid prices are the lowest published entry points as of September 2026; SurveyMonkey and Mailchimp price by region and volume, so check their pricing pages in your own currency.
| Tool | Engagement job | Where it reaches users | Free plan | Paid plans (as of September 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyMonkey | Feedback and surveys | Survey links, web and mobile app | Basic: surveys of up to 10 questions | Individual and team plans; price varies by region |
| PLG OS | In-app onboarding, surveys, gamification and help | Inside your web or mobile app | Free tier: 100 monthly tracked users, 1 component | Starter $49/mo, Growth $149/mo (monthly billing) |
| Intercom | In-app messaging and support | Messenger in web and mobile apps, email | No (free trial) | Essential $29/seat/mo billed annually, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome |
| Mailchimp | Lifecycle and marketing email | Up to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month | Essentials, Standard, Premium; priced by contacts and region | |
| Google Analytics | Measuring what drives engagement | Your website and apps (measurement only) | Yes, standard GA4 is free | Analytics 360 for enterprises (contact sales) |
1. SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is easily one of the most popular survey and feedback systems available, with 42 million+ users according to its site. Among its competitors, it is also one of the most complete.
You should not judge this product based on its free tier (which is not the most complete). If you can afford a paid package, you'll notice the difference.
SurveyMonkey offers many plans with features such as:
- Survey builder
- Templates & question types
- Multilingual surveys (paid plans)
- Reporting & Analytics
- Keyword search and text analysis of open-ended answers
- Kiosk mode (paid plans, in the SurveyMonkey Anywhere app)
- Mobile app
Why SurveyMonkey?
At first glance, SurveyMonkey is a costly survey platform that a free survey in Google Forms would replace. However, your point of view makes all the difference.
You can either use a free tool to collect customer feedback and eventually regret it because it only helps with limited templates, question types, and a clunky interface, or you can use a paid feedback option to get your users to provide insightful feedback thanks to special templates and use cases, as well as the analytics option SurveyMonkey provides.
2. PLG OS
Every SaaS company dreams of achieving product-led growth, but how do you actually make it happen? You could use 10 different tools for every aspect of growth, or you could just use PLG OS.
It brings together the in-app pieces you need to drive adoption, retain users, and boost engagement in one platform, installed through one SDK.
PLG OS helps with:
- User onboarding & activation
- In-app engagement & product adoption
- Customer segmentation & targeting
- Feedback collection & analysis
- Gamification for retention: streaks, badges, challenges and leaderboards
Why use PLG OS?
PLG OS replaces a scattered set of in-app widgets with one set of components for SaaS businesses that want to grow without friction. Its campaign analytics show which components are working. Pricing (as of September 2026): a free tier for 100 monthly tracked users, then Starter at $49 and Growth at $149 a month on monthly billing. Full disclosure: PLG OS is our product.
3. Intercom
Intercom, a market leader in its area, is your infinity stone for excellent in-app assistance. In Gladly's 2018 customer service expectations survey, 68% of respondents said they would pay more for a product from a company with a strong record of good customer service. Now, in-app customer messaging may appear annoying to some of us at first, but as I mentioned above, it is critical for SaaS organizations seeking to remain industry leaders this decade.
You may want to stop by Intercom on your way to SaaS leadership. Intercom customer messaging allows you to conduct a variety of things, including:
- Real-time live chat.
- Chatbots, led by the Fin AI Agent
- Self-service alternatives.
- Chat segmentation
- Outbound messages
- Integrations with 450+ apps.
Why use an intercom?
Intercom is more than just a wonderful in-app messaging solution; it also provides a comprehensive experience.
Intercom can even be used for email marketing or knowledge base, whereas many simpler chat widgets stop at live chat. Its Essential plan is aimed at individuals, startups and small businesses, while Advanced and Expert serve larger support teams. Essential costs $29 per seat per month billed annually, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome (as of September 2026).
However, if you want an in-app messaging tool that also functions as an emailing solution and an omnichannel support hub, it could be the one for you.
4. Mailchimp
Mailchimp, another popular tool on our list, may appear to be overrated. However, it is actually undervalued. According to Salesforce, 73% of customers expect better personalization as technology advances.
Because Mailchimp is much more than an email marketing tool, thanks to features like:
- Audience analytics
- Segmentation and Personalization
- Prebuilt automation flows (60+ templates; formerly Customer Journey Builder)
- Send time optimization (Standard plan and up)
- Content Studio and Campaign Templates
- Analytics Mobile app
Why Mailchimp?
Most seasoned emailing platforms, such as HubSpot or Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), focus on specific fields; Mailchimp remains a real jack-of-all-trades.
There are indeed some excellent new tools. But they still need time to become in shape.
Meanwhile, Mailchimp (owned by Intuit since 2021) is available as a full-featured marketing platform with a mobile app and a free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Paid plans are priced by contact count and vary by region. Years of experience and a satisfied customer base are merely condiments for the main entrée.
5. Google Analytics
New analytics tools are released daily for various use cases, including user behavior, A/B testing, heat mapping, content marketing, and more.
It’s almost as if you require something for every small thing.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s fantastic that we have so many specific tools now. What if we required a single infinity stone to rule them all? Here’s when Google Analytics comes into play.
This popular analytics tool with an awesome freemium can do:
- Automated insights that flag unusual changes.
- Behavioral modeling and modeled key events (formerly conversions)
- Reports on behavior, conversion, acquisition, and more.
- Segmentation and funnel analysis.
- Google integrations (Google Ads, Search Console, BigQuery export) and more
Why use Google Analytics?
It is true that Google Analytics does not have the most user-friendly interface, and it can be challenging to navigate at times.
But it all comes down to one basic question. What tool can provide the most accurate information on a website that people use Google to access?
To be fair, Google Analytics is one of the most complete free analytics tools on the market, and combining it with other Google products is straightforward. Note that Universal Analytics stopped processing data on July 1, 2023, so Google Analytics now means GA4.
How to choose user engagement tools
Start with the job, not the tool: feedback, in-app guidance, support, email or measurement. Then put one rule over every tool that can interrupt a user, because five engagement tools each deciding for themselves add up to a product that nags. Our feature discovery prompt priority policy sets a per-user cap and a priority order, and the in-app prompt frequency budget turns that cap into numbers. If you add streaks or other game mechanics, write the rules for missed days first with the streak freeze and recovery policy.
Two related comparisons: the best in-app support tools for chat and in-app help, and the best popup software for on-site messages.
Conclusion
User engagement isn’t just a metric; it’s the heartbeat of your SaaS success! You can turn casual users into loyal advocates with tools like Intercom, Pendo, and Userpilot. But what matters most is a strong Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategy.
PLG OS helps you scale efficiently, boost retention, and let your product do the talking. Ready to change how users engage with your product? Don’t just follow the trend, lead it! Explore how PLG OS can help your SaaS grow. Get started today by booking a call today!
FAQs
What are user engagement tools?
User engagement tools help you bring users back to your product and deepen how they use it: in-app messages and guides, lifecycle email, feedback surveys, gamification, and analytics that show which of these is working. Most SaaS teams combine a few of them rather than buying one tool for everything.
What are the top user engagement tools for SaaS businesses?
The best user engagement tools include Intercom, PLG OS, Mailchimp, SurveyMonkey and Google Analytics, each offering unique features for customer communication, onboarding, and retention. Intercom covers in-app messaging and support, PLG OS in-app components such as onboarding, surveys and gamification, Mailchimp email, SurveyMonkey feedback, and Google Analytics measurement.
How does Intercom help improve user engagement?
Intercom provides live chat, automated messaging, and AI-driven chatbots, helping businesses interact with users in real time and enhance support efficiency. Its Fin AI Agent answers common questions automatically, and the Proactive Support Plus add-on adds product tours, surveys and in-app messages.
Can HubSpot be used for user engagement?
Yes, HubSpot's CRM, email automation, and customer journey tracking help SaaS businesses nurture leads and maintain engagement throughout the customer lifecycle. The CRM itself is free, and email automation is part of Marketing Hub.
What makes Userpilot stand out?
Userpilot specializes in no-code onboarding flows, in-app guides, and personalized experiences, helping SaaS businesses drive user activation and retention. It combines those flows with product analytics, surveys and session replay across web and mobile.