The Top SaaS Onboarding Experiences of 2024 and What They Can Teach You

Onboarding is the make-or-break moment for many SaaS businesses. You’ve got one shot to impress your users and show them the value your product brings. If you don’t get it right, the chances of losing them early increase dramatically. But here’s the good news—2024 has given rise to some seriously great onboarding experiences that can teach us how to do it right.

Great onboarding isn’t just about teaching a user how to use your product; it’s about creating an experience that feels intuitive, seamless, and even a little fun. So, let’s dive into some of the top SaaS onboarding experiences of the year and see what makes them tick. These examples don’t just offer “how-to” guidance; they offer a blueprint for success that you can easily adapt for your own business.

1. HubSpot: Tailored, Role-Based Experiences

HubSpot is a SaaS onboarding legend, and for good reason. When new users sign up, they’re not bombarded with generic tutorials. Instead, HubSpot tailors the onboarding process based on the user’s role and the specific needs of their business. Whether you’re a marketer, a sales rep, or customer service, HubSpot ensures that the tutorials and guides you see are highly relevant to your job.

Why does this work? Simple: personalization. When users feel that the content they’re receiving directly applies to their job, they’re far more likely to engage with the platform. A personalized onboarding experience makes users feel heard and valued right off the bat.

What you can learn: Always start with understanding your users. Create onboarding flows that are personalized to their specific role and business needs. This level of attention makes users feel confident and sets the tone for success.

2. Notion: Interactive and Hands-On

Notion is a productivity tool that has turned onboarding into an experience that feels less like a chore and more like an exploration. When new users sign up, they’re immediately encouraged to dive in and build. The platform’s interactive onboarding helps users create their first workspace or page in a fun, hands-on way. Instead of just watching a tutorial, users actually build something from scratch, which helps them learn faster.

This kind of hands-on interaction creates a much deeper level of engagement compared to passive tutorials. It allows users to immediately see the value of the product by creating something tangible.

What you can learn: Don’t just tell your users how to use your product—let them experience it firsthand. By allowing users to get their hands dirty in a safe, guided environment, you help them realize the product’s value instantly.

3. Intercom: Minimalist and Contextual Guidance

When it comes to onboarding, less is more and Intercom is a prime example. Their onboarding process is minimalist, offering just the right amount of guidance when needed, without overwhelming new users with unnecessary information. As users navigate the platform, tooltips and contextual pop-ups appear to help them understand key features as they go.

The real genius of Intercom’s onboarding is how it focuses on what’s most important at the moment, ensuring that the user is never lost or confused. The key takeaway here is that, when done right, onboarding can be incredibly efficient—providing just-in-time support and guidance when the user needs it most.

What you can learn: Make your onboarding process simple, contextual, and non-intrusive. Focus on guiding users through key actions in real time, rather than overwhelming them with a large information dump upfront.

4. Trello: Progress Tracking with Rewards

Trello’s onboarding is built around the idea of progression. Users are encouraged to create their first board and checklist, with clear visual indicators showing how much progress they’ve made. There’s even a reward system in place, where users are congratulated for completing milestones, keeping them motivated to continue exploring.

Incentives work. Research consistently shows that people are more likely to stay engaged with a product when there’s a gamified element involved. Even small rewards, like a virtual high-five, can keep users excited and motivated to explore more.

What you can learn: Gamify your onboarding process to keep users engaged. Celebrate small wins and create progress markers that encourage users to move forward and explore more of your product.

5. Slack: Seamless Integration and Immediate Value

Slack’s onboarding experience is one of the smoothest in the SaaS world. As soon as users sign up, they’re encouraged to integrate Slack with other tools they’re already using (like Google Calendar or Zoom). This allows users to immediately see the value Slack brings to their existing workflow.

What sets Slack apart is its ability to showcase immediate value through integrations and real-world use cases. Instead of relying on abstract examples, Slack’s onboarding helps users understand how they can integrate Slack into their daily work routine from the very first interaction.

What you can learn: Show immediate value by allowing users to integrate your product into their existing systems. When users see how your product fits into their workflow, adoption rates skyrocket.

Conclusion

The top SaaS onboarding experiences of 2024 all share one thing in common: they put the user first. Whether it’s personalizing the experience, encouraging hands-on engagement, or showing immediate value, these companies know that great onboarding leads to long-term success.

Ready to create an onboarding experience that keeps your users engaged and coming back for more? Book a demo with us today and discover how you can craft onboarding flows that truly resonate with your users.