What is the difference between Chameleon's MTU and MAU billing?

MAU (Monthly Active Users) counts users who actually use your product in a given month. MTU (Monthly Tracked Users) counts all users who could potentially login based on data connected to Chameleon - including users who have never interacted with any Chameleon experience. One Capterra reviewer was charged for 5,000 MTUs while still in beta with only 2 team members using the product.

Does Chameleon support native mobile apps?

No. Chameleon is web-only and does not have a native iOS or Android SDK. It works on mobile web browsers and progressive web apps, but cannot be integrated into native iOS or Android applications. Teams needing native mobile onboarding need a different tool.

Does Chameleon require coding?

Basic experience creation is no-code via the visual editor and Chrome extension. However, meaningful brand customization requires custom CSS, and multiple G2 and Capterra reviewers confirm that advanced customization requires a developer. CSS knowledge is effectively required for anything beyond default styling.

How much does Chameleon cost for 5,000 active users?

At 5,000 MAUs, your MTU count could be 10,000-15,000 depending on how broadly your user data is connected to Chameleon. This typically places you in the Growth plan, where third-party data suggests $12,000-$24,000/year is typical. Vendr's median across all Chameleon contracts is approximately $23,938/year.

Does Userpilot require coding?

Technically no, but practically often yes. Basic flows can be created entirely through the Chrome extension's point-and-click interface without writing code. However, advanced customisation requires custom CSS (Growth tier only), manual CSS selector definition for Shadow DOM elements, and developer involvement when flows don't trigger correctly, which numerous G2 reviews cite as a recurring challenge.

Does Userpilot support mobile apps?

Yes, but only as a paid add-on on Growth/Enterprise tiers. Native SDKs span iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Ionic, Capacitor, Cordova, and Xamarin. Mobile features include onboarding flows, push notifications, in-app surveys, Session Replay, and mobile analytics. Mobile is not available on the Starter plan at any price and is priced separately by quote.

How does Userpilot pricing work?

Userpilot charges based on Monthly Active Users (MAUs), critically, for all users signed into your platform, not just those who interact with Userpilot content. The Starter plan is published at $299/month (billed annually) for up to 2,000 MAUs. Growth and Enterprise tiers are quote-based and require a sales conversation. Most teams with real use cases will need the Growth tier.

What are the main limitations of the Starter plan?

The $299/month Starter plan limits you to 3 seats, 10 segments, 1-year data retention, no Resource Center, no A/B testing, no advanced analytics (funnels, retention, path analysis), no Session Replay, and no Mobile Engagement. For most growth-stage product teams, these limits make the Growth tier effectively mandatory.

Looking for an AI-native alternative to Chameleon or Userpilot? Meet Obi, the AI agent that guides every customer through your product live. Learn more

COMPARISON

Chameleon vs Userpilot: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Quick answer: Choose Chameleon for UX-focused product teams that want embedded onboarding experiences, or Userpilot for SaaS product teams that need segmentation and native analytics. Chameleon's starting price is Pro from $750/month for 5,000 MTUs (billed monthly); Userpilot's is $299/month (annual billing; up to 2,000 MAUs). Check the billing terms and included features below before comparing total costs.

Last updated September 2026

Article · June 2026 · 8 min read

How these tools differ

Chameleon is a fit for UX-focused product teams that want embedded onboarding experiences, while Userpilot is a fit for SaaS product teams that need segmentation and native analytics. Their pricing differs: Chameleon is listed at Pro from $750/month for 5,000 MTUs (billed monthly), compared with $299/month (annual billing; up to 2,000 MAUs) for Userpilot. For a further distinction, our Chameleon review lists technical teams comfortable with CSS customization for deep brand styling, while our Userpilot review lists teams needing sophisticated user segmentation. Compare the tools in this category.

Sources

https://chameleon.io/pricing

https://g2.com/products/chameleon/reviews

https://capterra.com/p/171778/Chameleon

https://vendr.com/marketplace/chameleon

https://userpilot.com/blog/chameleon-review

https://userpilot.com/pricing

https://userpilot.com/blog/userpilot-pricing

https://userpilot.com/blog/userpilot-mobile

https://userpilot.com/blog/userpilot-product-experience

https://docs.userpilot.com/getting-started/what-does-userpilot-offer

https://g2.com/products/userpilot/reviews

https://capterra.com/p/179187/Userpilot

https://softwareadvice.com/customer-success/userpilot-profile

https://userguiding.com/blog/userpilot-pricing

Pricing side by side

Chameleon

MTU-based (Monthly Tracked Users) - tracks all users who might login, not just active users. One Capterra reviewer was charged for 5,000 users while still in beta with only 2 team members working on the product.

Userpilot

MAU-based tiers (Monthly Active Users). Only the Starter plan has a published price; Growth and Enterprise both require a sales conversation.

Startup

From ~$279/mo (billed annually, ~$3,348/year)

Up to 2,000 MTUs

Starter

From $299/mo (billed annually)

Up to 2,000 MAUs

Growth

Custom MTU-based (~$999/mo+ reported for smaller volumes)

Custom MTU-based tiers

Growth

Quote-based (~$799/mo reported)

Custom (commonly 5,000+ MAUs)

Enterprise

Custom (median ~$23,938/year per Vendr; range ~$14,250-$80,750/year)

Custom

Enterprise

Custom pricing

Custom

Read the full breakdowns: Chameleon pricing · Userpilot pricing

Features side by side

Chameleon

Embeddable Experiences
Chameleon's unique differentiator: native-feeling in-app elements (banners, checklists, launchers) that prioritize embedded, contextual UX over disruptive pop-ups. Designed for UX-focused product teams.
Tours and Tooltips
Step-by-step onboarding flows and contextual help tooltips built via WYSIWYG editor. Unlimited on all paid plans. Copilot AI helps build tours and analyze audiences.
Copilot and AI Interactive Demos
Copilot AI builds tours, analyzes audiences, and reviews data. AI Interactive Demos include voice commentary and campaign kits. Available from the Startup plan.
Microsurveys and NPS
In-app feedback collection with NPS and CSAT ratings. Custom survey design. 5 microsurveys on Startup, unlimited on Growth. Contextual timing based on user behavior.
A/B Testing
Test experience variations and compare performance for data-driven optimization. Growth and Enterprise only - not available on the Startup plan.

Userpilot

Flows (Product Tours)
No-code visual builder with modals, slideouts, tooltips, hotspots, banners, and driven actions. Attach to any UI element via the Chrome extension.
Onboarding Checklists
Progress tracking, customisable tasks, beacon triggers, and dismissal options. Effective for driving step-by-step activation.
NPS & In-App Surveys
NPS included on all plans. CES, CSAT, and PMF surveys require the Growth tier. Survey targeting uses Userpilot's segmentation engine.
Product Analytics
Trends, funnels, retention reports, path analysis, and custom dashboards (Growth+ only). Session Replay available as a paid add-on.
Resource Center
Self-service help hub with docs, videos, and chatbot integration. Growth tier and above only, not available on the $299 Starter plan.
Workflows & Lia AI
Multi-channel Workflows for cross-channel engagement, plus Lia, an AI agent that automates the insight-to-action loop. Part of Userpilot's expanded platform beyond core flow creation.

Maintenance burden

Scenario	Chameleon	Userpilot
Established products with stable UI	3-6 hrs/mo	5-10 hrs/mo
Fast-growing products with frequent UI changes	6-12 hrs/mo	15-25 hrs/mo

Pros and cons

Chameleon pros

Native-feeling embedded experiences: Chameleon's philosophy of prioritizing embedded, contextual elements over disruptive pop-ups creates genuinely better user experiences for UX-focused product teams who find modal-heavy tools frustrating
Robust integration ecosystem with 20+ native integrations: Chameleon integrates with all major analytics platforms (Segment, Amplitude, Mixpanel, Heap, Google Analytics) plus CRM tools like HubSpot, Intercom, and Salesforce, which are now included with Growth. This connectivity enables sophisticated segmentation and personalization, letting you trigger experiences based on real-time data.
Highly customizable with advanced styling options: Capterra reviewers call it fully customizable with excellent functionality. The editor provides advanced styling options and custom CSS, now available from the Startup plan. For teams with design resources, Chameleon offers pixel-perfect brand control, and the WYSIWYG editor lets you see changes in real time before publishing.
Comprehensive, increasingly AI-native feature set: tours, tooltips, launchers, microsurveys, A/B testing (Growth+), checklists, banners, plus Copilot AI and AI Interactive Demos mean Chameleon covers the full adoption toolkit. UserGuiding notes: Chameleon is a great adoption solution if you are only looking for in-app experience-related features and capabilities. You get the complete in-app engagement stack rather than point solutions.

Userpilot pros

Powerful segmentation and targeting: reviewers repeatedly praise the ability to create highly personalized onboarding experiences based on user attributes, behavior, and lifecycle stage: a genuine differentiator versus simpler tools
Excellent customer support: reviewers highlight fast, responsive support with dedicated CSMs on Growth+ plans, rated highly across review platforms
No-code visual builder for basic flows: non-technical product managers can create modals, tooltips, and checklists within hours without developer involvement for straightforward implementations
Built-in analytics (unlike some competitors): native funnel, retention, and trend analytics (plus Session Replay as an add-on) reduce the need for separate analytics tools that competitors like Appcues require

Chameleon cons

MTU billing creates billing surprises: counting all users who could potentially login rather than actual active users has resulted in buyers being charged for thousands of users during beta testing - this is the single biggest source of Chameleon billing complaints
Significant Startup to Growth pricing gap: the Startup plan at ~$279/month covers 2,000 MTUs, but Growth is commonly quoted at $999/month or more - a substantial jump that catches buyers off guard as their tracked user count grows
CSS required for meaningful customization: despite no-code marketing, deep branding and advanced customization consistently require CSS knowledge and often developer involvement - not truly no-code for teams without technical resources
Limited analytics compared to dedicated product analytics tools: Userpilot notes it is let down by its limited analytics. Basic reporting exists, and Growth adds Goals, Alerts, and leaderboards, but depth still trails dedicated tools like Pendo or Amplitude. Goal tracking and advanced reporting are gated to Growth+, so teams on Startup get only basic experience analytics.

Userpilot cons

CSS selector fragility creates ongoing maintenance burden: flows attach via CSS selectors that can break when developers modify class names, IDs, or DOM structure, and reviewers report 15-25 hours/month rebuilding flows for fast-shipping teams
Feature gating pushes teams toward tier upgrades: Resource Center, A/B testing, surveys beyond NPS, advanced analytics, and deeper customization all require the quote-based Growth plan, leaving the $299 Starter plan limited for real-world use
MAU pricing scales poorly and charges for inactive users: you pay for every user on your platform, not just those who see Userpilot content, so costs climb whether 100% or 1% of users interact with flows
Mobile support is a paid add-on (not included): native mobile requires the Growth tier minimum plus an add-on quote, so mobile-first teams pay a premium over base pricing

Obi vs both

Both Chameleon and Userpilot rely on overlays or guides attached to your UI, which means ongoing maintenance as your product changes. Obi takes a different approach: a conversational AI agent that learns from your docs and video and adapts in real time, with no selectors to rebuild.

Obi vs Chameleon

Chameleon's embedded-first philosophy is genuinely differentiated in the DAP category and earns real loyalty from UX-focused teams. However, the MTU billing model - charging for users who could potentially login rather than those who actually engage - creates the category's most-cited billing surprise. Obi's usage-based pricing means you pay for actual onboarding time consumed, with no risk of inflated user counts from a broad data connection. For teams that need guidance inside their application without selector maintenance overhead, Obi's conversational AI model eliminates the DOM-anchoring fragility that affects all selector-based DAPs including Chameleon.

Obi vs Userpilot

Userpilot's fundamental approach, attaching visual overlays to UI elements via CSS selectors, creates an inherent maintenance burden that Obi's document-learning model avoids. When Userpilot customers ship UI changes, their onboarding flows can break silently and require manual rebuilding. Obi's approach of learning from documentation and videos means onboarding adapts automatically when source content is updated. The pricing models also differ significantly: Userpilot charges for total platform users regardless of engagement, while Obi's usage-based model means you only pay for actual onboarding time consumed.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Chameleon and Userpilot address the same underlying problem but with different priorities. Chameleon scores 8.5/10 and Userpilot scores 7.5/10 in our 2026 evaluation. Ongoing maintenance is a factor for both: Chameleon reviewers report 6-12 hrs/mo for fast-growing products with frequent ui changes, and Userpilot reviewers report 15-25 hrs/mo. The right tool depends on your use case, team size, and how much ongoing maintenance work you can absorb. For teams that want to reduce that maintenance burden, Obi takes a different approach: a conversational AI agent that learns from your documentation and adapts automatically when your product changes, with no CSS selectors or DOM tagging required.

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