Quick answer. Pick Pendo if you want product analytics as the core, a free start up to 500 monthly active users, and AI that answers questions about your data (Leo) with optional churn prediction (Predict). Pick Userpilot if you want onboarding flows and analytics at a printed price, with its AI agent Lia and an MCP connection on every plan, including the $299 Starter. Both now sell analytics for products that have AI agents in them.
The AI on each side (4 Nov 2026)
Pendo (pricing page):
- Leo, on every plan. Ask a question in plain words and get an answer without building a report.
- Novus, a separate free beta with no MAU cap for now. It watches your product, sends suggestions to Slack, and can open pull requests in GitHub to keep tracking code current.
- Predict, a paid add-on for churn and upsell signals, priced by prediction volume.
- Agent Analytics, a paid add-on that shows how people use the AI agents in your product, priced by prompt volume with a free allowance.
Userpilot (pricing page):
- Lia, its AI agent, and MCP access, on Starter, Growth and Enterprise.
- Agent Analytics and MCP Analytics, add-ons on Growth and Enterprise.
- 5,000 free AI session analyses on Growth and Enterprise.
- An AI guide builder and AI feedback summaries, shown as not on Starter. The table is hard to read, so confirm which plan has them.
- AI session summaries, marked "coming soon".
So the split: Pendo's AI leans on its analytics depth and charges for prediction. Userpilot puts an agent and MCP in its cheapest plan and charges for the heavier analysis.
Prices
| Userpilot | Pendo | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | No free plan | Free up to 500 MAUs |
| Entry paid | Starter $299 a month, 2,000 MAUs, 3 seats | Base, "Request pricing" |
| Middle | Growth from $849 a month, 15 seats | Core (adds session replay) |
| Top | Enterprise, custom, unlimited seats | Ultimate (adds sentiment surveys, Orchestrate, Listen, Data Sync) |
| AI add-ons | Agent and MCP Analytics | Predict, Agent Analytics |
| Vendr median | $18,000 a year | $48,500 a year |
Vendr reports past deals and gives no list price. Pendo's paid price grows with MAUs, at a lower rate per user as volume rises, and doesn't change with how many apps you track.
Beyond AI
- Analytics depth. Pendo is analytics first, with retroactive data back to the day you installed it. Userpilot's advanced analytics and autocapture start on Growth.
- Flows. Both build guides. Userpilot is closer to a pure onboarding tool, with a resource center and surveys on Growth.
- Mobile. Userpilot puts mobile on Growth as an add-on and in Enterprise. Pendo's free plan includes mobile app keys.
- Session replay. Pendo from Core. Userpilot includes 5,000 a month on Growth.
What reviewers say
Userpilot (search summaries of G2 and Capterra):
- Learning curve and setup.
- Builder glitches for some.
- The jump in price from Starter to Growth.
Pendo (search summaries of G2 and Capterra):
- Expensive as usage grows.
- More analytics than a small team can use.
How to choose
- Under 500 MAUs? Start on Pendo Free and see if Leo answers your questions.
- Want an AI agent and MCP for under $300 a month? Userpilot Starter.
- Your product has its own AI agent? Both sell Agent Analytics. Ask for a demo on your traffic.
- Need churn prediction in the product tool? Pendo Predict is the named option.
The AI neither one is
Both tools use AI to read product data and help your team build guides. Neither puts an AI in front of a new customer to run their setup.
Cor (getcor.ai), an AI onboarding agent for B2B software, does the second thing. Obi, Cor's AI agent, works directly with every new customer. It agrees a plan your admin signs off, joins them on a live call, sees their screen and takes them through setup, or does steps for them where allowed. It learns from your knowledge base and examples of your own calls, and your team can run it from Claude or ChatGPT. Launch is $750 a month, Growth $1,750, Scale custom: a platform fee plus credits, unlimited seats (getcor.ai). Cor doesn't track feature usage or build tours, so if that's what you need, choose Pendo or Userpilot.
FAQ
Pendo AI vs Userpilot AI: which is better?
Pendo for AI on top of deep analytics, plus paid churn prediction. Userpilot for an AI agent and MCP on every plan at a printed price.
What is Pendo Novus?
A free beta from Pendo, with no MAU limit for now, that monitors your product and suggests fixes, including pull requests for tracking code.
Is Leo included in all Pendo plans?
Yes, per Pendo's pricing page.
Does Userpilot's Starter plan include AI?
Yes. Lia and MCP are on Starter. Agent Analytics and some AI builder features are on higher plans.
How we checked: both pricing pages and Vendr, read 4 Nov 2026.