If you run a SaaS business, you know onboarding is where good deals either stick or start to unravel. Maybe you’re the founder, a product manager, or on the CS team, and you’re stuck cobbling together spreadsheets, docs, and email threads just to get customers live. There’s a sea of tools promising to fix onboarding, but most either overcomplicate things or don’t actually solve the handoff from sales to success. This guide compares Arrows to other go-to-market (GTM) tools, so you can pick what actually helps and skip what doesn’t.
Who this is for
- SaaS companies looking to improve customer onboarding after the sale
- Teams overwhelmed by too many tools or manual handoffs
- Anyone skeptical about buying another “all-in-one” GTM platform
What SaaS Onboarding Really Needs
Let’s get real: onboarding isn’t just about sending a welcome email and a checklist. You need to:
- Collect info from new customers (without a million follow-ups)
- Coordinate tasks across sales, CS, and sometimes implementation
- Show customers where they are in the process (so they don’t bail)
- Track progress, spot stalls early, and keep everyone accountable
Most GTM tools say they can do this, but there’s a big difference between “can” and “does without making your life harder.”
The Main Types of GTM Tools for Onboarding
Let’s break down the main categories of tools you’ll see pitched for onboarding:
- Project Management Tools
(Asana, Trello, Monday, ClickUp) - Digital Adoption Platforms
(WalkMe, Pendo, Userlane) - CRM Add-ons
(Salesforce Onboarding Modules, HubSpot Playbooks) - Customer Success Platforms
(Gainsight, Totango, ChurnZero) - Purpose-Built Onboarding Tools
(Arrows, GuideCX, Rocketlane)
We’ll look at how each stacks up when it comes to the stuff that actually matters.
1. Project Management Tools: Familiar, but Clunky
What works:
- Easy to set up (everyone’s used Trello or Asana)
- Not expensive if you already use them
- Good for internal task tracking
Where they fall short:
- Not customer-friendly. Customers don’t want to make an Asana account just to onboard.
- Messy communication. Email updates get lost, and there’s no single place for customers to track progress.
- Manual busywork. You’ll end up copying tasks from templates, updating statuses by hand, and chasing people for updates.
Pro tip: If your onboarding is just two steps, a PM tool is fine. But if you need to coordinate back-and-forth or automate reminders, it gets messy fast.
2. Digital Adoption Platforms: Too Much for Onboarding
What works:
- Great for in-app walkthroughs and tooltips
- Useful if your onboarding is 100% inside your product
Where they fall short:
- Not for real-world onboarding. Most onboarding steps happen outside the app—kickoff calls, contract reviews, integrations, etc.
- Expensive and complex. These are built for product teams, not CS or onboarding.
- No process visibility. You can see if someone clicked a button, but not if they finished setting up billing in your CRM.
Bottom line: Handy for product tours, but not for managing the human side of onboarding.
3. CRM Add-ons: Glued-On, Not Built-In
What works:
- Keeps info tied to the customer record
- Sometimes automates reminders or task creation
- Centralizes notes (if your team actually uses the CRM…)
Where they fall short:
- Awkward for customers. No customer-facing experience—everything’s for your team.
- Customization = headaches. Tweak too much, and you’re deep in workflows and custom fields.
- Limited visibility. Hard to give customers a clear, step-by-step view.
Reality check: CRMs are for tracking deals, not guiding customers through onboarding. You’ll spend more time building workarounds than actually onboarding.
4. Customer Success Platforms: Heavy-Duty, Heavy-Lift
What works:
- Analytics and health scores are useful after onboarding
- Good for tracking renewals, expansions, and churn risk
- Can automate playbooks (if you have someone to maintain them)
Where they fall short:
- Not onboarding-first. Most of these tools are focused on post-onboarding success.
- Expensive and time-consuming. Takes months to roll out; overkill for early-stage or smaller teams.
- Customer experience is an afterthought. You still need to email PDFs or Google Docs to show customers what’s next.
Skip unless: You’ve got a massive CS team and onboarding is just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
5. Purpose-Built Onboarding Tools: Arrows vs. the Rest
Here’s where things get interesting. There’s a new breed of tools built just for onboarding—think Arrows, GuideCX, and Rocketlane.
What works with Arrows:
- Customer-facing plans. Customers get a clear, interactive checklist in plain English—no logins, no confusion.
- Automated reminders. The tool follows up for you, so you’re not chasing people down.
- CRM integrations. Keeps your sales and CS teams in sync without double data entry.
- Progress tracking. Everyone, including the customer, sees what’s done and what’s next.
Honest take on Arrows:
- Simple, not bloated. You don’t need a consultant to set it up. It’s focused on doing onboarding well, not ten other things.
- Great for teams who don’t want to babysit tasks. It nudges customers and teammates automatically.
- Not a “do everything” platform. If you want complex workflow branching, deep analytics, or to replace your CS platform, you’ll hit limits.
- Pricing is straightforward, but not the cheapest. You’re paying for a focused tool, not a bundle of stuff you’ll never use.
How does it compare to GuideCX and Rocketlane?
- GuideCX: Similar idea—customer-facing plans, reminders, and integrations. A bit more enterprise-focused; can be pricier and heavier to set up. More bells and whistles, but more to manage.
- Rocketlane: Offers onboarding plus project management for post-sale work. Good if you need both onboarding and ongoing client projects. More complex interface; may be overkill if you just want onboarding.
What to watch out for:
All of these tools promise to “streamline onboarding,” but the devil’s in the details. Look for:
- How easy is it for customers to use? (Not just your team.)
- Can you actually connect it to your CRM without zapier spaghetti?
- Do you end up doing more manual work, or less?
How to Choose the Right Tool (Without Regretting It)
Here’s the real process, minus the hype:
-
Map your current onboarding steps.
Honestly, write them down. If you’re sending emails and spreadsheets, that’s a sign you need help. -
Decide who needs visibility.
Just CS? The customer? Sales? Execs? If customers need to see progress, don’t pick a tool that’s “internal only.” -
Test with a real customer.
Don’t just look at demo data. Run your messiest onboarding through the tool and see if it actually saves you time. -
Check integrations.
Does it talk to your CRM, email, and calendar? If not, you’ll be stuck updating things twice. -
Watch for features you’ll never use.
Fancy dashboards and endless customization sound nice, but you’ll pay for them—in both cash and headaches. -
Ask about support.
When things break (they will), is there someone who actually helps or just a bot?
Pro tip: The tool should make onboarding simpler, not just “more automated.” If it takes longer to set up than your onboarding process itself, move on.
What Actually Matters (and What to Ignore)
Focus on: - Clear, customer-facing plans and progress - Easy automation for reminders and updates - Solid integrations with the tools you already use
Ignore: - Overblown analytics (just get people live first) - “All-in-one” promises (they rarely deliver) - Features you need a training session to understand
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Overthink It
Here’s the truth: most SaaS onboarding problems come from unclear steps, missed handoffs, and too many tools. The best tool is the one your team and customers will actually use, even if it’s not perfect. Start simple, get a few wins, and tweak as you go. If a purpose-built tool like Arrows cuts your back-and-forth in half, it’s probably a good bet. Don’t let flashy features distract you from the basics—helping customers get value, fast.