If you’re in B2B sales, you know that showing is better than telling. That’s where interactive demo platforms come in—they let prospects click around and see what your product actually does. But with so many options (and so much hype), picking the right one can feel like a chore. This guide is for sales leaders, enablement folks, or anyone tasked with making demos less painful and more effective. We’ll dig into the nitty-gritty of choosing a tool, compare Walnut and some key alternatives, and call out what matters—and what doesn’t.
1. Figure Out What You Actually Need (Not What the Vendors Say)
Before you get dazzled by slick marketing videos, get real about what you need. Interactive demo platforms aren’t cheap or plug-and-play. If you don’t nail your requirements, you’ll spend money (and time) on something your team ignores.
Ask yourself: - Who’s using this—sales reps, marketing, onboarding, all of the above? - How technical is your product? Can you get away with a basic click-through, or do you need real integrations and data? - Are you mostly running live demos, sharing self-guided demos, or both? - Do you need analytics, CRM integration, or just a simple “see for yourself” experience? - Who’s building and maintaining these demos? (Designers, product marketers, anyone with five spare minutes?)
Pro tip:
Write down your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and outright “don’t cares.” This will save you hours in vendor calls.
2. Know the Demo Platform Landscape (and What’s Overhyped)
There are a bunch of products out there. Here are the main types you’ll run into:
- No-code/low-code demo builders: Think Walnut, Storylane, Reprise, Navattic. These let non-developers build interactive demos by recording your app and layering guides, hotspots, and forms.
- Developer-heavy solutions: Tools like Demoboost and Tourial sometimes let you go deeper, but require more setup and sometimes actual coding.
- Custom-coded demos: You could build your own, but unless you have a big team and love reinventing the wheel, don’t.
What matters:
- Can your team actually use it, or will it gather dust because it’s “too hard”?
- Does it support your use case (live demo, self-serve, POC, etc.)?
- What’s the learning curve? Some tools look easy but get complicated fast.
What’s overhyped:
- AI-powered demo creation. (Right now, most “AI” features just save you a few clicks, not hours.)
- Endless customization. You want fast, not perfect.
3. Comparing Walnut to Alternatives: Honest Takes
Let’s break down how Walnut stacks up against a few leading alternatives.
Walnut
What works: - Simple, point-and-click demo building. No code needed. - Good for both live and self-guided demos. - Decent analytics—you can see who interacts with what. - Strong focus on sales use cases (not just product tours).
What doesn’t: - Can get expensive, especially as you scale. - Limited deep customization (if you need wild interactivity or complex data flows). - Some users mention support can lag during busy periods.
Navattic
What works: - Fast setup; you can publish a clickable demo in under an hour. - Super simple editor—no training needed. - Friendly for marketing teams (embedding, sharing, etc.).
What doesn’t: - Fewer advanced features for sales (personalization, reporting). - Limited branching logic—you’re mostly making simple flows.
Reprise
What works: - Two modes: “Replay” (record your app, add guides) and “Reveal” (for more complex, live-data demos). - Good for technical products where you want to show real data. - Integrates with Salesforce and HubSpot.
What doesn’t: - Steeper learning curve, especially if you want to do more than the basics. - More expensive, especially if you want both modes.
Storylane
What works: - Quick to build and share. - Offers some personalization features (token replacement, user-specific links). - Pricing is more SMB-friendly.
What doesn’t: - Basic analytics. - Less robust for enterprise teams (user management, integrations).
Others (Demoboost, Tourial, etc.)
Most other players are variations on these themes. Some are friendlier to marketers, some try to do in-depth POCs. Unless you have a very niche need, start with one of the main four above.
Ignore: - Vendor “feature matrices” that list 100 bullet points. Most features you’ll never use. - FOMO about AI or “next-gen” tech. Focus on what solves your problem, not what’s trendy.
4. Try Before You Buy (and Test With Real Users)
Most demo platforms offer a free trial or pilot. Don’t just click around yourself—get your actual sales reps and marketers to try building and sharing demos.
Checklist for a real trial: - Build a demo for a real use case (not just the vendor’s sample template). - Share it with a few prospects or internal team members. Ask what was confusing. - Try to break it. What happens if the product UI changes? Does your demo break? - Check how easy it is to update demos (you’ll need to do this a lot). - Test integrations with your CRM or marketing stack—do they actually work, or just sort of?
Pro tip:
If the tool feels clunky during a pilot, it’ll feel ten times worse in real life. Don’t assume it’ll get easier with time.
5. Don’t Get Burned: Watch for These Common Pitfalls
Plenty of teams regret their first demo platform choice. Here’s what to look out for:
- Locked-in contracts: Ask for month-to-month or a short pilot. Don’t sign a year-long deal until the team’s actually using it.
- “Easy” setup that isn’t: Ask for a demo of the editor, not just the finished product. If the vendor doesn’t show you how to make a demo in real time, run.
- “Unlimited” pricing that isn’t: Watch the fine print—some platforms charge extra for more demos, users, or analytics.
- Support that disappears after you buy: Check user forums and reviews for horror stories about post-sale support.
6. Practical Decision-Making Framework
Here’s a dead-simple way to pick:
- List your top 3 must-haves. (e.g., “Easy for sales to edit,” “Works for both live and self-serve demos,” “CRM integration”)
- Narrow to two or three platforms based on what you’ve read here (and elsewhere).
- Run a trial—actually build a demo you’d use in real sales.
- Get feedback from the team who’ll use it week after week—not just the person managing the project.
- Negotiate on price—most vendors have wiggle room, especially if you’re evaluating alternatives.
- Don’t overthink it. Most platforms can get you 80% of what you need. Don’t hold out for the perfect one.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Picking the right interactive demo platform isn’t about ticking every box—it’s about finding something your team will actually use that makes your demos better. Avoid the lure of “game-changing features” you’ll never touch. Get clear on your needs, try a couple of real tools, and don’t be afraid to switch if your first pick doesn’t stick. Start simple, see what works, and keep moving. That’s how you’ll actually get value—no hype required.