Top 7 Headway Alternatives for Changelogs & Feedback in 2024

Struggling to find a Headway alternative that truly fits your needs? We've got your back.

While Headway is a popular option for small teams, it lacks crucial features like email notifications and segmentation, which are often deal-breakers for those seeking more flexibility. In this post, we dive deep into the top 7 alternatives that not only match Headway but also offer richer feature sets.

Whether you're after a straightforward changelog tool or a complete feedback platform, this blog is your starting point. Here's a short list to get you going, with more details later. 👇

TL;DR - Best Headway Alternatives in 2024

1. Featurebase - best for all teams, has changelogs, widgets, and feedback collection
2. GetBeamer - for growing startups that need a more comprehensive changelog tool
3. ReleaseNotes - for smaller teams looking for an alternative with email notifications
4. FeatureOS - for medium-sized companies, has segmentation and feedback collection
5. Frill - simple feedback tool for smaller teams, has changelogs
6. Canny.io - for larger businesses focusing on feedback management, has changelogs
7. LaunchNotes - enterprise-grade changelog tool for internal & external alignment

Before you jump off to make a decision, let's quickly run over the reasons to look for a Headway alternative and what to consider. 🔎

Drawbacks of Headway

Headway is one of the simplest changelog tools out there, but it can also make it a double-edged sword. Let's see why:

• No feedback collection
  Headway has no feedback collection options, meaning users can't share their thoughts with you. Typically, changelog tools have at least reaction buttons to the updates to get insights into users' thoughts. But overall, having a dedicated feedback board where they can submit ideas after being inspired by a release note is the best option.
• No email notifications
  The goal of changelog tools is to increase new feature adoption by reaching users in different channels. That usually includes emails, which have proven to improve that metric significantly. Unlike most other alternatives in this list, Headway doesn't send users automated email notifications about your posts.
• Lack of advanced features
  When announcing product updates, it's important to start with a solution that scales with you, even if you don't need the features upfront. Although Headway is meant to be simple, it lacks basic features essential to changelogs. This includes announcement popups, roadmaps, and user segmenting, which help keep your users informed about new features and personalizing their experience.
• Price
  I know, I know... how is it fair to bring up pricing when it costs just $29/month, you ask? Well, the price itself isn't much, but it's what you're getting for it. Even the paid features of Headway are often available for free in other tools. So, why pay for them?

With that being said, let's take a look at some of these other solutions. ☕

The 7 Best Headway Alternatives for Feedback Collection and Changelogs

We tested and handpicked each tool in this list precisely to cover Headway's shortcomings. In addition to the more advanced features, we also analyzed their strengths, weaknesses, pricing, and who they are ideal for. You will certainly find a tool you'll love:

1. Featurebase

Featurebase is one of the best Headway alternatives for changelogs and feedback collection. It has dedicated feedback boards, multiple in-app widgets, and a roadmap - all while maintaining a simple and neat look.

It comes with a free plan that includes all of Headway's paid features. You can set it up in minutes and always get quick help through live chat. ⚡️

Key features that match with Headway's:

• Free unlimited changelogs
• Custom branding + domain
• Changelog widget
• Scheduled publishing
• Custom categories

What Featurebase has that Headway doesn't?

• Feedback boards for bug reports & feature requests
• Roadmaps
• In-app feature release popups
• Email notifications
• Feedback widgets
• Surveys
• Changelog segmenting - only publish changes to specific user groups
• Comment threads - have detailed discussions with users
• Prioritization matrixes
• Many different languages
• Active team with fantastic customer support

Drawbacks of Featurebase

Since it's a larger tool than Headway, it may take a bit longer to get used to. Still, it's one of the easiest-to-use solutions in this list and has a super simple interface.

How much does Featurebase cost?

Featurebase has super simple and affordable pricing:

• Free Plan
  Includes all the essential features like changelogs, feedback boards, and roadmaps to take your product to the next level. It lets you publish unlimited changelogs and collect ideas from your users.
• Growth Plan - $40/month
  The middle plan includes 4 managers, a custom domain, and all integrations and widgets. You can automatically log users into Featurebase, sync their data to posts, and filter feedback by total user revenue.
• Premium Plan - $124/month
  Perfect for larger businesses, it offers more advanced features such as API, Single Sign-On, and user segmentation. You can have up to 8 managers, unlimited feedback boards, and edit notification emails to match your brand.

You can try all the paid tiers with a 10-day free trial - no credit card required.

Conclusion

Featurebase is one of the best Headway alternatives in this list. It has more advanced changelogs and lets you collect feedback and publish roadmaps. It fits all team sizes and helps increase new feature adoption while allowing you to get more ideas from users.

Plus, it offers most of Headway's paid features on the Free plan, so there's no reason not to give it a try.

Learn more here →

2. GetBeamer

Beamer is one of the most popular changelog-only alternatives to Headway. Although it doesn't offer feedback collection and can get pricey, it has more advanced changelog features for larger teams.

What GetBeamer has that Headway doesn't?

• New feature popups
• Automated email notifications
• Push notifications
• Product roadmap
• User segmentation
• Reactions - let users react to new releases with emojis
• Multiple languages

Drawbacks of GetBeamer

• No feedback collection
• Lack of customizations
• Unpredictable and expensive pricing

How much does GetBeamer cost?

GetBeamer has a very limited free tier for startups on a tight budget. The paid plans - which all limit your monthly visitors - start at $50/month. If you want to collect reactions and access more powerful features, you'd have to go with the $99/month plan. User segmentation and SSO costs $249/month, and SOC 2 starts from $499/month.

You can try out the paid features with a 14-day trial, but it requires credit card.

Conclusion

Beamer is definitely a good alternative to Headway as it offers more advanced features that many companies need. Still, it doesn't let you collect and prioritize feedback to help you understand customer needs before shipping.

It's mostly for larger teams looking for a comprehensive solution solely for release notes.

Learn more about Beamer and its alternatives →

3. ReleaseNotes

ReleaseNotes is a straightforward Headway alternative that lets you notify your users about the latest updates by email.

What ReleaseNotes has that Headway doesn't?

• Email notifications
• Reactions
• New feature popups
• Latest release banners
• Release note templates
• Analytics

Drawbacks of ReleaseNotes

• No feedback collection
• No roadmaps
• No user segmentation
• No language translations

How much does ReleaseNotes cost?

• Free Plan
  Very limited features, history of 5 releases, doesn't support rich text
• Standard ($29/month)
  Unlimited releases and admins, an announcement widget, email notifications, and rich text.
• Pro ($49/month)
  Private release notes for internal teams, API, custom domain, and a Zapier integration.

While these prices are not unfair, you can get most of these functions free from tools like Featurebase.

Conclusion

In short, ReleaseNotes is a fine alternative for those looking for email notifications. Otherwise, it's a fairly similar tool to Headway in the same price range.

It doesn't provide feedback collection or roadmaps, but if this is not something you're searching for, this is a perfectly okay solution.

4. FeatureOS

FeatureOS, formerly Hellonext, is another Headway alternative that offers feedback collection with changelogs. It's a nice choice for SaaS startups that want to gather and manage feature requests in the same tool, although it might get a bit pricey.

What featureOS has that Headway doesn't?

• Dedicated customer feedback boards
• Roadmaps
• Email notifications
• User segmentation
• Comment threads
• More widgets

Drawbacks of featureOS

• No announcement popups
• The interface can feel a bit clunky, resulting in poor customer experience
• Can't segment and prioritize your feedback data by customer attributes
• Few feedback filtering options
• Few integrations

How much does featureOS cost?

All plans include feedback collection, roadmaps, and changelogs. The lowest starts at $29/month, offering two admins and boards to get you started. The second plan sets you back $79/month, being more expensive than what you can expect from competitors. To access SSO and API, you'll need the last plan, priced at $125/month.

Conclusion

FeatureOS is a tool to consider when you're also looking to collect feedback in addition to changelogs. However, it does miss some useful features, such as announcement popups and user segmentation.

If you love the simplicity of Headway, featureOS can take some time to learn, but it's a decent solution for medium-sized companies.

For more options, check out the best featureOS alternatives →

5. Frill

Frill is a straightforward feedback collection tool that also features a product changelog. It also offers public roadmaps and product widgets but is not best for managing large amounts of feedback. It's best for smaller teams, though it can get quite pricey.

What Frill has that Headway doesn't?

• A dedicated feedback portal for collecting feedback
• Public roadmap
• Feedback widget
• Commenting and replies system
• Supports translations into any language

Drawbacks of Frill

• No changelog notification emails
• No dashboard for managing and moderating feedback
• Can't segment and prioritize your feedback data by customer attributes like total revenue
• Limited filtering system
• No duplicate post-detection system

How much does Frill cost?

Frill offers pricing plans starting at $25 monthly, enabling users to manage 50 active ideas simultaneously. The next tier is $49 per month for access to most of their features and unlimited feedback. Their pricing levels extend to $149 per month and include a 14-day trial period to try everything out.

Conclusion

Frill is an intuitive user feedback tool that also lets you release product updates. It doesn't have a dedicated dashboard for managing feedback, so it's best for product teams that don't get massive volumes of it.

Keep in mind it can get expensive for larger comanies, since the pricing limits active ideas.

Check out the best Frill alternatives →

6. Canny.io

Canny is a widely used enterprise-grade feedback tool with powerful features like changelogs and roadmaps. It offers a free plan with a few essential features, but the paid plan starts at $400 a month.

What Canny.io has that Headway doesn't?

• Customer feedback portal for collecting feature requests
• Automated email notifications
• Public roadmap
• Feedback widget
• Commenting and replies system

Drawbacks of Canny.io

• Expensive - first paid plan at $400/month
• No announcement popups
• Limited formatting options
• Few customization options (+ no dark mode)
• Complaints about prioritizing sales over product improvement, leaving many customers dissatisfied
• Supports only English

How much does Canny.io cost?

• Free Plan
  100 active posts a month, 3 seats, 2 feedback boards, a roadmap, a changelog
• Starter Plan ($99/month)
  Basically just removes the post limit. Also has a custom domain and 2 integrations, instead of 1.
• Growth Plan ($399/month)
  5 seats, unlimited feedback boards, custom domain, segmentation, and basically all else

$400 is quite a bit. For reference, alternative options like Featurebase offer even more features for literally 10x cheaper ($40).

Canny Pricing 2024: Is It Worth It →

Conclusion

Canny is a popular feedback tool that also includes a changelog and roadmap. It's best suited for large companies as the starting price is $400/month.

It does cover a lot of Headway's shortcoming but at this price there are much more rational options out there.

Check out the top Canny alternatives →

7. LaunchNotes

LaunchNotes is an enterprise-grade product communication tool. It's best for changelogs but also has built-in feedback collection and roadmap functions.

What LaunchNotes has that Headway doesn't?

• Feedback collection
• Roadmaps
• User segmentation
• Sync users and sort feedback relevance by their revenue
• More integrations

Drawbacks of LaunchNotes

• Unintuitive for feedback collection, designed for validating existing product ideas
• Steep learning curve
• Bloated public portal - users could easily get lost
• Poor dashboard for managing large amounts of feedback
• Can get quite pricey - it's an enterprise solution

How much does LaunchNotes cost?

LaunchNotes offers a custom quote from their sales team after a demo request. Since they are serving large companies, don't expect anything small.

Conclusion

LaunchNotes is a comprehensive end-to-end feedback suite that has a steep learning curve. While it includes feedback collection features, it's meant for validating your existing ideas rather than getting new ones from customers.

It's a good Headway alternative for larger companies that aren't focused on feedback collection and rather seek a custom solution for changelogs.

What is Headway?

Headway is one of the simplest product changelog tools in the game. It offers a public changelog page and an in-app widget to keep users in the loop. It has all the core features, including tags, a custom domain, and scheduled publishing.

What is Headway used for?

Headway is used by small teams to publish release notes and to increase new feature adoption and user engagement.

It can be integrated into your app either as a separate page or as a lightweight widget.

What are the key features of Headway?

Headway is a straightforward changelog tool without many complex mechanisms. Here are the key features:

• Changelog - update users about your latest product releases with the release notes
• Changelog widget - integrate a lightweight version of the changelog inside your app
• Custom domain - Show the changelog under your own domain
• Custom release categories - create additional changelog categories like 'New' and 'Improved'
• Scheduled publishing - publish your post beforehand
• Slack and Twitter integrations - keep both your team and customers in the loop through different channels

How much does Headway cost?

Headway offers simple pricing, starting with a free plan with a changelog and widget. The only other plan costs $29 a month and unlocks additional features like custom domain, scheduled posts, white labeling, and integrations.

The Takeaway

While Headway is a straightforward solution for smaller teams, it lacks the advanced features necessary for a complete feedback loop with users.

It's important to consider that it doesn't come with automated emails for changelogs, and most importantly, it doesn't have feedback collection features. It also lacks roadmaps and segmentation features that are present in many other alternatives. To top it off, you can easily find most of its paid features on other tools' free tiers. So, why waste money?

The winner of this list is Featurebase, which offers the most flexible solution without breaking the bank. It comes with intuitive feedback boards, a roadmap, and a changelog. It helps you reach users in more channels with automated email notifications and product announcement popups.

Even better, almost all of Headway's paid features are on its free tier, so there's no downside to trying it. 👇