Guide.js

At a glance

• Editor score
  6.4 / 10
• Pricing
  Open source
• Best for
  Developers wanting a lightweight tour component
• Paid from
  Free
• In-app tours
  Yes
• Facts checked
  20 Sep 2026

• Where it wins

  • Supports tours, contextual help, feature spotlights, and four step types
  • Targets interface elements with CSS selectors and supports CSS-based theming
  • Includes TypeScript types plus ESM and CommonJS distributions

• Where it doesn't

  • Requires developer implementation inside a React web application
  • Stateless architecture leaves flow state and application logic to your code
  • Focuses on components rather than hosted analytics or no-code management

Our verdict on Guide.js

Guide.js is an open-source React component for adding product tours, onboarding walkthroughs, feature spotlights, and contextual help to web applications. It is aimed at developers who want to build these experiences directly in a React interface rather than adopt a hosted onboarding system. The component supports dialog, pointer, banner, and announcement steps, with DOM elements selected through CSS selectors. Its web-only scope makes it a focused option for teams building browser-based products.

The component model keeps the implementation relatively narrow and explicit: steps are passed directly into a stateless component, with no providers or stores required. Developers can customize themes through CSS variables and tokens, while render-prop customization provides control over footers, branding, and navigation elements. TypeScript definitions support typed projects, and ESM and CommonJS distributions fit common JavaScript bundlers. These choices suit teams that want control over presentation and application behavior, but they also place the tour logic within the product codebase.

Guide.js is presented as an MIT-licensed open-source package rather than a hosted SaaS product. It requires a React web application and does not provide a backend, so teams looking for managed onboarding operations should look elsewhere. The published feature set centers on in-app guidance and interface components; it does not describe built-in checklists, analytics, integrations, or no-code creation. Pick Guide.js when a development team needs a lightweight, customizable foundation for web tours and contextual help. Choose a broader onboarding platform when non-developer authoring, reporting, or managed workflows are central requirements.

Your product? Our editors can test Guide.js in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

Guide.js pricing

Guide.js fact sheet

Alternatives to Guide.js

• UserpilotA broad experimentation toolkit for teams willing to pay for depth.9.4
• AppcuesA mature onboarding suite for teams that need web, mobile, targeting, and measurement.9.2
• WakelineAn economical onboarding toolkit with broad components and native mobile coverage.9.0

See all Guide.js alternatives →

Featured on iTechGuides

Guide.js is listed in our User Onboarding Software directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

<a href="https://www.itechguides.com/products/guide-js/"><img src="https://www.itechguides.com/best/badge/guide-js.svg" alt="Featured on iTechGuides" width="230" height="46"></a>

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update