The short answer
A digital adoption platform, or DAP, adds step-by-step guidance on top of software like Salesforce: pop-up walkthroughs, tips, and checklists that show people where to click. WalkMe and Whatfix are the best-known names.
They're a strong fit for large organizations rolling out complex processes across many apps. If your team's real struggle is getting answers out of Salesforce, a simpler option may solve more of the problem for less.
What a digital adoption platform does
DAPs sit on top of the apps your team already uses and help people through them:
- Walkthroughs that guide someone through a process, one click at a time.
- Tips and pop-ups that explain fields and buttons where people need them.
- Onboarding checklists for new hires.
- Usage reports showing where people get stuck.
Because they work across many apps, not just Salesforce, they're often bought by IT or HR for a whole organization.
Where WalkMe and Whatfix shine
- Big rollouts: new processes, new systems, or a Salesforce migration with hundreds of users.
- Complex, step-by-step processes that must be done the same way every time.
- Organizations that want one guidance tool across Salesforce, HR systems, and other apps.
- Teams with someone who has time to build and update the walkthroughs.
What they cost
Neither WalkMe nor Whatfix publishes list prices. Both quote based on users, apps, and features, so you'll need to ask each vendor. Remember to count the time to build and maintain walkthroughs, because they need updating whenever Salesforce changes.
Where a DAP doesn't help much
A walkthrough teaches someone how to click through Salesforce. It doesn't answer their question. When someone wants to know "which donors gave last year but not this year?" or "which of my deals are past their close date?", knowing where the report builder is doesn't get them there much faster.
That's the gap that stalls adoption for many teams: people can't get answers without knowing which object, report, or filter to use.
A simpler alternative: just ask
Hank is a Salesforce assistant your team uses from the utility bar. Instead of learning the clicks, people ask a question in plain English and get the answer from your own Salesforce, using only what each person can already see.
- Nothing to build: no walkthroughs to write or keep up to date.
- One price for the whole organization, not per user, starting at $99 a month.
- Ready in about 15 minutes.
- Suggests fixes and new records that wait for a person's approval.
Hank works only inside Salesforce, so he isn't a replacement for a DAP across all your apps. Some teams use both: a DAP for step-by-step processes, and Hank for everyday questions.
How to decide
- If you need to guide hundreds of people through set processes across many apps, look at a DAP.
- If your team mostly struggles to find information and get answers in Salesforce, start with something that answers questions.
See how Hank supports Salesforce user adoption, copy our Salesforce user adoption plan, or check pricing.