Driver.js

Driver.js is a JavaScript library for adding product tours, page highlights, and contextual help to web experiences. It can guide people through multi-step tours or focus attention on one page element with a popover. Clickable hints appear as pulsing beacons and open popovers, optionally with a page overlay. Listed uses include onboarding, interactive tutorials, feature adoption, form guidance, and contextual help. Configuration can be set globally, per step, or during a tour. The library works with any framework or library, as well as vanilla JavaScript, and can be installed through npm, pnpm, yarn, or a CDN. Its homepage describes it as dependency-free and about 5 KB. Driver.js is open source under the MIT license. The free plan is free and allows unlimited projects, personal and commercial use, and no attribution. The homepage also lists accessibility and support for major browsers and mobile devices. Only one instance can be active on screen at a time.

Driver.js combines tours, popovers, and clickable hints in a small JavaScript library. Its one-active-instance limit is worth considering for interfaces that need multiple simultaneous guides.

Driver.js suits developers adding onboarding, tutorials, or contextual guidance to web interfaces. It can fit projects using a framework or vanilla JavaScript.

Driver.js is a developer library for adding product guidance directly to an interface. It suits teams comfortable integrating JavaScript who want a lightweight, open-source tool. Its free commercial use makes it an economical choice for tours and contextual prompts.

Overview

Driver.js supports both guided sequences and targeted explanations: it can run multi-step tours, spotlight a single page element with a popover, or place clickable beacons that open popovers. That range fits onboarding, interactive tutorials, feature adoption, form guidance and other moments when an interface needs to direct attention. Teams must integrate the library into their product, so it is a better fit for developer-led implementation than for buyers seeking a packaged onboarding service.

The library works with vanilla JavaScript and any framework or library. Developers can install it through npm, pnpm or yarn, or load it from a CDN. With no dependencies and a footprint of about 5 KB, it adds little software overhead. Configuration can be set globally, per step or during a running tour, which gives teams control over both shared defaults and individual guidance.

Key features

• Multi-step tours and focused highlights: A sequence can guide users through a process, while a single-element highlight and popover can explain one control without taking users through a full walkthrough.
• Clickable hints: Pulsing beacons open popovers and can be displayed with an optional page overlay. They suit optional, discoverable guidance when users do not need a full tour.
• Flexible integration: Framework-agnostic support, multiple installation methods and layered configuration make it adaptable to different JavaScript projects.
• Accessibility and device support: The project describes support for accessibility, major browsers and mobile devices, broadening where teams can use its guidance.
• Single active instance: Only one Driver.js instance can be active on screen at a time. Interfaces that need overlapping guides or multiple simultaneous instances should account for that constraint.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited projects, personal and commercial use, and no attribution requirement. It is a strong fit for individual developers and teams that can build and maintain guidance in their own product without a paid license. The plan has no project cap, so teams can use it across multiple projects while accepting the same one-active-instance limit.

Driver.js is open source under the MIT license. That makes it a straightforward choice when a team wants to use and adapt a JavaScript library without a subscription. Its cost advantage comes with a developer-led workflow: teams need to integrate the library and configure the experiences themselves.

Platforms

Driver.js supports Android, iOS and web. The library is designed for JavaScript interfaces, and its stated support for mobile devices and major browsers makes it relevant to teams building guidance across those environments.

Who it's for

Driver.js is best for developers adding tours, highlights or contextual help to a JavaScript product who value a small footprint, framework flexibility and free commercial use. It can suit onboarding and product teams when engineering can implement the guidance directly. Buyers who want a managed, packaged platform should consider a commercial onboarding product instead.

Pros and cons

Pros

• No-cost commercial use: The MIT-licensed Free plan permits commercial use without attribution and allows unlimited projects.
• Small dependency footprint: The library has no dependencies and is about 5 KB, keeping the added software overhead low.
• Several guidance formats: Tours, one-element highlights and clickable hints cover both step-by-step instruction and smaller contextual prompts.
• Broad integration choices: Framework support, vanilla JavaScript compatibility and npm, pnpm, yarn or CDN installation make it practical across varied projects.

Cons

• Developer integration required: Teams must work with a JavaScript library, which is less suitable for buyers seeking a ready-made onboarding service.
• One active instance: Only one Driver.js instance can appear on screen at a time, limiting designs that require multiple concurrent guides.

Alternatives

User Onboarding Software, Customer Onboarding Software and Product Adoption Software are broader directories for comparing products in those categories.

Wakeline is a freemium alternative for teams that want plans with explicit flow, monthly active user and teammate limits: its Free plan includes 3 flows, 1,000 monthly active users and 1 teammate, while Pro is $41 a month billed annually.

Helppier is a paid alternative with a free trial and broader platform support, including API, extension and self-hosted options. Its Standard plan is $299 a month, paid monthly, with two months free when paid yearly; the plan includes up to 50,000 MAUs, 2 admin users and 65 languages.

Product Fruits is a paid, free-trial alternative for teams seeking a more specified onboarding package: its Starter plan is $111 a month, with 1,500 MAUs, 15 product tours and 50 hints or tooltips.

Userpilot is a paid option with a free trial for teams that need user segments and seats spelled out in plan terms. Its Starter plan is $299 a month and includes up to 2,000 MAU, 10 segments and 3 seats.

Appcues is a paid alternative with a free trial and plans framed around published experiences and MAU allowances; its Start plan includes up to 3,000 MAUs and 10 published experiences.

Clew is a freemium option for teams that want a self-hosted choice and a small published-tour cap on its free tier: Free includes 1 site, 1 team seat and up to 3 published tours.

Candu is a freemium alternative for teams focused on overlays; its Free plan includes 3 live experiences and unlimited user licenses.

Guidez is a freemium alternative with API and extension support; its Hobby plan includes 100 MAU per month, 1 team member and 1 environment.

Verdict

Choose Driver.js if your team can integrate JavaScript directly and wants a compact, open-source way to deliver tours, highlights and contextual prompts at no licensing cost. Its flexibility and unlimited-project free plan are compelling; teams that need multiple active guides at once or a packaged onboarding platform should look elsewhere.