How Top AI Tools Onboard New Users in 2025
UX analysis and insights for 10 AI tools like Elevenlabs, Gamma, Perplexity, Lovable, and more.
Hello everyone 👋 I’m Kate Syuma, and welcome to Growthmates.news — the newsletter where we explore growth stories to inspire your professional and personal growth. Join the community of 7,000+ Product, Design, and Growth people from companies like Amplitude, Intercom, Miro, Atlassian, Grammarly, Framer, and more.
Today I have a special thing for you — a new industry research that we worked on for months with the UserGuiding team: How Top AI Tools Onboard New Users in 2025. What you can find inside the full report:
20+ pages of insights on AI products onboarding;
140+ Screenshots and GIFs that display the experience from the website to the end of the first session;
100+ Expert insights and comments from me on each pattern we’ve analyzed;
A color-coded system to follow, which pattern corresponds to which key flow step.
Ready to dive deeper? Unlock the full report to explore all the insights, detailed visuals, and expert commentary that can help you elevate your product’s onboarding experience.
Get full access to the report here 👇
🎯 Who is this report useful for?
Product managers working on AI tools or SaaS products;
Product designers focused on creating intuitive AI experiences;
Product marketing managers aiming to position AI tools effectively;
CEOs and Founders of AI-driven or tech companies;
Product and Growth teams building user adoption strategies for AI products in both B2B and B2C markets.
🎯How you can use it:
Share with your product or growth team to assess and improve your AI tool’s onboarding journey;
Apply insights to reduce friction and surface value earlier in your AI product experience;
Get inspired by onboarding best practices from leading AI tools in 2025;
Use it as a benchmark to measure and refine your own onboarding and activation success.
In this edition, we will dive into the TOP-5 insights that can help you look at your product's onboarding. Get ready to dive in👇
Insight 1: 60% of AI Tools rely on User-generated Content.
💡 6/10 tools feature user-generated content or social proof on their websites to build trust before signup.
Before users even create an account, leading AI tools work to establish trust. In 6 out of 10 products we analyzed, websites included user-generated content (UGC) or social proof — testimonials, use cases, community examples, or customer logos — all designed to reduce hesitation and build early credibility.
This approach is especially powerful in the AI space, where users may still feel skeptical or unsure of what to expect.
My takeaway: If your homepage doesn’t reflect how real users succeed with your product, you’re missing a key activation opportunity. Users who found out a rleevant use case and started from it have x2-3 higher activation rates.
UGC isn’t just a growth lever — it’s part of the onboarding experience. AI tools have to build that trust and credibility before signup ever begins — we don’t want to rely on generic solutions before we see how real humans have used them.
✅ Example: Lovable Community.
On Lovable website, and later inside the dashboard, new users step into a space where they can browse real products created by others in the community. Each creation comes with a visual preview and simple tags that make it easy to explore different product types. It feels less like you’re joining a tool, and more like you’re joining a movement. This sense of belonging is no accident — Lovable taps into the power of community-led growth by putting user-generated content at the heart of the experience.
Just this past weekend, their community contest went viral (thanks to Elena Verna 😅), a perfect reminder of how amplifying user voices can spark momentum and build trust in ways no traditional marketing ever could.
Insight 2: Pricing is shown often during Sign Up.
💡 4/10 tools show pricing during signup and ask smart profiling questions to personalize the experience.
In 4 out of 10 AI tools, pricing plans are presented during or immediately after sign-up. This reflects a shift in trust: these products acknowledge that some users are ready to evaluate or buy without needing to be “convinced” first. Instead of hiding pricing behind a free trial wall, they bring it into the onboarding conversation.
At the same time, onboarding surveys ask smart, lightweight questions — most commonly about the user’s use case, role, or purpose (e.g., “What do you want to use this AI for?”). This approach humanizes the product while quietly tailoring the first-session experience.
My takeaway: Don’t assume your users need full adoptipon before they see a price for the first time. By featuring pricing and plans within signup, AI tools recognize that some users are ready to make a decision, especially after displaying desired outcomes earlier.
Smart signup flows combine personalization and transparency, helping AI tools convert curious visitors into confident users.
✅ Example: Claude Sign Up flow.
Claude welcomes new users in a way that feels personal right from the start. The first interaction is a simple age check — nothing intrusive, just a quick confirmation that sets the tone. From there, Claude asks whether you’re signing up for yourself or for a team. It’s a small question, but a smart one. It helps tailor the experience, while quietly surfacing which users might be a fit for team plans or B2B features later on.
Like many AI tools, Claude introduces pricing early in the onboarding flow. But it doesn’t feel pushy. Instead, it builds on the excitement users already feel, showing the value of upgrading before they hit any limits. What if some users are ready to commit to the Pro or Max Plan already, looking at the powerful feature set?
What’s striking is how personal it feels—like Claude is talking to me, asking about my needs, and guiding me with just the right options. It also feels like it has a personality, really building initial trust in this first interaction.
Enjoying it so far? Find 140+ Screenshots and GIFs that display the experience from the website to the end of the first session in the Free report here →
Insight 3: Jumping right into the AI core value.
💡 6/10 tools avoid traditional guides and checklists — showing the prompt immediately to shorten time to value.
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