Best Trainual Alternatives: Find the Right SOP & Training Software
Trainual is solid for employee onboarding and SOP documentation, but at $249/month for just 10 seats, it's not cheap—and it's not perfect for everyone. Maybe you need better analytics, a free tier to get started, or something that handles live task execution instead of just documentation.
I've tested and researched the top Trainual alternatives to help you find the right fit. Here's the breakdown.
Why People Leave Trainual
Before diving into alternatives, let's be clear about what Trainual does well and where it falls short:
What Trainual does well:
- Clean interface for creating SOPs and training content
- Good for documenting company knowledge, policies, and processes
- Tracks training completion with quizzes and tests
- AI features help generate content faster
Common complaints:
- Pricing starts at $249/month (Core plan with 10 seats)—steep for small teams
- No free plan available, only a 7-day free trial
- Some users find the learning curve frustrating
- Search and content organization can feel rigid
- No live checklist or task-tracking functionality—it's documentation only
- Additional seats cost $3-5 each depending on your tier
If any of these hit home, here are your options.
The Best Trainual Alternatives Compared
| Platform | Best For | Starting Price | Free Plan? |
|---|---|---|---|
| TalentLMS | Full LMS with course creation | $149/mo (100 users) | Yes (5 users) |
| Whale | AI-powered SOP documentation | $149/mo (10 users) | Yes |
| Scribe | Auto-documenting processes | Free / $12/user/mo | Yes |
| Process Street | Workflow automation | Free / $25/mo | Yes (limited) |
| SweetProcess | Simple procedure docs | $99/mo (20 users) | 14-day trial |
| Coassemble | Growing teams | Custom pricing | Trial only |
| Document360 | Knowledge base + SOPs | Custom pricing | Trial only |
1. TalentLMS – Best Full-Featured LMS Alternative
TalentLMS is arguably the most popular Trainual alternative if you want a complete learning management system, not just SOP documentation. It's designed for organizations that need to deliver actual training courses—not just store procedures.
Pricing:
- Free: Up to 5 users and 10 courses—great for testing
- Core: $149/month for up to 100 users
- Grow: $299/month for up to 500 users
- Pro: $519-579/month for up to 1,000 users
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for 1,000+ users
All paid plans are billed annually, and you'll save about 20% compared to monthly billing.
What's good:
- Actual free plan (not just a trial) for small teams
- AI-powered course creation and content assistance
- Better scalability—handles hundreds of users without per-seat pricing blowing up
- More robust reporting and analytics
- Gamification features to boost engagement
- Integrations with Zoom, ADP Workforce Now, Salesforce, and more
What's not:
- More complex than Trainual if you just need simple SOP storage
- Overkill if you're not building actual training courses
- Some users report the pricing structure feels rigid
Bottom line: If you need to train employees on courses (not just give them reference docs), TalentLMS is the upgrade. The free tier alone makes it worth testing.
2. Whale – Best for AI-Powered SOP Creation
Whale is the closest direct competitor to Trainual. It's an AI-powered SOP platform focused on documentation, training, and knowledge management—essentially what Trainual does, but with a different approach.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic features to get started
- Team: Paid tier with export functionality and more features
- Scale: $149/month for 10 users, includes training flows, contextual suggestions, auto-translate, and QR codes
- Additional users available at extra cost
What's good:
- AI assistant ("Ask Alice") answers questions about your SOPs
- More intuitive interface than Trainual—users consistently praise the UX
- Training paths let you assign role-based learning sequences
- Checklists for ensuring process adherence
- Version control and automated revision tracking
- Integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Notion, and Zapier
What's not:
- Some learning curve—not everything is intuitive
- Analytics can be challenging to extract in useful formats
- No flowchart feature for visualizing complex procedures
- Limited template options for different business types
Bottom line: If you like what Trainual does but want better AI features and a more modern interface, Whale is worth a serious look. The free tier lets you test before committing.
3. Scribe – Best for Auto-Documenting Processes
Scribe takes a completely different approach: instead of manually creating SOPs, you install a browser extension, click record, and Scribe automatically captures your screen, keystrokes, and clicks to create a step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots.
Pricing:
- Basic: Free forever
- Pro (Teams): $12/user/month billed yearly ($15/month billed monthly), 5 seat minimum
- Pro (Individual): $23/user/month billed yearly ($29/month monthly), 1 seat minimum
- Enterprise: Custom quote
What's good:
- Automatic process documentation—record once, have an SOP ready
- Generous free tier for basic needs
- Great for software training specifically
- Create "Scribe Pages" combining text, images, video, and GIFs
- Embed guides in other documents
What's not:
- Best for documenting software processes—less useful for non-digital procedures
- Pricing can get expensive for smaller businesses with the 5-seat minimum on team plans
- Not a full training platform—it's purely documentation
Bottom line: If you're documenting how to use software or digital tools, Scribe is magic. For physical procedures or full training programs, you'll need something else.
4. Process Street – Best for Workflow Automation
Process Street is a Trainual alternative that leans more into workflow automation than pure training. It's positioned as a "Compliance Operations Platform" for teams that need to turn policies into automated, auditable workflows.
Pricing:
- Free: 1 active user, 1 workflow, 100 integrations
- Pro: $25/month, unlimited workflows, 500 integrations
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
14-day free trial available, no credit card required.
What's good:
- Actually runs checklists and tasks—not just documentation
- No-code workflow engine for structured task execution
- Built-in AI agent that monitors activity and flags risks
- 300+ app integrations including Slack, Google Workspace, Trello, Zoho, HubSpot, and Teams
- Great for compliance-focused teams
- Used by companies like Salesforce, Colliers, and Drift
What's not:
- Less focused on training/onboarding specifically
- No automated process capture like Scribe
- Can feel complex for simple SOP needs
Bottom line: If you need live task execution and compliance tracking—not just documentation—Process Street is your answer. Trainual tells people what to do; Process Street makes sure they do it.
5. SweetProcess – Best for Simple Procedure Documentation
SweetProcess is a no-frills option for teams that want straightforward procedure documentation without the bells and whistles (or the price tag) of Trainual.
Pricing:
- Around $99/month for 20 users (verify current pricing on their site)
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
What's good:
- Dead simple to use—you can start creating immediately without tutorials
- Documents procedures, processes, and tasks in one place
- Assign tasks to teammates and track progress
- Build internal and external knowledge bases
- Less overwhelming than feature-heavy alternatives
What's not:
- Fewer AI features than modern competitors
- Less robust training/quiz functionality
- Smaller company—may have concerns about long-term development
Bottom line: If Trainual feels like overkill and you just need clean, simple procedure docs, SweetProcess delivers without the complexity.
6. Coassemble – Best for Growing Teams
Coassemble positions itself as an online training, documentation, onboarding, and wiki solution in one. It's particularly popular with growing teams that need to scale their training quickly.
Pricing: Custom pricing—contact them for a quote.
What's good:
- High-quality training experiences with step-by-step instructions
- Good for teams that need professional-looking courses
- Combines training with wiki/documentation features
What's not:
- No transparent pricing is always a yellow flag
- May be overkill for simple SOP needs
Bottom line: Worth exploring if you're a growing team that needs polished training content, but get pricing first before investing time in demos.
7. Document360 – Best for Knowledge Base + SOPs
Document360 is an AI-powered knowledge base software that can double as an employee training platform. If you already need a knowledge base for customers or partners, this kills two birds with one stone.
What's good:
- Powerful knowledge base with SOP capabilities
- Import from Word directly
- AI-powered features for content creation
- Can serve both internal (employee) and external (customer) audiences
What's not:
- Custom pricing—contact for quotes
- More focused on knowledge base than training-specific features
- May be more than you need if you just want internal SOPs
Bottom line: If you need a knowledge base anyway and want to add employee training SOPs, Document360 is efficient. If you only need internal training, other options are more focused.
Still Want Trainual?
If you've read through these alternatives and still think Trainual is the right fit, here's the current pricing to budget for:
- Core: $249/month (10 seats included)
- Pro: $319/month (10 seats included)
- Premium: $399/month (10 seats included)
All plans are billed annually. Additional seats cost $3-5 each depending on your tier. Higher tiers add features like custom branding, unlimited e-signatures, and API access. Check out our full Trainual pricing breakdown for more details.
Try Trainual free for 7 days →
Which Alternative Should You Pick?
Here's the quick decision framework:
- Need a full LMS with courses? → TalentLMS
- Want Trainual but better? → Whale
- Document software processes automatically? → Scribe
- Need live task execution & compliance? → Process Street
- Just want simple, no-frills SOPs? → SweetProcess
- Already need a knowledge base? → Document360
Most of these offer free trials or free tiers, so test 2-3 before committing. The right choice depends on whether you need training courses vs. reference documentation, and whether you need task execution or just content storage.