The Top 9 Process Documentation Tools

FlowShare is a process documentation solution that automates the task of documenting organizational processes. The solution runs in the background, documenting users’ actions as they work, then provides them with a clear, branded guide to how they completed the process.

FlowShare documents all actions that a user undertakes in any software application or web browser, capturing everything that the user sees on their screen—including clicks. It then creates a guide based on this information capture, including screenshots, arrows, and text instructions. It automatically merges related consecutive steps to improve clarity. Once the guide is created, users can review it, with features to blur sensitive data, add and move markups, edit text, and bulk crop images. Users can then choose from a range of export formats, including PDF, PPTX, DOCX, HTML, and PNG. FlowShare automatically formats the final guide with the organization’s branding, following user-defined brand templates. The platform also integrates with a range of knowledge base, wiki, CMS, DMS or helpdesk tools, so that users can easily access guides from their usual documentation library.

FlowShare is very straightforward to deploy and configure within Windows environments; it’s important to note that this solution is not compatible with MacOS. Once deployed, FlowShare is very easy to navigate, thanks to its user-friendly interface and useful onboarding resources. Overall, we recommend FlowShare to any sized team that wants to provide their colleagues or clients with clear, professionally branded documentation.

iorad’s Tutorial Builder enables users to create video and document tutorials and easily share them with their colleagues, employees, and clients. With multi-platform support, Tutorial Builder automatically documents users’ actions as they complete a process on their desktop, mobile device, or in their browser, then creates customizable, step-by-step tutorials based on what the user did.

Tutorial Builder captures everything that a user does on-screen, recording their actions in the background whilst the user works. Once the recording is finished, the platform automatically adds text instructions to each step. Users can then use the platform’s customization options to edit their tutorial. These include data masking, which hides sensitive data by blurring it, and the ability to add a voiceover, either by recording it yourself or automatically generating one, with the choice of 47 different voices in 24 different languages. With premium subscriptions, users can also customize their tutorial’s branding, access a broad range of export options (including SCORM/Sharepoint), and translate their tutorial.

Users can access Tutorial Builder via its intuitive web and desktop applications. As a cloud-based platform, the iorad takes minutes to deploy, and there’s lots of documentation available on iorad’s website to assist with setup. Tutorial Builder offers native integrations with a range of learning platforms and LMSs, making it particularly well-suited to organizations that want to deliver training to their employees. We also recommend the platform as a strong solution for developers that want to show clients how to use their application.

Minerva enables organizations to create interactive process guides and demo videos. By applying artificial intelligence and automation, Minerva helps users create professional-looking, clear, and accessible how-to’s for a global audience.

As the user works through their process, Minerva captures each step in the background and automatically creates a how-to guide and video of the workflow. Users can then export guides as PDF, MP4, or PNG, and embed them in apps and web pages. One of Minerva’s standout features is its AI integration for content creation. The platform offers a range of AI-powered customization options to help personalize and improve content. It also uses AI to produce video scripts and voiceovers; the user records a voice sample, and Minerva creates the video narration in the user’s voice—in any language.

The platform can also translate text guides into any language. This ensures content is accessible to all clients, no matter where they’re based or their preferred learning style. Minerva is installed via a browser extension, making it incredibly easy to deploy and set up. Once deployed, users can start recording with one click. The platform is user-friendly and offers a wide range of customization options. Its translation and audio-generation abilities make Minerva well-suited to organizations looking to create walkthroughs for a global audience, e.g., to showcase their products through personalized demos, and create how-to product guides for customers.

Scribe is a process documentation solution that enables businesses to create step-by-step guides to their web and desktop processes. These guides can then be used to train new hires, show clients how to use a product, or provide customer support.

When the Scribe extension is turned on, the platform starts recording all the user’s actions and automatically creates a guide to their workflow. Once they’ve finished their workflow, the user can customize the guide by adding text, editing screenshots, redacting sensitive information, and adding company branding. They can export the guide as a PDF, share it with their audience via a link, or embed it into their organization’s existing knowledge base or LMS—thanks to the platform’s native integrations with hundreds of popular business tools.

Users can access Scribe via a browser extension, resulting in a tool that deploys in seconds. Our product testers found that the platform offers a very intuitive interface, and makes it easy to capture and stop capturing, with a single click for each. Scribe also offers excellent levels of technical support to help users get the best out of the platform. Overall, we recommend Scribe as a user-friendly process documentation solution for any organization looking to create and share how-to guides with ease.

Tango automatically documents users’ workflows and processes, creating interactive, easy-to-follow how-to guides. Not only does Tango make it easy to create guides, but it also makes it easy for audiences to access them by embedding finished guides directly into the relevant website or tool.

As a user goes through their workflow, Tango automatically captures screenshots and writes descriptions of the user’s actions. This enables the platform to create a guide within minutes of the user finishing their workflow. Once the guide is created, users can edit any text and blur sensitive content. They can then share the guide via a link. Another notable feature is the platform’s ability to recommend how-to guides for the website or tool that a user is using, whilst they’re using it. This makes it easy for your audience to get the most out of your tools, without having to search for help. Finally, Tango offers analytics functions, giving users information on who their audience is, how often their audience is accessing their guides, and where they’re having the most problems. This enables users to continuously improve their processes.

Tango installs via a browser add-on, making it very quick and easy to deploy. The platform integrates with any application or browser, enabling users to capture documentation for any digital workflow or process. Our product testers were impressed with the speed with which Tango created how-to guides—they were able to create polished documentation in seconds. Overall, we recommend Tango as a strong process documentation solution for any organization looking to document their digital processes and easily share them with users.

Snagit is a screen capture software offered by screen recording specialists, TechSmith. With Snagit, teams can quickly and easily create video guides to their digital processes and workflows, report bugs or errors in a product, or create detailed information archives.

Snagit automatically captures screenshots of a user’s screen as they’re completing their work. This includes the ability to capture multiple screens/areas at once, which is useful for users that need to switch between multiple platforms. Users can also incorporate webcam and audio recordings to their guides for more detailed explanations. Once the process is completed, Snagit creates a video guide using the screenshots and recordings. Users can then add annotations to the video. This feature has lots of customization: users can edit the text within an image or screenshot (including changing font, text size, and color to improve accessibility), and rearrange or remove visual elements as needed. Users can share videos via a link or upload them to their workplace apps (including the Microsoft 365 suite and Google Drive).

Users can also store all their Snagit video guides in the platform’s content library, which syncs to Google Drive and OneDrive for easy access across devices. From here, users can find specific guides by filtering by date, file type, or application, and they can tag images and videos for easier searching.

Snagit deploys locally and is straightforward to install on both Windows and MacOS devices. The platform is easy to use, thanks to its intuitive interface, and TechSmith also offers lots of helpful resources to ensure users get the most out of the tool. Overall, we recommend Snagit as a strong solution for individuals and smaller teams looking to produce screen capture videos to explain their processes and workflows.

Trainual is a process documentation solution that enables teams to capture their organization’s knowledge for easier employee onboarding and training. The platform not only enables users to create detailed process guides, but also incorporate interactive training modules and track training completion.

With Trainual, users can access hundreds of templates to help them document their policies and processes, or create an internal wiki/knowledge base. Users can build interactive modules and quizzes into their guides to increase user engagement. The platform also offers progress reporting tools, which enable users to track each learner’s progress throughout their training via e-signatures.

Trainual’s web-based platform can be deployed in two minutes. The platform’s guided, user-friendly interface and out-of-the-box templates make Trainual very easy to use. While it doesn’t offer same level of automation as some other products in this article (users must type out their guides manually), Trainual excels in terms of its integrations with existing tools, which make it very easy for users to share training with the rest of their organization, and its ability to track training completion. As such, we recommend Trainual as a strong process documentation solution for organizations looking to train their users on internal policies and processes.

UserGuiding is a user onboarding tool that enables organizations to create product walkthrough guides to help train new customers on how to use their software, explain new features, deliver in-product messaging, and prompt customers to give feedback on the product.

With UserGuiding’s Chrome Extension turned on, the platform automatically documents users’ actions and creates a walkthrough guide that captures key moments. Once a walkthrough is created, users can customize them with their organization’s branding, and add tooltips and hotspots to draw their audience’s attention to certain points. Then, by embedding UserGuiding into their organization’s website or application, users can deliver walkthroughs in the moment that their audience needs them. They can also create in-app surveys to obtain customer feedback, and onboarding checklists to help eliminate confusion amongst new customers when they first start using the product. Finally, UserGuiding offers robust reporting and analytics tools that enable users to see how many people are using the walkthrough and where their audience is having the most difficulty, so they can improve their product and the walkthrough as needed.

There are two steps to deploying UserGuiding. Installing the browser extension is quick and easy; non-technical users, however, may find it a little tricky to embed the platform into their app or website. Once deployed, UserGuiding offers a very intuitive interface for creating walkthroughs, and there’s lots of documentation on hand to help users get started. Overall, we recommend UserGuiding as a strong solution for organizations looking to create app walkthroughs to improve their customer onboarding experience.

WowTo is an AI-powered process documentation solution that enables organizations to create a knowledge base full of engaging, helpful video guides quickly and easily. Users can use WowTo to create how-to videos, support videos, and step-by-step tutorials that fit their branding, with powerful automations and lots of out-of-the-box templates for even more efficiency.

WowTo can create video guides from user-uploaded images, PDFs, and slide decks, or via its AI-powered screen recorder. The screen recorder—which users access via a Chrome extension—automatically captures a user’s actions as they complete their workflow. Once the video is created, WowTo automatically generates a voiceover, with support for multiple languages and dialects. Users can then embed the finished video into their app via the WowTo widget, integrate it with popular business apps like Slack or Intercom, or add it to their WowTo knowledge base. Knowledge bases can be built using the platform’s out-of-the-box layouts and customized to fit the organization’s use case and branding, with editable logos, icons, and cover art.

WowTo is quick and easy to deploy, taking only a few minutes to set up and start using. The platform offers lots of readily available documentation, and is well-suited to non-technical users (e.g., support staff). Overall, we recommend WowTo as a strong process documentation solution for organizations looking to create a comprehensive, video-based knowledge base.