8 Best Public Roadmap Tools for SaaS in 2026 (Compared)

Show customers what you're building and let them vote on priorities. We compared 8 public roadmap tools on pricing, transparency features, and real user feedback so you can pick the right one.

Ruben Buijs Ruben Buijs February 2026 14 min read
Last updated: February 2026
8 tools compared
Real pricing at scale

Why This Guide Is Different

Most "best public roadmap tool" lists are affiliate-driven rankings or barely scratch the surface. This one breaks down real pricing at scale, honest trade-offs, and the specific features SaaS teams actually need from a customer-facing roadmap.

What you'll find here:

Why public roadmaps matter for SaaS: A public roadmap builds trust, reduces "will you add X?" support tickets, and closes the loop with customers. It turns your product planning into a competitive advantage.

Full disclosure: ProductLift is our product, so it's on this list. We've tried to be objective about where it excels and where other tools are a better fit.

Quick Picks

Best Overall Value: ProductLift. Public roadmap + feedback + changelog + knowledge base for $14/mo per admin. Unlimited viewers and voters. Automatic voter notifications when you ship.

Best Free Option: Canny. Free for up to 25 tracked users. Clean public roadmap with GitHub integration.

Best Budget Pick: Frill. $25/mo flat with public roadmap, voting, and changelog. GitHub + Jira integration included.

Must-Have Features in a Public Roadmap Tool

Before comparing tools, here's what to look for in public roadmap software:

1. Public Visibility with Custom Branding

Your public roadmap should live on your domain (roadmap.yourcompany.com), not a generic subdomain. Customers should see your brand, not the tool's logo. White-label support, custom CSS, and custom domains are essential for a professional look.

2. Customer Voting on Roadmap Items

A public roadmap without voting is just a static list. Voting lets customers tell you what matters most. Tools with anonymous voting (no login required) get 50-70% more participation than those requiring account creation.

3. Status Updates & Voter Notifications

When a roadmap item moves from Planned to In Progress to Shipped, voters should be notified automatically. This closes the feedback loop and builds loyalty. The best tools handle this without manual effort from your team.

4. Feedback-to-Roadmap Connection

Feature requests should flow into your roadmap without manual duplication. Tools that connect feedback boards to roadmap views let you accept an idea and immediately promote it to your public roadmap. With all votes and context preserved.

5. Pricing That Doesn't Penalize Growth

Some tools charge by tracked users. Meaning your bill grows as more customers view or vote on your roadmap. For a public roadmap (which you want as many people to see as possible), per-user pricing is counterproductive. Flat per-admin or flat-rate pricing keeps costs predictable.

1. ProductLift. Best Overall Public Roadmap Tool

G2 Rating: 5.0/5 | Price: $14/mo per admin (unlimited voters/viewers) | Free trial: 14 days

Best for: SaaS teams who want a public roadmap connected to feedback, changelog, and knowledge base in one platform

ProductLift public roadmap board

ProductLift isn't just a public roadmap tool. It's a complete product feedback platform built around a journey model. A customer idea starts as feedback, gets promoted to the public roadmap, and eventually becomes a changelog entry. Same item, full history preserved, voters notified at every stage without manual work.

Key Strengths for Public Roadmaps

Where It Falls Short

Pricing

Bottom line: Best value if you want a public roadmap connected to your full product feedback workflow. The journey model (feedback → roadmap → changelog) and flat pricing make it ideal for growing SaaS teams who want transparency without tool sprawl.

Try ProductLift Free →

2. Canny. Best Free Public Roadmap (With Caveats)

G2 Rating: 4.6/5 | Price: Free (25 tracked users), Core: $19/mo (annual), Pro: $79/mo (annual) | Free plan: Yes

Best for: Early-stage startups under 25 users who need a public roadmap with GitHub integration

Canny public roadmap

Canny is the most recognized name in public roadmaps. The free plan works for very early-stage teams, and the public roadmap UI is clean and modern. But the tracked-user pricing model becomes painful as your roadmap gets popular. Which is ironic for a tool designed to attract customer engagement.

Key Strengths

The Pricing Trap

Canny uses tracked-user pricing. You pay based on how many customers interact with your roadmap:

For a public roadmap. Which you want lots of people to see. Tracked-user pricing is especially problematic. The more successful your roadmap, the more you pay.

Where It Falls Short

Bottom line: Great free starting point for public roadmaps if you're under 25 users. Plan for a migration once your roadmap gets traction and the tracked-user costs increase.

3. Productboard. Best for Enterprise Public Roadmaps

G2 Rating: 4.3/5 | Price: Free (Starter), $19/maker/mo (Essentials), $59/maker/mo (Pro), Enterprise: Contact Sales | Free trial: Yes

Best for: Larger SaaS product teams ($1M+ ARR) who need advanced prioritization alongside a public roadmap portal

Productboard public roadmap portal

Productboard is a full product management platform that includes a public roadmap portal. It's powerful for teams that need deep customer research and strategic prioritization. But it's expensive and complex for teams who just want a simple public roadmap with voting.

Key Strengths

Where It Falls Short for Public Roadmaps

Bottom line: If you're a $1M+ ARR SaaS with a dedicated product team and budget for $300+/mo, Productboard's public portal is powerful. For most SaaS teams, it's overpowered and overpriced for what they need from a public roadmap tool.


4. Frill. Budget-Friendly Public Roadmap with Dev Integrations

G2 Rating: 4.7/5 | Price: $25/mo flat | Free trial: Yes

Best for: Small teams who need a public roadmap with GitHub/Jira integration at a flat price

Frill public roadmap

Frill offers a public roadmap, voting boards, and changelog for a flat $25/mo. It's one of the few budget tools with both GitHub and Jira integrations plus basic prioritization scoring.

Key Strengths

Where It Falls Short

Bottom line: Solid budget option for English-only teams who need a public roadmap with dev tool integrations. You won't get the depth of ProductLift's journey model, but at $25/mo flat it's hard to beat on price.

5. Upvoty. Cheapest Public Roadmap with Anonymous Voting

G2 Rating: 4.6/5 | Price: $15/mo flat | Free trial: Yes

Best for: Bootstrapped startups who want a basic public roadmap at the lowest possible price

Upvoty public roadmap

Upvoty is the most affordable dedicated tool with a public roadmap view. At $15/mo flat, it covers the basics: voting boards, a public roadmap, and anonymous voting. Nothing fancy, but it works.

Key Strengths

Where It Falls Short

Bottom line: If all you need is a cheap public roadmap with voting, Upvoty delivers. You'll outgrow it once you need prioritization, integrations, or a changelog.


6. Nolt. Beautiful Public Roadmap, Limited Features

G2 Rating: 5.0/5 | Price: $25/mo | Free trial: Yes

Best for: Tiny teams who value aesthetics and simplicity in their public roadmap

Nolt public roadmap

Nolt has a perfect G2 rating (5.0) and the prettiest public roadmap interface on this list. Users love the simplicity and clean design. But under the hood, it's quite limited for teams that need more than a beautiful board.

Key Strengths

Where It Falls Short

Bottom line: Beautiful but basic. Good if all you need is a pretty public roadmap with zero complexity. You'll outgrow it as your product team matures.


7. Sleekplan. Public Roadmap with In-App Widget

G2 Rating: 4.9/5 | Price: Free tier, paid from $13/mo | Free plan: Yes

Best for: Teams who want an in-app feedback widget with a public roadmap attached

Sleekplan public roadmap

Sleekplan combines a public roadmap, feedback boards, and a changelog with an in-app widget. The free tier makes it accessible for early-stage teams, and the widget approach means customers never leave your app to see the roadmap.

Key Strengths

Where It Falls Short

Bottom line: Good choice if you want an in-app widget that combines roadmap, feedback, and changelog. The free tier is a nice entry point, but you'll hit limits quickly.


8. Rapidr. Public Roadmap with Changelog

Price: $49/mo | Free trial: 14 days

Best for: Teams wanting a public roadmap + changelog without enterprise complexity

Rapidr public roadmap

Rapidr provides a public roadmap, feedback boards, and a changelog. It sits between budget tools and enterprise platforms, covering the core workflow at a mid-range price point.

Key Strengths

Where It Falls Short

Bottom line: A capable mid-tier option for public roadmaps. Compare the feature set and pricing against ProductLift and Frill before committing.

Feature Comparison Table

How all 8 public roadmap tools compare on the features that matter most for SaaS teams:

Feature ProductLift Canny Productboard Frill Upvoty
Public Roadmap
Customer Voting
Anonymous Voting
Changelog✅ Auto
Knowledge Base
RICE/ICE Prioritization✅ Advanced
Stripe / MRR Priority⚠️ Manual
Auto-Notify Voters✅ Auto⚠️ Manual
Custom Domain✅ (paid)
AI Features
Multi-Language✅ (22)
SSO✅ (paid)✅ (paid)

Pricing Comparison: What You'll Actually Pay

Here's what each public roadmap tool costs at different scales. No "starting at" tricks. Real numbers:

Tool 3 Admins
100 Voters
5 Admins
500 Voters
10 Admins
1,000 Voters
Model
ProductLift$42/mo$70/mo$140/moPer admin
Canny (Pro)$79/mo~$279/mo~$529/moTracked users
Productboard$177/mo$295/mo$590/moPer maker
Frill$25/mo$25/mo$25/moFlat rate
Upvoty$15/mo$15/mo$15/moFlat rate
Nolt$25/mo$25/mo$25/moFlat rate
SleekplanFree-$13$33/mo$53/moTiered
Rapidr$49/mo$49/mo$49/moFlat rate

Key insight: Public roadmaps are designed to be seen by as many customers as possible. Per-tracked-user pricing (Canny) punishes you for roadmap popularity. Per-maker pricing (Productboard) punishes you for team growth. Flat-rate and per-admin pricing (ProductLift, Frill, Upvoty) stay predictable regardless of how many customers view and vote on your roadmap.

Which Public Roadmap Tool Should You Choose?

Pre-Revenue to $100K ARR

Choose ProductLift ($42/mo for 3 admins) if you want your public roadmap connected to feedback and changelog from day one. The journey model means you won't need to rebuild your workflow as you grow.

Choose Canny (free) if you have fewer than 25 users and want to start at $0. Plan your migration strategy early. Costs increase once you hit the tracked-user limit.

Choose Upvoty ($15/mo) for the cheapest dedicated public roadmap with anonymous voting.

$100K to $1M ARR

Choose ProductLift ($70-140/mo) for the best value at this stage. Public roadmap + feedback + changelog + knowledge base in one tool. Stripe integration helps you prioritize by revenue, not just vote count.

Choose Frill ($25/mo) if you need GitHub/Jira integration on a flat budget and don't need multi-language support.

$1M+ ARR

Choose ProductLift ($140-280/mo) if you want the all-in-one approach with predictable pricing and 22 languages for international teams.

Choose Productboard ($295-590/mo) if you need advanced customer research, strategic prioritization with OKR alignment, and have the budget for an enterprise-grade tool.

By Specific Use Case

Need public roadmap + feedback + changelog in one: ProductLift (only complete option at this price point)

Need GitHub integration: Canny > Frill (ProductLift integrates with Jira/Azure DevOps but not GitHub)

International customers (multilingual): ProductLift (22 languages). All others are English-only.

MRR-based roadmap prioritization: ProductLift (Stripe integration) is the only option

Just need a simple, cheap public roadmap: Upvoty ($15/mo) or Nolt ($25/mo)

Want the prettiest roadmap UI: Nolt ($25/mo). But accept feature limitations

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a public roadmap tool?

A public roadmap tool lets you share your product plans with customers in a visual, interactive format. Customers can see what features are planned, in progress, or shipped. And most tools let them vote on what matters most. Unlike internal project management tools (Jira, Linear), public roadmaps are customer-facing and designed to build transparency and trust.

Why should a SaaS company have a public roadmap?

Public roadmaps reduce 'will you add X?' support tickets, build trust with customers, and give your product team a data-driven signal of what to build. They also help with retention. Customers are less likely to churn if they can see their requested feature is on the roadmap. The main concern (competitors seeing your plans) is usually outweighed by the trust and engagement benefits.

Should customers be able to vote on our public roadmap?

Yes. Voting turns your public roadmap from a static list into an interactive prioritization tool. It gives your product team quantitative data on customer demand. Tools with anonymous voting (ProductLift, Upvoty) get 50-70% more participation than those requiring account creation (Canny, Productboard, Frill).

What's the difference between a public roadmap and a product roadmap?

A product roadmap can be internal (only your team sees it) or public (customers can view it). Public roadmaps show a curated view of what you're building. Often simpler than your internal plans, with customer-friendly language instead of Jira tickets. Many SaaS teams maintain both: a detailed internal roadmap for engineering and a simplified public roadmap for customer transparency.

How do I keep my public roadmap updated without it becoming a chore?

Use tools with automatic workflows. ProductLift's journey model moves items from feedback to roadmap to changelog automatically. Voters get notified at each stage without manual work. Canny has similar but more manual status updates. Avoid tools where you need to manually recreate items between systems. The best approach: make roadmap updates part of your definition of done.

Can I prioritize roadmap items by customer revenue?

Only ProductLift offers native Stripe integration that auto-fetches MRR, plan tier, and customer status. This lets you see that 3 enterprise customers paying $500/mo each care more about a feature than 50 free-tier users. Productboard supports manual revenue tagging but doesn't auto-sync with Stripe. Other tools rely on raw vote count only.

What prioritization framework works best for public roadmaps?

RICE (Reach x Impact x Confidence / Effort) is the most popular for SaaS teams. It balances customer demand with engineering cost. ICE (Impact x Confidence x Ease) is simpler and good for smaller teams. MoSCoW (Must/Should/Could/Won't) is useful for release planning. ProductLift has all four frameworks built in. Productboard supports custom scoring. Canny, Upvoty, and Nolt have no prioritization frameworks.

Should I host my public roadmap on a custom domain?

Yes. A roadmap at roadmap.yourcompany.com looks professional and keeps customers on your brand. A roadmap at yourcompany.canny.io looks third-party. ProductLift, Frill, Rapidr, and Upvoty include custom domain support. Canny and Productboard offer it on paid tiers only.

How do I prevent competitors from using my public roadmap against me?

This is the most common concern, but rarely a real problem. Most competitors already know your general direction from your marketing and changelog. To mitigate risk: keep specific timelines vague (use 'Planned' instead of 'Q3 2026'), only publish confirmed plans, and use private boards for sensitive features. The trust and engagement benefits of a public roadmap almost always outweigh competitive concerns.

Can I migrate my public roadmap from one tool to another?

Most tools support CSV export of feedback posts, votes, and roadmap items. ProductLift provides free migration assistance. Send your export and they'll import everything with votes intact. The process typically takes 2-4 hours. Important: set up 301 redirects if your public roadmap URL changes and communicate the change to customers via email or changelog.

Related Comparison Guides

Explore more tool comparisons to find the right software for your team:

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Ready to Launch Your Public Roadmap?

ProductLift combines public roadmap, feedback boards, changelog, and knowledge base in one platform. $14/mo per admin, unlimited viewers and voters.

No credit card required · 14-day free trial · Free migration from any tool · $14/mo flat. Unlimited voters & viewers