| Headway | #1 ProductLift | #2 Beamer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free | $14/mo | $59/mo |
| Best For | Changelog Only | Workflow Flexibility | Announcements |
| G2 Rating | 3/5 | 5/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Free Trial | Free plan | 14 days | 14 days |
Looking for Headway alternatives? If you need more than changelog (feedback + roadmap), ProductLift offers voting boards, roadmap, changelog, and knowledge base at $14/month. If you just need a better changelog, consider Beamer ($59/mo) for polish or Canny for changelog + feedback. Headway is changelog-only with a 3.0 G2 rating—most teams need more.
Headway offers one thing: changelog. The free tier makes it accessible, and the in-app widget works for announcements. But that's where the positives end.
With a 3.0 G2 rating (lowest among alternatives), no feedback collection, no roadmap, and no voting—Headway is extremely limited. Teams quickly outgrow it when they realize they need customer input, not just announcements.
Headway does one thing—changelog. It lacks:
Teams realize they need customer INPUT, not just announcements.
Headway's 3.0 G2 rating is the lowest among alternatives:
The rating suggests quality concerns beyond feature limitations.
Teams start with Headway because it's free. But growth requires:
Headway only does the last one.
Real feedback from users:
"It's free and it works for basic changelog needs"
"Very limited - we quickly outgrew it"
"Good starting point but had to switch when we needed feedback features"
"The free tier is genuinely useful for early-stage startups"
| Tool | G2 Rating | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| ProductLift | 5.0 | Workflow Flexibility |
| Nolt | 5.0 | Clean & Simple |
| Feedbear | 5.0 | Multi-Language |
| Hellonext | 5.0 | Dev & Support |
| Frill | 4.8 | Dev Integration |
| Sleekplan | 4.8 | Budget-Friendly |
| Featurebase | 4.8 | Canny Migration |
| Canny | 4.6 | GitHub/Intercom Users |
| Beamer | 4.4 | Announcements |
| Headway | 3.0 | Free Changelog |
What it does: ProductLift is the most flexible feedback platform—you design the workflow, not them. Unlimited columns, custom statuses, and tab configurations. Feedback boards, roadmap, changelog, and knowledge base replace 4 separate tools. Full white-label, 22 languages, flat $14/mo pricing. EU-based, GDPR compliant.
Best for: Workflow Flexibility
Pricing: Starting at $14/mo
Free trial: 14 days
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| ProductLift | 5/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.4/5 |
ProductLift was awarded G2 - High Performer Winter 2026
Read more: 10 ProductLift Alternatives
What it does: Beamer is a changelog and product announcement platform with excellent in-app notifications and push notifications. At $59/mo it's primarily for announcements - feedback collection features are limited.
Best for: Announcements
Pricing: Starting at $59/mo
Free trial: 14 days
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Beamer | 4.7/5 | 4.8/5 | N/A |
Read more: 8 Beamer Alternatives
What it does: Canny is a feedback management platform that helps teams collect, organize, and analyze customer feedback. It offers voting boards, roadmaps, and strong integrations with GitHub and Intercom. Known for its clean interface but uses tracked user pricing that increases with growth.
Best for: GitHub/Intercom Users
Pricing: Free plan available
Free trial: Free plan
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Canny | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 | 3.1/5 |
Read more: 10 Canny Alternatives
What it does: Fider is a free, open-source feedback platform you can self-host. Perfect for technical teams who want full control and no recurring costs. Lacks advanced features like AI, integrations, and analytics.
Best for: Self-Hosted/Free
Pricing: Free plan available
Free trial: Free (Open Source)
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Fider | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Read more: 6 Fider Alternatives
What it does: Featurebase positions itself as a direct Canny alternative, offering similar features at $49/mo with free migration from Canny. It includes feedback boards, roadmap, changelog, and AI duplicate detection.
Best for: Canny Migration
Pricing: Free plan available
Free trial: Free plan
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Featurebase | 4.8/5 | N/A | N/A |
Read more: 10 Featurebase Alternatives
What it does: Upvoty is a simple, affordable feedback tool at $15/mo that supports anonymous voting. It's great for basic voting boards but lacks AI features, prioritization frameworks, and a knowledge base.
Best for: Simple Voting
Pricing: Starting at $15/mo
Free trial: 14 days
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Upvoty | 4.5/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
Read more: 10 Upvoty Alternatives
What it does: Sleekplan is a budget-friendly feedback platform at $15/mo that uniquely includes built-in NPS and CSAT surveys. It offers a 30-day trial but lacks private boards, anonymous voting, and AI features.
Best for: Budget-Friendly
Pricing: Starting at $15/mo
Free trial: 30 days
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Sleekplan | 4.8/5 | 5/5 | 4/5 |
Read more: 10 Sleekplan Alternatives
What it does: Frill is a developer-friendly feedback platform with strong GitHub and Jira integrations plus AI features. At $25/mo it offers prioritization scoring but lacks internal comments, knowledge base, and multi-language support.
Best for: Dev Integration
Pricing: Starting at $25/mo
Free trial: 14 days
| Product | G2 | Capterra | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | 3/5 | 5/5 | N/A |
| Frill | 4.8/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 |
Read more: 10 Frill Alternatives
We evaluated but excluded:
Productboard ($25-90/maker) — Enterprise product management, overkill for changelog needs.
Aha! ($39-149/user) — Enterprise complexity when you just need changelog.
UserVoice ($699/month) — Enterprise pricing, not a Headway alternative.
Pendo ($7,000+/year) — Analytics platform, not changelog-focused.
Notion — Good for docs but not a proper changelog tool.
Headway is a changelog and announcement tool offering:
The platform focuses exclusively on product announcements—no feedback collection or roadmap features.
Credit where it's due:
Free tier. Accessible for budget-conscious teams.
Simplicity. No feature bloat—just changelog.
Quick setup. Get started in minutes.
Widget. In-app announcements work.
Headway makes sense if:
Consider alternatives if:
Switching from Headway:
1. Export your changelogs Download existing announcements from Headway.
2. Choose your new tool Based on what you need:
3. Import changelogs Most tools can import existing announcements.
4. Add feedback capability Set up voting boards for customer input.
5. Replace widgets Swap Headway's widget for your new tool's embed.
Timeline: 1 week for migration.
Here's how Headway and its top alternatives compare on key features:
| Feature | Headway | ProductLift | Beamer | Canny |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contribute Without Logging In | ||||
| Private Boards | ||||
| Weekly Reports | ||||
| User Profiles | ||||
| Internal Comments | ||||
| Prioritization Matrix | ||||
| Embeddable Widget | ||||
| API Access | ||||
| Single Sign-On (SSO) | ||||
| Custom Statuses | ||||
| Intercom Integration | ||||
| Estimated Dates | ||||
| Knowledge Base | ||||
| AI Features | ||||
| Slack Integration | ||||
| Stripe Integration | ||||
| Jira Integration | ||||
| Azure DevOps Integration | ||||
| Zapier Integration | ||||
| GitHub Integration | ||||
| User Segments | ||||
| Changelog | ||||
| Public Roadmap | ||||
| Webhooks | ||||
| Vote on Behalf | ||||
| Custom CSS |
Headway has a free tier for basic changelog functionality. But you'll quickly need paid plans or alternative tools for feedback collection.
Headway has a 3.0/5 G2 rating—the lowest among feedback and changelog tools. Most alternatives score 4.4-5.0.
No. Headway is changelog-only. For feedback collection, consider ProductLift, Canny, or Fider.
No. Headway only does changelog. For roadmap, consider ProductLift, Canny, or Frill.
For most teams: ProductLift ($14/mo). It includes feedback, roadmap, changelog, and knowledge base—everything Headway lacks.
No. Beamer has a higher G2 rating (4.4 vs 3.0) and more features (NPS surveys, segmentation). Beamer costs $59/month but does changelog better.
Use a feedback tool. Headway only announces—it doesn't help you understand what to build. All-in-one tools like ProductLift include changelog alongside feedback.
| Feature | Headway | ProductLift |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier | $14/mo |
| Changelog | Yes | Yes |
| Voting boards | No | Yes |
| Roadmap | No | Yes |
| Knowledge base | No | Yes |
| G2 rating | 3.0 | 5.0 |
ProductLift offers complete solution.
Yes. Pair Headway (free changelog) with Fider (free feedback) for a free combo—but managing two tools adds complexity.
The 3.0 rating likely reflects:
Higher-rated alternatives offer more complete solutions.
Join over 3,051 product managers and see how easy it is to build products people love.
Did you know 80% of software features are rarely or never used? That's a lot of wasted effort.
SaaS software companies spend billions on unused features. In 2025, it was $29.5 billion.
We saw this problem and decided to do something about it. Product teams needed a better way to decide what to build.
That's why we created ProductLift - to put all feedback in one place, helping teams easily see what features matter most.
In the last five years, we've helped over 3,051 product teams (like yours) double feature adoption and halve the costs. I'd love for you to give it a try.
Founder & Digital Consultant