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Open-source interactive demo tools.
The open-source libraries that build product tours inside your own app — intro.js, Shepherd, driver.js — what they can and cannot do, and why there is no open-source capture-and-share demo tool yet.
4 min read · Updated August 23, 2026 · By Tellane team
The short answer. There are mature open-source libraries for in-app product tours — Shepherd and driver.js (MIT), intro.js (AGPL, with a commercial licence for commercial use) — that render step overlays inside your own application for signed-in users. There is no mature open-source tool, as of the date on this page, that captures your product into a standalone, shareable, trackable demo for prospects. If you need a link for buyers who have not signed up, you need a capture tool.
What the open-source libraries do
- intro.js — step-by-step overlays and hints on your own pages; free for open-source projects, commercial licence for commercial use.
- Shepherd — tour steps attached to elements, with a JavaScript API; MIT.
- driver.js — lightweight highlight-and-popover tours; MIT.
- react-joyride and similar — the same idea for React apps.
What they don't do
- Capture screens. They run on the live app; the viewer must be inside it.
- Publish a link. There is no standalone demo for a prospect who has no account.
- Measure a funnel per step across anonymous viewers, attribute drives to accounts, or capture leads — you build that.
- Branch by audience or personalise by prospect without code.
When they are the right choice
In-app onboarding for signed-in users, with engineering time to build and maintain the tours, and no need for a demo outside the product. For that job they are excellent and free.
When you need a capture tool
A demo on the website, in an email, at a booth, or on a review site — anywhere the viewer is not logged in. Every tool in this category has a free plan; the free-plan guide lists each one's limits.
Comparing tools?
The buyer's guides
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