What is the best DocSend alternative for sharing a live demo instead of a PDF?

DocSend tracks documents. To send a working demo and see what each person did in it, here are six alternatives compared, with prices and what each tells you.

On this page

By Kaz Kato · Published 12 October 2026 · Updated 12 October 2026

DocSend can track a link to a website on its Standard plan and above, but not on a trial. For each visit it records only the visitor’s device and operating system, their location and the time. To send a working demo and see what each person did inside it, use a room built for live software, such as Roomi.

This guide compares DocSend with six alternatives for a live demo, ranks them for that job, and says when DocSend is still the right choice. We make Roomi, so weigh that. The content tracking comparison and the demo tools comparison go into more detail.

Tool What the viewer gets What you learn afterwards Price to start
DocSend A document, or a tracked link out to a website DocSend can track a link to a website on its Standard plan and above, but not on a trial. For each visit it records only the visitor’s device and operating system, their location and the time. DocSend’s Personal plan is $10 a user a month, billed yearly.
Papermark A document Papermark’s Free plan shares up to 50 documents, with page-by-page analytics and unlimited visitors. Papermark is open source, and offers a version you host yourself. Papermark’s Pro plan is €24 a month, billed yearly.
Arcade A click-through capture of your product Arcade’s Free plan publishes one demo and one video, with no viewer insights. Insights and Audience Reveal start on its Growth plan. Arcade’s Growth plan is $50 a seat a month, billed monthly, or $42.50 a seat a month, billed yearly.
Storylane A click-through capture of your product Storylane’s Free plan has one published demo, lead capture and basic analytics. Account reveal and alerts start on Starter, HTML demos on Growth, and private demo links are on Enterprise only. Storylane’s Starter plan is $40 a month, billed yearly.
Loom A recorded walkthrough Loom names a viewer only when they watch while logged in to a Loom account. Anyone else shows as “Anonymous”, with no way to see who they were. Loom’s Business plan is $18 a user a month, billed monthly, or $180 a user a year, billed yearly.
A hosting link The live app, on a public or protected address Vercel’s Web Analytics tells visitors apart by a hash that resets every day, without cookies. It reports pages, referrers, countries, operating systems and browsers across all visitors. Depends on the host
Roomi The live app in a room, with a guided tour Each named viewer’s visits, time on each app and page, how far through the tour they got, their comments and their next step Free to start. Private links on Pro: £4 a month billed monthly, or £40 a year, before VAT

Each price is the vendor’s own, as its page bills it, and the sources are listed at the foot of this page.

Why doesn’t DocSend fit a live demo?

DocSend is built around files. It times each visitor on a document and can alert you the moment they open it. A working demo is not a file, though. DocSend can only link out to it, and then it sees the visit, not what the person did inside your product.

For documents, it does the job well. DocSend counts only the time a visitor spends with a document in front of them, and pauses the timer when they switch to another tab. DocSend can alert you by email the moment someone opens one of your links. The alert gives their device, their location, how much of the document they viewed and their time on it.

A demo is different. Your client clicks through screens, tries a scenario and comes back with a colleague. None of that is a page in a file. If what you are sending really is a deck, a contract or a data room, DocSend is the right tool, and nothing below changes that. Roomi or DocSend sets the two side by side.

What should you look for instead?

Look for four things. The viewer uses the real product, not a picture of it. Each person gets their own link, so every visit has a name. You see what they did inside: how long on each part, how far they got, what they said. And they can take the next step without writing to you.

  1. The real thing. A recording or a capture shows the path you chose. The live app lets them try their own.
  2. A link per person. One shared link tells you that someone looked. A named link tells you who.
  3. What happened inside. Time on each screen and how far through the tour they got is what tells you whether they are interested.
  4. A next step in the room. Booking a meeting or saying yes should take one click, while they are still thinking about you.

The alternatives, ranked for sharing a live demo

Ranked by one test: can a named prospect use the working product, and can you see what they did?

  1. Roomi — the live app itself, in a room with a guided tour, on a private link for each person, with a record of what each one did. We make it, so read the rest with that in mind.
  2. Storylane — a guided click-through of captured screens, with HTML demos on its higher plans. The closest to a live demo without putting anything live.
  3. Arcade — click-through demos and AI videos in one tool. Its insights start on the paid plan.
  4. A hosting link — Vercel or Lovable put the live app on an address, but their analytics count traffic, not people.
  5. Loom — a narrated recording of the product. The viewer watches; they cannot try it. Loom alternatives for product demos compares it with tools a viewer can click.
  6. Papermark — open-source document tracking, the nearest thing to DocSend itself. Right for the deck, not for the demo.

What does each one tell you about the people who looked?

Most tell you about traffic or about a file. Document tools time each visit. Click-through tools keep most of their insight for paid plans. Video tools name viewers who sign in or give an email. Hosting counts visitors without naming them. A room names each person and shows what they did in the live product.

  • Loom. Loom names a viewer only when they watch while logged in to a Loom account. Anyone else shows as “Anonymous”, with no way to see who they were. On Loom’s Business, Business + AI and Enterprise plans, you can require or ask for an email before someone watches.
  • Hosting. Vercel’s Web Analytics tells visitors apart by a hash that resets every day, without cookies. It reports pages, referrers, countries, operating systems and browsers across all visitors. Lovable’s analytics measures overall traffic, not individual people, and does not follow a visitor from one visit to the next.
  • Roomi. On Pro and up, each private link carries the name of the person you made it for. You see every visit in order, the seconds spent on each app and page, and how far through the tour they got. You also see the comments they pinned to the screen and their answer to what happens next.

If they forward the link, whoever opens it is asked who they are, so you see everyone it reached. The app then names who to call first, with the evidence: “Seen today, back on Pricing, shared it with someone new.” Analytics and the pipeline shows every measure. How to tell if a client looked at your proposal says how to read them.

On Free, there are no private links. A project is a draft only you can open, or listed publicly on the community, with total views.

Which should you choose?

Choose by what you are sending. For a deck, a contract or a data room, use DocSend or Papermark. For a polished click-through on a website, use Arcade or Storylane. For a narrated walkthrough, use Loom. To put the working product in front of named people and see what each did, use Roomi.

You can use both. Keep the contract in DocSend and send the demo in a room. Or keep it all in one place: your proposal can sit in the room as a PDF in the room’s own reader, read page by page, beside the demo. Pricing has every plan, and sharing a private link shows how each person gets theirs.

When you send a link, tell the person who you are and that the room records what they do there for you to see. Say how they can reach you about their data, or point them to the privacy policy.

Questions people ask

Can DocSend track a website or an app?

DocSend can track a link to a website on its Standard plan and above, but not on a trial. For each visit it records only the visitor’s device and operating system, their location and the time. It does not show what they did on the site.

Is there a free DocSend alternative?

Papermark’s Free plan shares up to 50 documents, with page-by-page analytics and unlimited visitors. Papermark is open source, and offers a version you host yourself. For a live demo, Roomi is free to start, and a private link for each person starts on Pro at £4 a month, before VAT.

Do my viewers need an account?

Not on Roomi. A viewer opens their own link in a browser, with nothing to sign up for and nothing to install. The room asks whether they are the person it was made for, so a forwarded link still names everyone.

Does Roomi tell me when someone opens it?

Yes. It tells you in the app and by email when someone opens their link for the first time, comes back, comments or says yes. Every Monday, a weekly summary says who to call first.

Will my client see real data?

No. Every Roomi demo runs on mock data, and every room tells its viewers so. A container demo has no internet, and a deploy stops if it finds a secret in the project.

Sources

About the author

Kaz Kato, Co-founder & CTO, Roomi. Kaz co-founded Roomi with Tesh, whom he has built with since 2017: two startups that failed, one venture studio that didn’t, and an exit.

Send the working demo, and see who used it.

Start free, and give each person their own link on Pro.

Get started freeSee pricing