● Alternatives
TheyDo Alternative
Smaply vs TheyDo
Two strong platforms. Different approaches to journey management.
Smaply and TheyDo are both capable journey management platforms used by enterprise teams. The right choice depends on how you want to work: how you structure journeys, how you process research, how your costs scale, and how much flexibility you need. This guide breaks down the key differences.
Key differences
Both platforms are strong choices for journey management. Here's a quick summary of key differences:
Pricing: Smaply starts low with per-editor pricing; TheyDo starts higher with pricing that scales by journey count
Flexibility: Smaply lets you define your own structure; TheyDo provides a defined L0/L1/L2 framework
Insight synthesis: Smaply AI keeps humans-in-the-loop with a dedicated workflow; TheyDo AI processes insights directly into maps
Adoption: Smaply is intuitive from day one; the TheyDo platform has a steeper learning curve which can make it difficult to share with stakeholders
Read on to learn which best suits your needs.
Quick comparison
Ease of use and adoption
Journey management tools only work if teams actually use them.
Smaply is designed to be intuitive from day one, with drag-and-drop mapping that creates professional, polished outputs fast. Flexible lane and card options give you structure without complexity. Maps look good by default and can be customized to match your brand.
TheyDo offers powerful functionality with a steeper learning curve. G2 reviews note that onboarding is intensive, some concepts take time to understand, and it can be difficult to share with stakeholders who only temporarily need access.
For teams that need fast adoption across the organization, Smaply's ease of use is a genuine advantage.
AI insight synthesis workflow
Where research lives before it becomes a journey matters.
Smaply's Research Hub is a dedicated space where Smaply AI assists synthesis while you stay in control. It suggests insights from your sources, but you decide what to keep, edit, or create yourself. You can return to research sessions anytime to add more evidence. When insights are ready, they flow into portfolio items with full traceability. This keeps research rigorous and prevents the pressure to map everything immediately.
TheyDo's AI processes uploaded sources directly into journey maps. Users review and approve insights in context. This is faster for getting insights onto maps, but research and mapping happen in the same space.
For teams where research quality drives decisions, a separate synthesis stage makes a difference.
Linking insights to delivery
Smaply connects the full chain: research insights flow into portfolio items, portfolio items link to show relationships, and planning cards on journey maps show live delivery status from tools like Jira and Asana. You see the path from customer evidence to work in progress.
Smaply is flexible because you define the system. Create your own portfolio item types with custom scoring dimensions: not just pain points, opportunities, and solutions, but whatever categories fit how your team works. Use portfolio summary, matrix, and table views to prioritize. On the map, delivery status sits alongside the solutions it supports.
TheyDo offers opportunity tracking with links to solutions and insights, plus connections to business goals and ROI metrics. The structure is more prescribed: dedicated lane types accept only matching cards.
For teams who want to define their own prioritization system, Smaply gives you that flexibility. For teams who want predefined structure tied to business outcomes, TheyDo's approach may suit better.
Journey organization
Smaply offers flexible journey linking. Connect maps however makes sense for your organization: flat, hierarchical, or mixed. Define your own naming and structure conventions. A journey hierarchy template is available if you want structure, but you decide what works.
TheyDo uses a defined L0/L1/L2 framework. Lifecycle journeys contain experience journeys, which contain micro-journeys. This provides consistency out of the box, but you're working within their structure rather than your own.
If your organization wants a prescribed framework to standardize on, TheyDo's structure helps. If you prefer to adapt the tool to existing workflows, Smaply's flexibility fits better.
Pricing
Smaply starts low and scales with your team. TheyDo requires significant upfront investment that grows with journey count.
Smaply: Four tiers from Free to Governance. Paid plans start at $38/editor/month (annual) with unlimited journeys. Self-serve upgrade or sales-supported. Month-to-month available. Volume discounts from 15+ editors.
TheyDo: 30-day free trial (5 journeys), then Management (~$35K/year minimum) and Strategic (custom). Pricing scales with journey count. Typical enterprises start with 60-80 journeys, scaling to 200 in year two.
Pricing subject to change. Check vendor websites for current details.
How to choose
Smaply is the better fit if:
- You want intuitive tools that create great-looking maps fast
- You need AI-assisted research synthesis with human control
- You want to define your own portfolio item types and scoring dimensions
- You prefer flexible journey organization over a prescribed framework
- You want predictable per-editor pricing with unlimited journeys
TheyDo may be better if:
- You want a defined L0/L1/L2 journey framework out of the box
- You need bidirectional sync with Jira or Azure DevOps
- You want opportunity tracking tied directly to business goals and ROI
- You have budget for enterprise onboarding and prefer unlimited editors
Want to explore Smaply further?
If Smaply feels like a better fit for your approach to journey management, try it free or talk to our team about your needs.
