Beamer vs Olvy
Beamer and Olvy both help software teams tell users what shipped, but they approach the job differently. Beamer is a customer-engagement platform priced by monthly active users — in-app announcements, push notifications, feedback, NPS, and (via its Userflow acquisition) product tours, where you write the post and the widget distributes it. Olvy is an AI-powered user-feedback platform (now owned by Amoeboids) where changelogs and release notes are one module of a broader feedback-analysis suite. Here's how the two compare on features, pricing, and fit — and where each falls short.
Beamer vs Olvy vs Shipstar
Beamer
Customer communication platform: in-app announcements, feedback, NPS, and onboarding
- Best for
- product and marketing teams focused on in-app engagement, segmentation, and measuring how users respond to announcements
- Starting price
- $49/mo (annual, 5,000 MAU)
- Free plan
- Yes — 1,000 MAU, watermarked
Olvy
AI feedback management with release notes as the announcement layer
- Best for
- product managers who want to centralize and AI-analyze user feedback, with a changelog to close the loop
- Starting price
- $60/mo
- Free plan
- Yes — 1 builder, 25 feedback items/mo
Shipstar
This is usAutomated product marketing generated from your Git activity
- Best for
- engineers and lean product teams who want release marketing written and distributed automatically
- Starting price
- Free · Solo from $20/mo
- Free plan
- Yes — 1 project, 1,000 credits/mo
Side-by-side features
Based on each vendor's public website, pricing page, and documentation. Features and prices change — always confirm details with the vendor before you buy.
| Feature | Beamer | Olvy | Shipstar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $49/mo (annual, 5,000 MAU) | $60/mo | Free · Solo from $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes — 1,000 MAU, watermarked | Yes — 1 builder, 25 feedback items/mo | Yes — 1 project, 1,000 credits/mo |
| AI writes content from your Git activity | AI assists from a typed brief | AI writes from typed context/issues | From commits & PRs |
| Native GitHub integration | |||
| Hosted public changelog page | |||
| Embeddable / in-app widget | Many formats + web push | ||
| Email updates to subscribers | Per-post notifications | Business plan | Release emails & newsletters |
| Social auto-posts (X, LinkedIn) | Via Zapier | X & LinkedIn | |
| AI blog post generation | |||
| Slack publishing | Via integrations ($20/mo each on Essentials) | ||
| Custom tone & voice | AI rewrite tone options | Content Guide + tone actions | |
| Analytics | |||
| RSS / Atom feed | — | — | |
| API access | REST + webhooks | Business plan | REST API + MCP server |
| Feedback collection & voting | $99/mo add-on | Core product | |
| Public roadmap | — |
What is Beamer?
Beamer is one of the most established players in product announcements — a changelog widget and standalone page, plus banners, pop-ups, tooltips, web push notifications, feedback voting, NPS surveys, and, since its 2024 Userflow acquisition, product tours and onboarding checklists. Segmentation and analytics are the muscle: target updates by role, behavior, or location, and measure views, clicks, and reactions.
Content creation is manual with AI assist — an editor-embedded AI generator writes or rewrites a post from a brief you type, with tone options and auto-translation. There's no connection to your repository or development activity, and social sharing runs through Zapier.
Pricing: Beamer prices by monthly active users, not seats. The free plan covers 1,000 MAU with a Beamer watermark. Starter is $59/month ($49 annually) for 5,000 MAU, Pro $119/$99 for 10,000 MAU, and Scale $299/$249 for 50,000 MAU, with a custom tier above that. Feedback and NPS are paid add-ons at $99/month each, and all paid plans have a 14-day trial.
Where Beamer shines
- Mature, widely adopted platform ('20,000+ teams') with a polished in-app widget and many notification formats
- Web push notifications reach users even when they're not in your product
- Strong segmentation and analytics from Pro/Scale plans
- User onboarding, tours, and checklists via the Userflow acquisition
- Genuinely free entry plan (1,000 MAU) with unlimited posts
Where Beamer falls short
- No AI generation from git — the AI writes from a typed brief, so someone still drives every post
- MAU-based pricing scales with your audience, not your usage — costs grow as your product grows
- Feedback and NPS are $99/month add-ons each, on top of the base plan
- Social posting to X/LinkedIn requires building Zapier workflows yourself
- Free plan is watermarked and capped at 1,000 MAU and one teammate
What is Olvy?
Olvy leads with feedback: a unified inbox that pulls user feedback from Slack, Discord, X, Telegram, the Play Store, Zendesk, Intercom, and email, then applies AI for sentiment, thematic analysis, auto-categorization, and summaries — plus 'Ask Olvy' conversational querying. The changelog side gives you a hosted release-notes page on a custom domain, in-app widgets, scheduled releases, per-release analytics, and automated release emails on the Business plan.
Its AI release writer generates copy from context you type or from linked resolved issues — there's no git or GitHub pipeline, and no social auto-posting (X appears only as a feedback source). After a near-shutdown in late 2024, Olvy was acquired by Amoeboids in early 2025 and is actively maintained, with the roadmap tilting further toward feedback, NPS, and surveys.
Pricing: Olvy's free plan covers one builder, unlimited release notes, and feedback analysis on up to 25 items. Essentials is $60/month for one builder, but integrations cost an extra $20/month each and extra builders $25/month. Business is $240/month with 5 builders, 10,000 feedback items, unlimited integrations, changelog email subscriptions, and API access, with a custom Enterprise tier above.
Where Olvy shines
- Deep AI feedback analysis: sentiment, themes, auto-categorization, summaries, and conversational querying
- Feedback ingestion from many sources — Slack, Discord, X, Telegram, Play Store, Zendesk, Intercom
- Hosted changelog with custom domain, widgets, scheduling, and per-release analytics
- AI release writer with tone controls and a Content Guide for consistent voice
- Free plan includes unlimited release notes
Where Olvy falls short
- No generation from git commits or GitHub activity — AI writes from typed context or linked issues
- No social auto-posting; X is a feedback source, not a publishing channel
- Integrations cost $20/month each below the $240/month Business plan
- Changelog email subscriptions and API access are gated to Business
- Feedback-first roadmap — the changelog is a secondary module, and the product was nearly sunset before its 2025 acquisition by Amoeboids
Which should you choose?
Choose Beamer if your priority is reaching users inside the product — banners, pop-ups, push notifications, segmentation, onboarding tours — and you're comfortable with MAU-based pricing and add-on fees. Choose Olvy if your bigger problem is feedback overload — collecting it from Slack, Discord, app stores, and support tools and having AI find the themes — and release notes are the closing step. And if the real bottleneck is writing the updates at all, consider Shipstar — it drafts changelogs, release notes, social posts, and newsletters straight from your GitHub activity and publishes them from one approval, starting free.
Or skip the writing entirely with Shipstar
Both Beamer and Olvy still expect someone to sit down and write each update. Shipstar starts one step earlier: it connects to your GitHub repositories, reads what actually shipped, and drafts the changelog, release notes, social posts, and newsletter for you. You review and approve — Shipstar publishes to your changelog page, email subscribers, Slack, X, and LinkedIn from one approval.
It starts free (no credit card), and the Solo plan is Solo from $20/mo — a fraction of what most product communication platforms charge.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Beamer and Olvy?
Beamer is a customer-engagement platform priced by monthly active users — in-app announcements, push notifications, feedback, NPS, and (via its Userflow acquisition) product tours, where you write the post and the widget distributes it. Olvy is an AI-powered user-feedback platform (now owned by Amoeboids) where changelogs and release notes are one module of a broader feedback-analysis suite. In practice, Beamer is the better fit for product and marketing teams focused on in-app engagement, segmentation, and measuring how users respond to announcements, while Olvy suits product managers who want to centralize and AI-analyze user feedback, with a changelog to close the loop.
Does Beamer write announcements for you?
Partially. Beamer's AI Content Generator lives in the editor: give it a short brief (up to 1,000 characters) and it drafts or rewrites the post, with tone options and auto-translation. It does not connect to GitHub or your development activity — the input is always something you type.
How much does Beamer cost?
Beamer prices by monthly active users. Free covers 1,000 MAU with a watermark; Starter is $59/month ($49 annually) for 5,000 MAU; Pro $119/$99 for 10,000 MAU; Scale $299/$249 for 50,000 MAU. Feedback and NPS modules are separate $99/month add-ons.
Is Olvy still active?
Yes. Olvy's team announced a sunset in late 2024, but the product was acquired by Amoeboids in early 2025 and continues as a standalone product with regular releases. Its recent roadmap emphasizes feedback analysis, NPS, and surveys more than changelog features.
How much does Olvy cost?
Olvy has a free plan (1 builder, unlimited release notes, 25 feedback items/month). Essentials is $60/month, but each integration is an extra $20/month and extra builders $25/month. Business is $240/month with unlimited integrations, changelog email subscriptions, and API access.
Which should I choose: Beamer or Olvy?
Choose Beamer if your priority is reaching users inside the product — banners, pop-ups, push notifications, segmentation, onboarding tours — and you're comfortable with MAU-based pricing and add-on fees. Choose Olvy if your bigger problem is feedback overload — collecting it from Slack, Discord, app stores, and support tools and having AI find the themes — and release notes are the closing step. And if the real bottleneck is writing the updates at all, consider Shipstar — it drafts changelogs, release notes, social posts, and newsletters straight from your GitHub activity and publishes them from one approval, starting free.
More comparisons
Ship it. Share it. Celebrate it.
Release notes on autopilot.
Free to start. Connect your repo in 30 seconds.
No credit card required · Setup in 30 seconds