Imagine someone showed you how to make the best, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside chocolate-chip cookies you've ever tasted.
The catch is you only get to see the instructions once. Was it one whole egg or just the yolk? Was it oil or butter? Dammit. These turned out mediocre at best.
Let's start again, shall we? This time, you get a beautiful, vintage cookbook with an Instagram-worthy cover full of granny-grade tips and tricks, complete with pictures, measurements, and even vegan substitutes. The result? Cookies that make you never want to eat any other kind ever again. Not only that – literally anyone can make them since the instructions are so clear.
That is precisely what standard operating procedures are for business. And SOP software takes it a step further – as if granny never even had to take the time to write that cookbook. The recipes magically appeared while she was baking.
7 best SOP software & tools for your business
In the words of Rupal Chandeliya, “SOPs are essential for any organization, as they help to maintain consistency, promote safety and ensure compliance with laws and regulations. […] They can help improve efficiency and accuracy.”
However, if you've ever tried making an SOP, you know it's neither quick nor pleasant. Screenshotting, annotating, drawing arrows… not to mention you may need to make changes or accidentally skip a critical step. What if we told you you don't have to worry about that?
With the right standard operating procedure software, all you have to do is press record and perform the actions as usual. The rest is automated.
Discover the top seven SOP software solutions that will help you save hours wasted on manual process documentation – and save money in the meantime. No, really – research shows that about $52 million is lost in companies due to wasted time. So, let's spend that in a better way.
MagicHow
MagicHow is an elegant SOP software solution for automating the creation of easy-to-follow, informative and stylish manuals. Break down complex processes into step-by-step guides anyone can understand without special skills or experience.
This tool allows you to easily create operations policies, but not just that. Some of its use cases include:
- Business process documentation for increasing productivity and generating productive output
- Employee onboarding without the need for frustrating repetition
- Implementation of new tools with a flatter learning curve
- Knowledge base creation, with visual, logical how-to's and all the vital issues well-organized
- Synchronized processes that improve team collaboration, prevent duplications and delays
- Visual and actionable answers to FAQs from your customers and team members
- Troubleshooting based on expertise that boosts confidence and proficiency in dealing with tools
Features
- Ease of use – install the free version and record the process, following the usual steps necessary to complete it
- Compatibility with Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari
- AI-powered process documentation – MagicHow automatically makes screenshots and steps
- Customizable how-to guide creation with blurring sensitive data, adding and changing steps or descriptions, merging slides, inserting logos and annotations etc.
- Desktop app and browser extension
- Ease of sharing in Notion, Confluence, Zendesk, Webflow and other tools, as well as PDF export, HTML or Markdown
Pricing
- Starter: Free version for up to 25 users, limited workflows, steps and projects
- Advanced: $4.50 per user with editing permissions per month, paid annually (monthly payment – $5) with 25 view-only members and 25 projects
- Business: $11.70 per seat per month, paid annually (monthly payment – $13) with unlimited options
Check out our post on 8 process documentation best practices.
Document360
Document360 is a cloud-based SOP software for managing the established team knowledge base. It can be accessed by employees and customers alike – kept for internal use or shared externally. There is a centralized hub for configuring document protocols, SOPs processes and regulations. You can also easily assign tasks and actions to your staff.
Features
- Quick setup, sharing and access from anywhere without any technical skills
- Advanced analytics and data visualization
- Options to tag and group documents for easy navigation
- User access controls, performance tracking, customization and styling
- Automated task reminders and content review notifications
- Multiple article version control for protection against accidental changes
- Difference viewer for process documents
- Integrations with Microsoft Team, Slack, Chrome Zapier and many more with JavaScript snippet
Pricing
14 days free trial and pricing available on request.
Scribe
Scribe is made for creating SOPs. Like MagicHow – all you need is a Chrome extension or desktop application. Press record and complete the usual set of actions to document processes. The SOP software makes notes and screenshots in the meantime. You can then share the finished instructions with the desired teams or individuals.
Features
- Easy, automated options to create SOPs and customize them
- Instant updates of modified digital SOPs
- Blurring of sensitive information
- Options for SOP views and usage tracking
- Desktop app or browser extension
- Simple integration with any knowledge base
Pricing
- Basic: Free (works only on web apps)
- Pro: $29 for personal use or $15 for teams (of minimum five members) – with annual billing, the prices are $23 and $12 respectively
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
All plans are available for any team size.
Process Street
Process Street is an SOP software for creating checklists, workflows and operating procedures. An AI-powered process management platform, it helps share core processes and transform them into workflows without any coding knowledge. Although it's not the best SOP software for detailed documentation of work processes, it's helpful in that it allows creating and assigning tasks.
Features
- Simple, clean UI with keyboard shortcuts and a drag-and-drop editor (although the number of options can be overwhelming)
- Text editor for drafting media-rich, appealing guides
- Plenty of ready-to-use SOP software templates
- Options to schedule processes
- Notifications and activity tracker
- Streamlined processes that require authorization or approvals
- Compatibility with over 1,000 apps
Pricing
There is a free 14-day trial but no free option. These are the pricing plans:
- Startup: $100/month or $1,000/year for up to five members and ten guests (for companies with up to 15 employees)
- Pro: $415/month or $5,000/year for up to 12,500 data set records
Enterprise: $1,660/month or $20,000/year with custom options
Tango
Tango is an SOP documentation software that lets you create visually appealing guides with screenshots for all your repeatable processes and repetitive tasks in seconds. You can use it for onboarding, product help documents, customer support and standard operating procedures.
While recording, a second window shows the transcription, which may be distracting. There are also limited customization options.
Features
- Easy SOP creation process with automatic screenshots and written instructions
- Sensitive data removal and blur
- Options to edit screenshots and their annotations
- Sharable documents via links, downloads and embeds
- Customizable reports
- Compatibility with Slack, Notion, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word, Zendesk and more
Pricing
- Free: For up to 25 seats and workflows (only browser capture)
- Pro: $16/month with annual billing (or $20 with monthly billing) for unlimited workflows, desktop capture and up to 25 seats (each additional user is paid extra)
Enterprise: Custom price (minimum $10,000 annually) for more advanced features and security measures
Trainual
Trainual focuses on creating training programs for new and existing teams. It can serve as a knowledge base and organizational knowledge transfer software. Although not a dedicated SOP software, you can still use it for implementing standard operating procedures.
The software allows all employees to keep their own content updated, with team leaders just overlooking those efforts. This way, internal knowledge maintenance doesn't fall to just one person. There's also a functional staff directory and profiles.
Features
- Intuitive processes for transforming SOPs into training documentation
- Ease of embedding external content in different formats
- Possibility to assign tasks, roles and ownership of SOPs and training responsibilities
- Interactive wiki for business processes
- Color and logo modifications
- Options to test employees on their knowledge and monitor their progress
- Talent onboarding and training workflow automation
- Reminders and notifications about changes
- Extensive integrations with tools like Loom, Slack and some project management software
Pricing
Trainual doesn't have any feature limitations in any of its plans. However, there is no free basic plan – only a 7-day trial. There are three pricing tiers to choose from:
- Small Business: $250 (paid yearly) or $300 (paid monthly) for up to 50 employees
- Growth Business: $600 (paid yearly) or $720 (paid monthly) for up to 250 employees
- Unlimited: Individual pricing
Tallyfy
Tallyfy is a SOP software that lets you document and automate tasks. Although it doesn't allow the most detailed or customizable guide creation, it certainly helps to become more organized. It's a process management platform for capturing and streamlining procedures and allowing everyone to track progress in real time.
Features
- Relative ease of use, without the need for any coding knowledge
- Public API and integrations for Slack, Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft Teams and more
- Task management automation based on your SOPs turns theory into practice
- Documenting processes to minimize mistakes
- Process triggers via forms, schedules or common middleware platforms
- Support for conditional rules and branches
Pricing
- Tallyfy docs: $5/member/month
- Tallyfy pro: $30/member/month
When choosing annual payment, two months are free in both cases. There is also a 14-day trial.
Standard Operating Procedure software & tools: comparison table
How to choose the right SOP software & tools: Selection criteria
We took our time to make sure we give you the top SOP software options available. These are a few key features that we've considered in each case:
- Ease of use: Every good digital tool should be effective, efficient, engaging and easy to learn. The above SOP software solutions are intuitive and don't require a steep learning curve or technical knowledge.
- Compatibility and integrations: As a digital tool, SOP management software should work well with other tools your company is using. This lets you quickly document all the core processes and facilitate knowledge sharing. According to Forbes experts, integration powers increased efficiency, better decision-making and cost-cutting.
- SOP creation features: These include procedure documentation, pre-designed SOP templates, version control and archiving, customization, access control and sharing SOP documents.
- Additional useful functionalities: We included tools with additional features, such as data management, process automation, employee testing etc. Choose the ones that best fit your individual needs.
- Pricing vs. value: Access to free SOP software features allows testing functionalities before committing to an expensive plan. During the trial, consider the above aspects and how they relate to the price.
Conclusion
Neil Platt, Quality & Systems Manager at POLYBLEND UK LIMITED, says, “Standard operational procedures are arguably the most important element of any management system. Without accurate, up-to-date SOPs for staff to follow, a business places itself at significant risk of customer satisfaction or regulatory non-compliance.”
An SOP enhances collaborative efforts, helps you save time, reduces errors and ensures that everyone completes tasks to the same standard. The benefits are endless – for instance, streamlining your sales team's efforts effectively converts prospects, increases sales and boosts revenue growth. Never have to worry about explaining the same thing twice.
If you're looking for standard operating procedure software that is intuitive to use, fully customizable, easy to implement and creates simply beautiful manuals for your team to follow. In that case, you've come to the right place. MagicHow has all that – plus it's the most affordable option on the market.
Sign up to automate and accelerate your creation of stylish, informative guides.
