Reprise vs. Storylane: Which Demo Platform is Better for You?

If you’re evaluating demo software — or just trying to get a handle on some of the most popular tools in the landscape — this post is for you. We’re walking you through the strengths and weaknesses of Storylane, and comparing it with Reprise’s capabilities.

The main difference between Storylane and Reprise is that Storylane focuses on guided demos that use basic screen capture and HTML capture. These types of demos are best for top-of-funnel product tours. As a result, product marketers will find this tool easy to use, but most sales and presales teams will need a demo environment that looks and feels more like their live application.

To contrast, Reprise covers every capture method and use case for demos. Product marketers, presales, and sales teams will all find value in using it for live demos, product tours, sales leave-behinds, event demos, and more.

Let’s dive into the details.

Storylane Strengths and Weaknesses

Let’s start with some of Storylane’s strengths. Screen capture and HTML capture tools are easy to use. Storylane has a user-friendly editing interface, with custom editing tools for more complex use cases. While Storylane is a better fit for product tours than live demos, some companies have found Storylane to have enough functionality to work as a live demo environment.

Another area of strength for Storylane is in its demo analytics. The Account Reveal feature is helpful in identifying new tour visitors. This feature gathers and integrates company data on your demo visitors.

Storylane weaknesses are most noticeable for presales and sales teams. While using product tour technology for live demos is possible, these demos don’t look or react like your actual product. This is a problem, because most prospects want to see how your application works during a live demo. With Storylane, there’s no way to demo on your live application, or even a realistic app clone. The sandbox environment option is simply an unguided product tour.

Keep in mind that there are two types of capture methods with Storylane: screen capture and HTML capture. Both of these methods are better for product tours, and have some limitations for live demos. Here’s a quick breakdown of each method.

Screen Capture

Creates product tours using static images of the product. They are useful for website tours and leave-behinds but lack interactivity for live demos.

Pros:

• No coding required, making them accessible for sales and marketing teams.
• Reliable, since it works even if the live product goes down
• Includes analytics to track user engagement

Cons:

• Not interactive; reps must stick to a predefined flow
• Can’t simulate real product behavior (e.g., clicking on a feature won’t show how it works)
• Editing is limited and tedious, as changes don’t apply across the entire demo
• Doesn’t reflect real-time product updates

HTML Capture

Captures the frontend of a product, offering more interactivity than screenshots. While most commonly used for product tours, some try to extend their use to live demos.

Pros:

• Stays online even if the live product is down, reducing demo risks
• Easy to use (typically captured via a browser extension)
• Provides some interactivity (e.g., hovers, dropdowns)
• Allows for guardrails to keep demos focused
• Enables deeper edits than screen capture

Cons:

• Restricts navigation
• Limited editing capabilities (cosmetic changes like text and images)
• Can’t replicate real product interactivity
• Always outdated, as new product features won’t reflect without re-capturing

Reprise vs. Storylane

While Storylane covers two demo capture methods, with the primary use case of product tours, Reprise covers the entire spectrum of capture methods and use cases. With Reprise, you can create an enterprise-scale demo program, with reusable demo templates and injectable synthetic datasets that help you customize your demos with ease.

Let’s walk through some of Reprise’s key capabilities and how they stack up against Storylane.

Interactive demos, product tours and sales leave-behinds

Reprise uses HTML capture with advanced editing capabilities (including HTML, CSS, and Javascript). To contrast, Storylane’s out-of-the-box editing capabilities only allow you to edit the HTML of individual elements. Reprise’s ability to edit the underlying code allows you to inject additional interactivity back into your demo and edit everything so it looks and feels exactly like you want it to.

The interactive demos created with Reprise also work as product tours and sales leave-behinds, making it a versatile tool for marketing and sales alike. Like Storylane, Reprise has robust demo analytics that make it possible to see what parts of your demos are getting the most engagement along with who is visiting your demos. For sales leave-behinds, Reprise’s demo analytics can reveal new stakeholders in the buying committee, making it easier and more efficient for sales to follow up with the right people.

Live demos with custom data injection

The biggest difference between Storylane and Reprise comes in the platforms’ live demo capabilities. With Reprise, you can either use your live app or clone your application into a self-contained demo environment. With Storylane, you can’t do either. Most users try to manipulate HTML demos for a live demo use case, an approach that lacks the realism of a live app or app clone.

With either a live app or self-contained demo environment, you can take advantage of Reprise’s data injection capabilities. Data injection lets you create custom, synthetic datasets (either manually or with AI) and inject them into your demo environment. It simplifies and automates the task of building and maintaining demo data, so SEs or sales reps can add relevant datasets to their live demos in just a few clicks. This allows you to create highly customized demos quickly and at scale, accelerating the sales cycle while maximizing presales and engineering efficiency.

Depending on your needs, here’s when you might want to use data injection with a live app vs. a self-contained demo environment.

Live App with Data Injection

This use case showcases the latest version of your product in real time, ensuring prospects see its actual behavior. Ideal for accuracy but comes with risks like service outages, UI changes, and potential data exposure.

Pros:

• Always up to date, showing the latest product version
• Provides the most realistic and accurate demo experience
• Data injection allows for customization based on industry, use case, or pain point
• No need to maintain separate demo environments

Cons:

• Risk of service outages, slow loading, or bugs
• May expose data if not managed carefully
• Sales reps may struggle with unexpected changes in the live product

Self-Contained Environment with Data Injection (Full App Clone)

Replicate your live app in a controlled environment, preserving interactivity while eliminating risks tied to production issues. This approach offers reliability and scalability, making it a strong alternative to live demos.

Pros:

• More stable and reliable than a live app, avoiding downtime or unexpected changes
• Maintains full interactivity and product workflows
• Scalable for thousands of users, making it ideal for enterprise teams
• Still supports custom data injection for tailored, relevant demos
• Allows easy reset and refresh, reducing demo maintenance time

Cons:

• Doesn’t update in real time; requires manual updates to reflect new features

Enterprise features

Unlike Storylane, Reprise is proven at enterprise scale. Many enterprise customers use Reprise at events and in large-scale deployments of hundreds or even thousands of demo environments at once. Storylane’s product tours are more suitable for SMBs who do not have these requirements.

Other enterprise requirements — including role-based access control (RBAC) and SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001:2002 certifications — ensure that your data is secure and that you can maintain fine-grained control into who accesses your demos and when.

Choosing the Right Demo Creation Platform for Your Needs

When selecting between Storylane and Reprise, the key consideration is whether you solely need product tours or a combination of product tours and fully interactive live demos. Storylane is best for guided product tours created using screen and HTML capture. It’s a good fit for product marketers who need an easy-to-use platform for top-of-funnel demos, but lacks the depth needed for true interactivity in live demos.

Reprise offers a comprehensive demo platform that supports interactive demos, live product demos, and enterprise-scale deployments. You can conduct live demos and inject data into your live application or self-contained demo environment — making it a better fit for presales, sales, and enterprise teams that need realistic, customized, and scalable demos.

Want even more guidance for investigating your demo tech options?
Check out the 2025 Buyer’s Guide to Navigating Demo Tech