Official website
Quick choice
Editor's Choice
We test and review software products using an independent, multipoint methodology. If you purchase something through our links, we may earn a commission. Read about our editorial process.
Pop up tools are one of the best ways to turn your website visitors into leads. They help with lead generation by showing offers at the right time, when people are more likely to act. Targeted overlays usually get higher conversion rates than forms that just stay on the page. This works well when they match what users are looking for. Pop ups also show these offers without making the page reload, which is good for people using different devices.
Mobile traffic now makes up most of the visits for many U.S. sites. Because of this, it is important to make sure everything works well on small screens. You should use premium tools for mobile pop up delivery that respect the size limits, the way people type, and how much the phone can handle. A lot of platforms also offer messenger pop-up tools. These are made to get chat opt-ins or phone numbers on mobile devices, so you can follow up with people even after they leave the web page.
Behavior targeting works better than normal email sign-up forms. Exit intent pop-up tools can show a deal like a discount, free shipping offer, or even a note about cart abandonment right when people look like they are leaving their shopping cart or the last checkout step. By using things like time delay, how far they scroll, and visit history, you can build your email list without stopping people while they do something important on your site.
Most modern popup software lets you change things often. The drop editor gives you a simple, visual way to make changes. You can set rules for who sees your popup campaigns. B testing is built in, so you can see what people like and keep making the user experience better. You do not need coding skills for this.
Reports show how well your popup campaigns do. The reports also link your results to other marketing efforts, like email marketing and revenue. This makes it easy to see what works for your business.
In the parts below, we look at how much each top vendor offers when it comes to features. We also point out premium features that are important for small businesses and online businesses that are bigger. Our goal is to help you find the best popup software for your needs.
What are pop up tools?
Pop up tools are software people use on their web page. These tools show messages to website visitors and app users. The messages can pop up, slide in, or show as bars. They are made to grab attention and get people to act. These messages start because of rules, like when someone scrolls, spends time on a page, or tries to leave. This helps with lead generation, growing a list, and increasing conversion rates. Most pop up tools work by adding a simple script to the web page or to a tag manager.
Platforms handle many types of tools, like lightbox popups, hello bars that stick to the top, slide-ins, full-screen popups, in-line boxes, and fun widgets with games. These tools need to work well on both mobile devices and bigger screens on desktops. They should not hurt the user experience or slow down page load times. Some companies go even further. They give overlays right inside apps and offer SDKs for people who come from a Shopify store or another online shop setup.
Popup software does more than just show items on your screen. It helps you gather and use data for your business. You can build an email list, collect phone numbers, and ask people to join your messenger. It can help lower cart abandonment in the shopping cart. You can also show special offers based on exit intent or UTM campaigns. The data that you get goes into email marketing, remarketing, and other marketing tools.
Most of the modern tools now have a drag-and-drop editor. This makes it easy for marketers to set up campaigns without needing coding skills. The rules engines can use time delay, scroll depth, geo data, referral, and exit intent to help decide what happens next. There is also built-in A/B (b testing) so you can compare text, offers, and layouts. That helps you improve results without needing much time from a developer.
Entry tiers in popup software usually cover basic forms and coupons. Premium features offer more. You can get things like behavioral targeting, dynamic content, customer support chat, and analytics with these higher levels. A lot of these vendors give you a free plan or a free trial. This helps small businesses try the software to see if it is the right fit before they buy a paid plan with more customization options.
Most platforms use a light script that watches site visitors in real time. It checks the set targeting rules and then decides if it should show a message. The rules can use things like page URL, where people came from, how far they scroll, time delay, device type, or signals that show what people want to do. Premium tools for mobile pop up delivery find out about viewport limits to keep the user experience good and help with page speed. The rules are set up in the builder UI.
Typical inputs can be things like URL or UTM matching. A time delay or when there is no activity can trigger it. When someone scrolls to a certain point, moves the mouse quickly to the top of the screen, presses the back button, or scrolls up really fast, it may signal exit intent. Other triggers can be based on the value of what is in the cart or the step in the checkout, which helps spot and stop cart abandonment. The system may also notice if people keep coming back. Location, device type, or the campaign someone comes from, can also be used.
When a trigger happens, the platform shows the chosen experience. This could be a modal, bar, slide-in, lightbox, or an in-line block. The forms let people join the email list, share their phone numbers, claim coupons, or opt in for messenger chat. Ecommerce data helps share targeted offers, send out free shipping reminders, or show a save-cart prompt when there is exit intent.
Submission data goes first to the vendor. From there, it moves through links into other marketing tools, like email marketing, CRM, and analytics. This helps with follow-up. Popup software keeps track of things, such as impressions, submissions, and conversion rates further down the line. This way, you can tie those campaigns to money made or to how good your list is. Most platforms will let you do A/B testing with your text, your offer, your timing, and your exit intent options to help you get better results.
Picking software in 2025 means you have to focus on things like boosting conversion rates, getting leads in a better way, and making sure the experience is the same on both mobile devices and computers. There is a big difference between the simple widgets and the full systems you can get. A lot of small businesses start by using a free plan, but when they grow, they need extra features like segmentation, analytics, and testing tools.
Expect to see exit intent, time delay, URL, how much people scroll, cart value, and campaign tagging as the minimum features. Better setups also add in how people act, different user groups, and their stage in the buying life.
Responsive layouts, small scripts, and safe touch features help your site work well on phones and tablets. These things stop user problems on small screens. They also help keep your customers and can protect sales you get from your site.
Look for forms like modal, bar, slide-in, lightbox, and multi-step. You can use the drop editor to control how things look. There is also a CSS override option for branded builds.
Cross-channel capture lets you get information from email, SMS, and messenger. This helps make your email marketing and remarketing better.
Exit promos, free shipping offers, and reminders about a shopping cart help stop people from leaving a website before they buy. These things can get more people to finish their orders and help save some of the money that would otherwise be lost.
Native split testing and scheduling help you get the best results faster.
Track views, form submissions, where people come from, and how each group is doing.
Check the ecommerce, CRM, and ESP connectors. Some of these work well with Thrive Leads apps and your Shopify store extensions.
Check the impression caps, feature locks, and how much it costs for monthly views before you decide to grow.
When teams are small, having reliable customer support and good customer service is important. A clear UI helps people find what they need fast. Quick launch cycles also make things work better for everyone.
Any site that wants better lead generation or wants site visitors to buy more can get help from this. Online businesses like ecommerce shops often use exit intent pop-up tools. These tools help stop cart abandonment and highlight things like free shipping or special checkout deals. SaaS, B2B, and publishers also use targeted pop-ups when they want to build an email list. This is helpful if their normal forms are not getting what they need.
Use overlays in a Shopify store or a similar setup to show offers when people add things to their cart. You can also let shoppers unlock coupons this way. It’s a good way to collect phone numbers for SMS remarketing too. This helps you reach out to customers again and boost sales on your Shopify store.
You can make people download content, ask for demos, sign up for newsletters, or try upgrades without the need to change every web page.
Course and learning sites often show progress or enrollment prompts on mobile devices. Using premium tools for mobile pop up placement can stop people from feeling frustrated while they learn.
Support and messaging teams can start a chat, gather support tickets, or begin guided onboarding steps when they spot an intent.
Doing b testing in different formats gives the best results. It also makes the user experience better and this has proof to back it up.
Start by checking if the tool works well and is a good match for your needs. Scripts should load on your website without delay and not slow things down. They must meet Core Web Vitals and look good on mobile devices. You need premium tools for mobile pop up that help keep the page layout steady. Make sure the tool can target people in a smart way, and see if it has messenger pop-up tools so you can add people to your chat, email list, or SMS contacts. A good exit intent pop-up tool will help you get users back who are about to leave, fix cart abandonment, and improve your conversion rate. If you use a visual builder, check that people who are not developers can still use it to start and change things easily.
Next, think about the cost, data, and help you will get. A lot of popup software offers a free plan or a free trial. But things like b testing, advanced features, special content, stronger targeting, and links to other marketing tools are often in paid plans. Before you pay, make sure the extra things you get are worth the money. Choose popup software that lets you change things your way and gives good control. Good customer support is also important so small businesses and bigger teams can grow. This way, you keep ease of use and do not lose data quality.
Timed overlays catch the eye right before someone is about to leave your page. This can help boost conversion rates and speed up lead generation. You don't need to make big changes to the design for this to work. Good targeting matters, though. You can use options like exit intent, time delay, or scroll depth. These help turn website visitors who are leaving into email list signups, orders, or saved sessions. This works for people on both desktops and mobile devices.
Key benefits:
The list gets bigger faster when you collect emails and phone numbers early.
You can help get carts back by sending exit offers, free shipping deals, or messages that save the cart.
Cross-channel capture lets you use messenger pop-up tools to bring people into chat, text, or get them to follow you on social media.
If you send messages at different times to certain groups, you can get more people to say yes than with basic forms.
Premium tools for mobile pop up formats keep the feel of your site good on small screens.
Use b testing to try out text, rewards, and when to show them. This helps make things better over time.
You can link this with email marketing, CRM, and other marketing tools to use your data.
You get easy, scalable control. Run your campaigns and advanced features on one dashboard. You can start with a free plan and move up to paid ones as you grow.
Choosing the best pop up tools in 2025 is about what works well with your tech, how well you can target users, and keeping a good user experience on mobile devices. It is important to link each tool to a clear goal. This could be boosting lead generation, getting better conversion rates, or helping recover cart abandonment. Make sure you do this before you spend any budget.
Start by trying out these ideas on pages where people are more likely to take action. Use exit intent pop-up tools and time delay triggers in your tests. Also, you can use messenger pop-up tools to see what works best. Keep an eye on how many people submit forms, how your email list is growing, and how much extra money you make from these tools. Do structured A/B (b testing) to see what brings the best results before you use these pop-ups across your whole site.
Try out a free plan or trial to see how easy it is to use, how correct the data is, and how well it connects with other tools. If the popup software works well and you like it, you can move up to premium tools for mobile pop up features and better targeting. Use the comparison criteria above to match each popup software level with your website’s traffic and growth goals.
Content teams now check writing more often to see if AI wrote it. They do this to keep trust, follow new rules, stop mistakes, and lower legal risks linked with data. People read the text and use tools to spot things like repeated words, plain words, wrong numbers, or text that does not fit well. These are signs that AI may have made the text. It is good to make checklists for this review. Human editors can then make sure the text is right, has the right feel, and comes from good sources before it goes online.
This software shows targeted overlays to people who visit a website or use mobile devices. The overlays can be a modal pop-up, a bar, a slide-in, or a lightbox. They appear based on certain rules, like which page the visitor is on, how much time they have spent, or when they show exit intent. The main goal is to capture leads, help you grow your email list, or get website visitors to take actions on the site. A time delay can also be used to choose when the overlays show up.
Yes, overlays are still often used on ecommerce sites, SaaS pages, and by publishers. This is because the right rules, at the right time, can help raise conversion rates when the user experience is kept in mind. To be sure about what works best, you should use disciplined A/B (b testing) to check performance.
You can use inline forms, sticky bars, hello bars, slide-ins, landing page blocks that sit right on the page, chat widgets, or messenger pop-up tools if you like to talk with people directly. Many premium tools for mobile pop up let you change between these formats easily. You do not have to use any code. This gives you a good way to keep people on your landing page and helps you get more out of your site.
Load the site on your mobile browser. Make sure you allow popups if they are blocked. After that, scroll or wait for the time delay trigger. Exit intent pop-up tools on a mobile phone often use the back button or when you scroll fast as signals.
Match the tool you use to your need. Choose Justuno or Involve.me if you want help with cart abandonment or exit intent. Go for HelpCrunch or Personizely for messenger support and to get emails from people on more than one channel. Pick OptinMonster or Mailmunch if you want to grow your email list fast and get started with a free plan. Try out each one to see which gives you the best results. These tools can help you get more from people leaving your site, stop cart abandonment, use exit intent pop-ups, and grow your email list. Test a free plan first to find what works best for you.
