SaaS explainer videos help people understand what software does and how it fits their work. These examples cover product introductions, a problem-led overview, deeper feature coverage and onboarding.
By
Larry Mutenda
| What are the best SaaS explainer video examples? Strong SaaS explainer video examples include Astronomer for a platform introduction, Slack and Asana for homepage videos, Augmentt for a problem-led overview, Calendly for feature depth, and MonoCloud and Mostardi Platt for onboarding. |
SaaS explainer videos are short videos that explain what software does and how it fits someone’s work. They appear on home pages, in sales emails and inside the product. A visitor, a buyer and a new user each need a different version.
This article looks at seven SaaS explainer videos from Astronomer, Slack, Asana, Augmentt, Calendly, MonoCloud and Mostardi Platt. For each one, I describe what the video covers, who it speaks to and what other SaaS companies can take from it. After the examples, I cover real UI vs. simplified UI animation and homepage video vs. onboarding video. Then I explain how to plan your own SaaS explainer video.
The distance between recognizing a software brand and knowing how to use it can be substantial. A homepage introduction, a problem-led overview and an account tutorial each address a different part of that gap.
Slack starts with fragmented knowledge and constant context switching. Asana concentrates on knowing who is doing what and when. Both enter through a work problem that a new user can recognize before learning product terminology.
Here is a quick overview of the seven videos in this article, grouped by how each company uses the video. The table links to each example below.
We picked videos that each show a different job a SaaS explainer can do: a platform introduction, homepage videos, a problem-led overview, feature depth and onboarding.
The lead example, Astronomer, and the Augmentt, MonoCloud and Mostardi Platt examples come from the Creamy Animation video library. The other 3 videos are published on each company’s own YouTube channel and were publicly available when we checked them in October 2026. We describe each video from its own content and description, and we credit any figures to the company that published them.
| # | Company | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astronomer | Lead example: platform introduction |
| 2 | Slack | Homepage "what is it" video |
| 3 | Asana | Homepage "what is it" video |
| 4 | Augmentt | Problem-led product overview |
| 5 | Calendly | Sales / feature depth |
| 6 | MonoCloud | Onboarding |
| 7 | Mostardi Platt | Onboarding |
The Astronomer motion graphics video comes from the video library at Creamy Animation.
A team member arrives on a software homepage after a colleague sends a link. They may know the brand while having little idea what would change in their working day. A broad feature list asks them to assemble the product’s purpose for themselves.
Slack starts from disconnected knowledge and repeated context switching. Asana starts from project coordination. These are different problems, but each creates a reason for the software’s capabilities to appear. Without that starting point, a homepage video can become a product tour before the visitor understands why they should care.
The runtimes also differ. Slack has room to connect several parts of a workplace platform. Asana uses 47 seconds for a compact account of projects, responsibilities and deadlines. The scope determines what each introduction can cover.
Slack presents one place for people, AI, apps, automation and data after describing siloed knowledge and constant context switching. The video covers AI search, recaps and Salesforce channels. Software teams can learn from connecting a broad platform to a recurring workplace frustration before listing its parts.
Asana’s 47-second tour covers project organization, goals and deadlines so teams know who is doing what by when. It speaks to people trying to keep shared work from falling through the cracks. The concentrated scope shows how a brief introduction can centre on a recognizable coordination problem.
Augmentt starts with a problem that IT, security and finance teams share. Anyone in a company can sign up for a SaaS tool without anyone checking its security, productivity or cost. The video calls this shadow IT.
It then introduces three parts of the platform. Discover gives a full view of SaaS usage. Optimize compares usage with licences and spend. Engage manages applications from one dashboard. The lesson for SaaS companies is to name the buyer’s problem before naming the modules.
A prospect may already use a scheduling link and assume they understand the whole product. That narrow impression can hide capabilities relevant to a sales team or a group coordinating several people. Feature-depth content addresses the gap between familiarity with one action and knowledge of the wider offer.
Calendly’s overview moves into collective events, polls, visitor routing and round robin scheduling. Those tasks give prospective customers specific reasons to look beyond a single booking link. If that detail is left out, the sales conversation can remain stuck on the use case the prospect already knows.
This differs from Asana’s compact first introduction. Calendly is expanding an existing mental picture. A software team needs to know whether its audience is meeting the product for the first time or reconsidering what it can do.
Calendly covers collective events, meeting polls, website visitor routing and round robin scheduling. The overview speaks to teams whose needs extend beyond sharing a personal scheduling link. Its lesson is to broaden product understanding through additional work tasks rather than a larger list of feature names.
A new account holder has moved past deciding whether the software sounds relevant. They now need to complete a task inside it. Homepage messaging about collaboration or productivity does not tell them which action to take first.
Without task-based support, a user may recognize the product’s promise but still hesitate at the starting screen. That gap calls for a sequence tied to an actual job, such as creating a first project or routing a first request. The account task needs a defined beginning and a recognizable finish.
The platform introductions above establish purpose. Onboarding needs to take the next step into use. A lesson belongs close to the task it supports so an account holder can return to the relevant instruction while working.
The difference can be seen by comparing the work named in the existing product examples. Asana introduces goals, deadlines and project organization. An account-level lesson would need to turn a selected task into actions the user can follow. Calendly introduces several kinds of scheduling work. A lesson for one of those tasks would need a narrower starting point than the complete overview.
These are two different distances from product awareness to use. A team may understand why organizing a project matters before it knows how to begin in a new account. Another team may know a basic scheduling action but need help with a more specialized task. Onboarding content needs the specific starting condition, not simply a shorter version of the homepage message.
MonoCloud speaks to developers who would rather not build authentication themselves. The one-minute video covers sign-up options such as social logins, magic links and one-time passcodes. It also shows a visual designer for building branded login flows. It looks at onboarding from the other side: the first screens a new user meets inside someone else’s app.
Mostardi Platt’s CMP is a cloud-based task and document system for environmental, health and safety compliance. The video walks through setup in order. Requirements are identified, a plan is built, and each task gets an owner and a due date. The platform is then rolled out ready to use from day one. Templates and deadline alerts come after that. The sequence shows how to carry a new customer from purchase to first use, one step at a time.
Use the real interface when viewers need to recognize an actual control or follow an exact action. Simplified interface animation can help describe a workflow without forcing people to read every label. The choice depends on the software user’s job.
I flag any simplified screen that could be mistaken for a literal tutorial. Keep instructional captures aligned with the current product. A conceptual homepage video can often remain accurate longer if its message does not depend on temporary interface details.
Start the storyboard with the software task the user needs to complete. If a viewer must find a button, recognition matters. If the software user only needs to understand how work moves between people, a simplified relationship may be clearer. Keep the reason for each interface view explicit.
I also separate stable product logic from temporary presentation details. That helps the team identify which part of the video will need attention after a redesign. The goal is a video that stays accurate. A visually familiar screen helps with recognition only while it still represents the action the user needs to perform.
A homepage visitor is deciding whether the software deserves more attention. An onboarding viewer has a task to complete. Give each person an appropriate opening and ending.
Slack and Asana introduce product purpose before a user begins an account task. A task lesson needs the account context and actions that a homepage introduction can leave for later. Avoid asking an introduction to function as a full lesson. Avoid slowing a lesson with a long product pitch.
The call to action should reflect this difference. A homepage video may lead to a product tour or another evaluation step. An onboarding lesson should lead to the next task in the user’s workflow. Avoid ending both versions with the same generic invitation.
Support content needs a clear title too. Name the task the software user can complete rather than using only the feature’s internal name. That makes a lesson easier to locate again. When users can find the relevant video at the point of need, the video has a more practical role than a general introduction stored elsewhere.
The runtime comparison also helps separate these jobs. Asana’s 47-second introduction covers a compact product promise. Calendly’s 2:23 overview broadens an existing understanding of scheduling. Neither duration determines how long a task lesson needs to be. The account action provides that boundary. A homepage visitor can decide to investigate further after a broad introduction. A user following a lesson needs to recognize when the selected task is complete.
Decide whether the product is unfamiliar or merely understood too narrowly. Asana gives a compact introduction. Calendly expands an existing picture of scheduling. Those goals call for different selections of capabilities.
Separate a teacher-like account of a task from a homepage product story. For account-level lessons, check what the user can already access and what must be completed before the first instruction makes sense.
Open with the problem the buyer already has. Augmentt names shadow IT before it introduces its platform. Check that your script names the problem before it lists features.
Related reading: explainer videos guide.
Mark interface details likely to change in the next release. Keep a conceptual sequence distinct from exact button-level directions so the team knows which production elements need replacement after a redesign.
Related reading: explainer video cost.
Place a broad overview on the evaluation path and a task lesson beside the relevant account action. Track recurring questions separately. Confusion about the product’s purpose needs a different revision from trouble completing a workflow.
Related reading: SaaS explainer video production guide and SaaS video tools.
Show the real interface when the software user must recognize controls or complete an action. For a conceptual introduction, simplified visuals may communicate the sequence more clearly. Make the distinction explicit so a stylized video is not mistaken for exact operating instructions.
Review the video when the product’s workflow, positioning or important interface details change. Assign ownership for that review. Update an instructional video when its directions become inaccurate even if the broader message still sounds relevant.
Choose the runtime after defining the homepage question. Remove secondary features before trying to squeeze a crowded script into a shorter delivery.
Usually it should cover the features needed to understand one promise or workflow. A complete catalogue can make the opening video harder to follow. Give deeper questions their own demonstration or help content.
Use them on the home page, on product pages, in sales follow-ups and inside the app. Each place needs its own length and level of detail.
Start with the problem they share. Augmentt names shadow IT, then shows how its platform finds, optimizes and manages SaaS use.
Animation works for the product story and the problem. Screen recordings work for onboarding and tutorials, where the user needs to see the real interface.
Usually not. Prices change, and the video will stay online longer than one pricing plan. Point viewers to the pricing page instead.
Make the software understandable at the moment someone encounters it. A focused introduction earns the next question. A focused onboarding video helps the user take the next action.
Larry is the founder and Chief Storyteller at Creamy Animation, founded in 2009. He leads a team that creates story-driven videos for businesses and nonprofits. 15+ years in video strategy and production, specializing in SaaS, B2B, and nonprofit storytelling. A marketer, designer, and animator, Larry has overseen the production of more than 1,500 videos for Fujitsu, Logitech, Warner Brothers, NFL, Blockdaemon, Astronomer, Canonical, and 370+ others.
For Larry, God is first, and everything else is a blessing that comes from serving Him. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife and three kids, playing the piano, or pursuing his filmmaking side hustle.
