Whale — Independent Software Review

Streamline your team’s communication and collaboration.

Compliance Transparency Index

Grade: A — Score: 95/100

Best For

• Operations leaders at companies with 10-200 employees who need to document tribal knowledge before it walks out the door.
• Franchise and multi-location businesses that need consistent SOPs across sites. QR codes and mobile access bring procedures to shop floors and service counters.
• Companies running on EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). Whale has dedicated EOS templates, use cases, and certified consultants.
• HR teams onboarding 5+ new hires per quarter. Training flows, quizzes, and completion tracking replace manual onboarding checklists.

Not Ideal For

• Teams needing active workflow execution. Whale documents how to do things but does not track live task completion, route approvals, or manage multi-step workflows.
• Organizations requiring a full LMS with SCORM/xAPI compliance, course catalogs, or formal certification management. Whale's training features are limited to flows, quizzes, and badges.
• Solo users or teams of 1-3 people. The free plan caps at 5 users with limited AI tokens and no export. Paid plans start at $99/mo for 10 seats, which is expensive per-head for very small teams.
• Teams needing advanced document formatting. Reviewers note the editor is simpler than Word. Diagram creation requires Advance at $699/mo. Uploaded .docx files sometimes need reformatting.

Operational Overview

Pricing Structure

Free: $0 (up to 5 users)

• AI-assisted documentation (trial tokens)
• Step Recorder and Screen Recorder
• Video to SOP Converter
• Checklists
• Google and Microsoft SSO
• Limited documentation capacity

Team: $99/month (billed yearly, 10 users included)

• 25 AI tokens/month
• User and group permissions (board level)
• Expert review cycles
• Custom branding
• Export to PDF
• Version history
• Additional users at $10/user/month (yearly) or $15/user/month (monthly)

Scale: $299/month (billed yearly, 25 users included)

• 75 AI tokens/month
• Training flows
• AI-generated quizzes
• User roles
• Badges and org chart
• Workspace activity insights
• Additional users at $12/user/month (yearly) or $18/user/month (monthly)

Advance: $699/month (billed yearly, 50 users included)

• Unlimited AI tokens
• AI Diagram Creator
• Export analytics to CSV
• Connect external sources to Alice
• Enforce SSO login
• Approval flows (coming soon)
• White glove onboarding services included
• Additional users at $14/user/month (yearly) or $20/user/month (monthly)

Enterprise: Custom pricing

• SCIM provisioning
• HRIS integrations
• API access for custom integrations
• BAA signed upon request (HIPAA)
• Redlining on MSA
• Unlimited workspaces
• Bulk rate discounts

Alternative Consideration

Consider switching to Slack: Slack offers similar communication features with a larger user base and more integrations.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Whale compare to Trainual for employee onboarding?

Whale focuses on SOP documentation with AI-powered capture (step recorder, screen recorder, video-to-SOP converter) and includes training flows with quizzes on Scale ($299/mo for 25 users) and above. Trainual specializes in structured onboarding with role-based assignments, interactive org charts, e-signatures, and completion dependencies. Trainual no longer publishes pricing but third-party sources estimate ~$249/mo for 10 users with a $1,000 implementation fee. Whale has a free plan for up to 5 users and its Alice AI assistant answers employee questions without consuming tokens. Trainual does not offer a free tier.

Does Whale have a flowchart or diagram feature?

The AI Diagram Creator is available on the Advance plan ($699/mo) and Enterprise. It is not included on Free, Team ($99/mo), or Scale ($299/mo). Multiple Capterra and G2 reviewers have requested flowchart support for visualizing complex procedures. Teams on lower plans who need process flow diagrams would need to create them externally and embed images into their Whale cards.

What are Whale's AI token limits and how do they work?

AI tokens are workspace-level credits (shared across all users, not per-seat) that reset monthly on paid plans. Team gets 25 tokens/mo, Scale gets 75, and Advance/Enterprise get unlimited. Tokens are consumed by AI procedure drafting, quiz generation, and video-to-SOP conversion. Alice, the conversational AI assistant, does not use tokens. The free plan includes a one-time trial allocation. Teams that rely heavily on AI content generation may find the Team plan's 25 monthly tokens limiting.

Can Whale import existing SOPs from Word or Google Docs?

Yes. Whale supports importing documents from Word (.docx) and Google Drive. Imported files are converted into editable Whale cards that preserve the original structure and layout. However, several reviewers on G2 and Capterra note that .docx formatting does not always carry over cleanly and may require manual cleanup. Google Drive and OneDrive integrations are available on all plans including Free.

Where does Whale store data and is it GDPR compliant?

During account setup, you choose between two data center locations: Belgium (EU, GDPR compliant) or Iowa (US). Both locations are SOC 2 Type II certified. Whale acts as a data processor under GDPR, meaning the customer (data controller) determines what data is stored and how it is used. HIPAA readiness with a signed BAA is available on the Enterprise plan. The legal entity is Whale BV, a Belgian company (BE 0698.913.308) headquartered in Ghent.

Does Whale work on mobile devices?

Yes. Whale has native iOS and Android apps. The mobile app supports browsing SOPs, running checklists, and asking Alice questions. QR codes can be printed and placed on equipment or workstations so employees can scan and access the relevant SOP from their phone. Reviewers on the App Store describe the mobile app as useful for quick SOP lookups and asking Alice instead of interrupting colleagues.

How does Whale handle analytics and reporting?

Knowledge usage insights are available on Team ($99/mo) and above. Workspace activity and team performance insights require Scale ($299/mo) or higher. Analytics show which SOPs are viewed, who has completed assigned training, and where knowledge gaps exist. CSV export of analytics data is only available on Advance ($699/mo). A common G2 reviewer complaint is that extracting analytics in a format useful for prioritization can be challenging.

Is Whale suitable for franchises or multi-location businesses?

Yes. Whale is used by franchise networks and multi-location businesses including Johnstone Supply and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. QR codes bring SOPs to physical workstations. The mobile app provides access from warehouses and service counters. Public sharing lets you distribute procedures to external partners without workspace access. Custom branding is available on Team and above. For franchises running on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), Whale offers dedicated templates and certified consultant partners.

AI Visibility Report

How AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, others) read this review page in the past 7 days. Updated weekly. View Whale AI Visibility Report.