A Dynamics 365 Guides Alternative Before End of Support on December 31, 2026

Dynamics 365 Guides did useful work. Authors built step-by-step instructions with images, video and 3D holograms in a PC app, pinned them to the real workspace on a HoloLens, and operators followed them hands-free. Plenty of plants built training programs on it.

Those programs need somewhere to go. Microsoft says the apps stop functioning after December 31, 2026, which as of September 2026 is under four months away. The question is not whether to move, but what to move to and what to save first.

What Microsoft has announced about Dynamics 365 Guides end of support

• The date: Microsoft's lifecycle announcement states that Dynamics 365 Guides and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist reach end of support on December 31, 2026. Subscriptions could be purchased or renewed only until November 1, 2025.
• What stops: After December 31, 2026 the products receive no security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, or technical support. Microsoft says the apps will no longer be functional, and that the data will still be retained in their Dataverse environments.
• What Microsoft tells customers to do: Plan the transition, explore mixed reality apps on Microsoft Marketplace, export data from the Guides PC app, and, for certain Remote Assist scenarios, use spatial annotation in Microsoft Teams Mobile. The announcement names no Microsoft successor product.
• The headset: Microsoft's HoloLens 2 release notes state that HoloLens devices have not been manufactured since December 2024 and that monthly security servicing continues through December 2027. The software goes first; the headset follows about a year later.

Why teams look for a Dynamics 365 Guides alternative now

Most teams did not choose to leave. Three things shape which alternative makes sense.

• Guide content does not travel far on its own: Microsoft documents two ways to move content, and both stay inside Guides. A packaged guide is a read-only .guide file viewable only on HoloLens in operator mode. The Content Migration Tool copies content between Dataverse environments. We found no Microsoft tool that converts guides into another vendor's format, so the destination decides how much you rebuild.
• Holographic content was built for one device: Guides authors placed instruction cards and holograms in the workspace with the HoloLens app. Carrying that spatial layout to another device is real work, even when the 3D models survive. And with HoloLens no longer manufactured, the migration is also a hardware decision.
• A forced move is a chance to check the method: A guide records the clean path an author wrote down. What leaves with an experienced operator is the judgement between the steps: which machine runs rough, the sensor nobody trusts, the fault that looks like a different fault. That was never in the guide library, so migrating the library does not save it.

Dynamics 365 Guides migration checklist

Work through this while the apps still run. The Microsoft steps are sourced to Microsoft's own documentation; confirm the details for your tenant with Microsoft Support.

1. Inventory guides, owners and users: List every guide, its owner, the asset it covers, and who operates it. Microsoft's first recommended action is to identify the users and scenarios that rely on Guides.
2. Rank guides by real use: Guides stores usage in Dataverse tables, including Guide Session and Guide Session Step Visit, which records time spent on each step. Use the Guides Analytics Power BI templates to see which guides operators actually run, and retire the rest rather than migrating them.
3. Save the usage history you want to keep: Copy the session data you care about into your own reporting store while the apps still work. Microsoft says data will be retained in your Dataverse environments; confirm with Microsoft how long, and under what licensing, you can reach it.
4. Package the guides you need as archives: In the PC app, Package guide creates a read-only .guide file with a copy of all of a guide's content. Limits: 2 GB per package, 100 MB for 3D objects and other assets, no animated anchors. It opens only on HoloLens in operator mode, and packaged content is no longer protected by your environment's permissions, so check what it contains first.
5. Keep the source assets: Gather the original 3D models, images and videos from wherever they were created. Another platform can import those. It cannot open a .guide file.
6. Consolidate environments if you run more than one: The Content Migration Tool, a PowerShell script in public preview, copies guides, 3D objects, images, videos and object anchors between Dataverse environments, including across tenants and between commercial and GCC. Folders move separately through Power Platform export and import. Microsoft recommends backing up both environments first.
7. Capture what the guides never held: Before the people who wrote and ran your guides move on, record how they actually do the work, including the exceptions no step card covered. This step does not depend on which platform you choose, and it cannot be done later.
8. Plan Remote Assist calls separately: Check whether spatial annotations in Microsoft Teams mobile cover your expert calls. Microsoft requires at least one person on the call to hold a Dynamics 365 Field Service, Guides, or Remote Assist license, and the person sharing their space to use an ARCore or ARKit phone or tablet.
9. Choose the platform, then the hardware: Pick the destination platform first and let it drive the device choice, so you migrate once.
10. Run old and new side by side before the cut-off: Move your highest-use guides first and run them on the destination while Guides still works. After December 31, 2026 there is nothing to fall back to.

Dynamics 365 Guides alternatives: migration paths, ranked

No single product covers everything Guides did. The right path depends on what your team used it for: holographic instructions, authored step-by-step work, remote expert calls, or keeping hold of how experienced people do the job. Vendor descriptions come from each vendor's own pages, accessed September 2026.

1. Bob by Mission Control: best for capturing expert judgement from real work

Bob is Mission Control's wearable capture device and data service. An experienced worker who opts in wears the chest-mounted unit through a real job or shift. It records first-person video, audio narration, and spatial data (the unit's location and orientation in your facility) while the worker does the job and talks through what they are doing and why. There is no staged demonstration, no author, and no review cycle between the work and the record of it. Recordings land in your own cloud tenancy, where captured knowledge can be run and governed by synthetic workers on Swarm. A version with a volumetric spatial sensor instead of a camera is available.

Bob's limits, stated plainly: it does not import guides, display holographic instructions, author procedures, run checklists, or place remote expert calls. It ranks first for a different reason. Guides can be archived and rebuilt elsewhere. The judgement of the people who wrote and ran them cannot be rebuilt once they have moved on. See capture on the floor for manufacturing and energy teams.

2. Altoura Frontline: closest like-for-like move for existing guides

Altoura markets a migration for Dynamics 365 Guides customers. It says procedures, 3D assets and steps migrate automatically, that authors keep the same authoring UI as Guides, and that it runs on iOS, Android, desktop, HMS SiNGRAY and HoloLens 2, available through Azure Marketplace. Pricing is not published. Best for teams with a well-used guide library that want it running again with the fewest changes.

3. PTC Vuforia Expert Capture: AR instructions with CAD-based inspection

PTC describes Vuforia Expert Capture as SaaS AR software for capturing expert knowledge and using 3D CAD to create interactive work instructions and AI-enhanced inspection. Its help center lists capture on HoloLens 2, Trimble XR10 and RealWear Navigator 500 and 520, with viewing on iOS and Android phones and tablets. Best for plants with good CAD data that want AR overlays and inspection. For the full picture, read our Vuforia Expert Capture alternative page.

4. TeamViewer Frontline: smart-glasses workflows and remote assistance

TeamViewer describes Frontline as industrial augmented reality, with modules for picking, assembly, inspection, remote assistance and training. It supports industrial smart glasses, smart scanners and mobile computers. Best for teams that used Guides and Remote Assist together and want guided workflows plus expert calls from one vendor.

5. Dozuki: authored digital work instructions without a headset

Dozuki's CreatorPro AI turns narrated shop-floor videos into step-by-step instructions and converts PDF, PowerPoint and Word files into editable guides. Pricing is available on request. Best for teams ready to leave holograms behind for screen-based instructions. See Mission Control vs Dozuki.

6. DeepHow: AI video instructions recorded on a phone

In DeepHow, experts record processes in its mobile app. AI splits the video into steps, adds captions, and translates into 60+ languages, and every video goes through structured review and approval with human validation. Pricing is available on request. Best for teams that want video instructions with a formal approval step. See the DeepHow alternative page.

7. Myto: AI glasses capture with published pricing

Myto captures knowledge through AI glasses while operators keep working, and turns it into video SOPs and troubleshooting flows. Its pricing page lists Core at $100 per seat per month billed annually, or $120 billed monthly, with glasses priced on request (as of September 2026). Best for teams that want glasses-based capture and a published per-seat price. See the Myto alternative page.

8. Microsoft Teams Mobile spatial annotations: some Remote Assist calls

For remote expert calls, Microsoft points to spatial annotations in Teams mobile: a phone or tablet user shares their space and others on the call place 3D arrows and drawings in it. It is not a work-instruction tool. Best for teams whose Remote Assist use was mostly ad hoc calls.

Also worth a look for broader frontline programs: Augmentir, which offers no-code authoring tools, a workflow builder and industrial AR experiences, and Tulip, which turns SOPs, photos and videos into apps connected to machines and ERP systems. See the Augmentir alternative and Tulip alternative pages.

Dynamics 365 Guides vs Bob, side by side

Who should choose an AR guide replacement (and who should choose Bob)

If your guides are in daily use, you need a platform that runs authored instructions, and Bob is not that platform.

Choose an AR or work-instruction replacement, such as Altoura, Vuforia Expert Capture or TeamViewer Frontline, if:

• Operators need instructions in their field of view, anchored to the equipment.
• You have a well-used guide library and want it running again with the least rework.
• Your content depends on 3D models, holograms, or remote expert calls.
• You rely on step timing and completion data like the Guides Analytics reports.

Choose Bob if:

• The people who wrote or ran your guides are the knowledge at risk, and you want their judgement captured during real work.
• Many tasks never made it into a guide because authoring took too long.
• You would rather not tie your next capture program to a headset decision.
• Recordings must land in your own cloud tenancy, or cameras are a problem on your site.

Many Guides teams will want both: a replacement platform for the guides operators follow every day, and Bob for the knowledge that never made it into a guide. For the method question underneath, read AR work instructions vs wearable capture and work instructions vs SOPs.

How moving from Dynamics 365 Guides to Bob works

Bob is not a destination for .guide files, so this is not a port. Migrate the guides you still use to the platform you choose, and point Bob at the work those guides never covered. A 90-day pilot started now runs past December 31, 2026, so plan it alongside the guide migration rather than as a stopgap for it.

1. Request a pilot: Use the Pilot Bob form or book a call with Mission Control. A Bob pilot is a 90-day fixed-length trial in your facility.
2. Set up your tenancy: Mission Control ships a case of 2 Bob units, and your IT team installs the data platform in your own cloud tenancy with Mission Control's support.
3. Capture real work: Start with the experienced workers behind your most-used guides, if they opt in. They wear Bob through their normal jobs, with nothing to stage and nothing to author. Judge the pilot on the recordings.

Captured knowledge lands in your own environment, where it can be run and governed by synthetic workers on Swarm. Start at Pilot Bob.

References

Microsoft and vendor pages accessed September 14, 2026.

• Microsoft Lifecycle: Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist reaching end of support on December 31, 2026
• Microsoft Learn: HoloLens 2 release notes
• Microsoft Learn: Welcome to Dynamics 365 Guides
• Microsoft Learn: Package a guide in Dynamics 365 Guides
• Microsoft Learn: Content Migration Tool (Public Preview) for Dynamics 365 Guides
• Microsoft Learn: Analyzing and integrating Dynamics 365 Guides usage data
• Microsoft Learn: Spatial annotations through Microsoft Teams mobile
• Altoura: Migrate Dynamics 365 Guides to Altoura Frontline
• PTC: Vuforia Expert Capture product page
• PTC Help Center: Supported devices, operating systems, and browsers
• TeamViewer: Frontline
• TeamViewer: Frontline supported hardware
• Dozuki: CreatorPro AI
• DeepHow: Platform, video capture and review
• Myto: Home page
• Myto: Pricing
• Augmentir: Home page
• Tulip: Home page