MarkLayer

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Guides

All guidesHow MarkLayer works, in plain EnglishWebsite feedback tools in 2026, twenty-one comparedHow to annotate a website, four waysHow to annotate a PDF for freeHow to annotate an image or screenshotThe best free website annotation tools in 2026, auditedCollecting website feedback without making anyone log inThe Markup.io price hike: what changed and what it costs nowMCP servers for bug reports and visual feedback, comparedGive your AI coding agent visual feedback from a live webpageSending MarkLayer annotations to Jira, Linear, Slack and moreOpen-source website annotation tools in 2026

Use cases

All use casesHow to get client feedback on a staging site without asking them to install anythingPoint an AI coding agent at a UI element on your local dev serverMarkLayer for Design ReviewMarkLayer for QA Bug ReportingMarkLayer for Client FeedbackMarkLayer for Remote TeamsMarkLayer for StudentsMarkLayer for EducatorsMarkLayer for ResearchersMarkLayer for Content CreatorsMarkLayer for MarketersMarkLayer for AgenciesMarkLayer for Freelance Web DesignersMarkLayer for Product Teams

Compare

All comparisonsMarkup.io review: MarkLayer is a free Markup.io alternativePastel vs MarkLayer: a free Pastel alternativeBugHerd vs MarkLayer: a free BugHerd alternativeAnnotateWeb vs MarkLayer: a free AnnotateWeb alternativeJam.dev vs MarkLayer: a free Jam.dev alternativeMarker.io vs MarkLayer: a free Marker.io alternativeUserback vs MarkLayer: a free Userback alternativeRuttl vs MarkLayer: a free Ruttl alternativeLoom vs MarkLayer: a free Loom alternativeHypothesis vs MarkLayer: a free Hypothesis alternativeUsersnap vs MarkLayer: a free Usersnap alternativestagewise vs MarkLayer: a free stagewise alternativeVolley vs MarkLayer: a free Volley alternativeSuperflow vs MarkLayer: a free Superflow alternativeFeedbucket vs MarkLayer: a free Feedbucket alternativeFigma vs MarkLayerHuddlekit vs MarkLayer: a free Huddlekit alternativeAtarim vs MarkLayer: a free Atarim alternativezipBoard vs MarkLayer: a free zipBoard alternativeWebvizio vs MarkLayer: a free Webvizio alternativeBugSmash vs MarkLayer: a free BugSmash alternativeYbug vs MarkLayer: a free Ybug alternativeSureFeedback vs MarkLayer: a free SureFeedback alternativeSimpleCommenter vs MarkLayer: a free SimpleCommenter alternativePageProofer vs MarkLayer: a free PageProofer alternative

Alternatives

All alternativesFree Markup.io alternative: 5 tools comparedFree Pastel alternativesFree AnnotateWeb alternativesFree Jam.dev alternativesThe best free Marker.io alternative, plus 3 more picksFree Userback alternativesFree Hypothesis alternativesBugHerd free alternative: 4 picks, 3 that cost nothingFree Ruttl alternativesFree Usersnap alternativesFree stagewise alternativesFree Loom alternativesThe closest free Huddlekit alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free SureFeedback alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free Atarim alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free Feedbucket alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free PageProofer alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free Superflow alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free Ybug alternative, plus 3 more picksThe closest free SimpleCommenter alternative, plus 3 more picks

The closest free SureFeedback alternative, plus 3 more picks

By Dean Rusin · Last updated: October 2026

MarkLayer, which I build, is the closest free SureFeedback alternative: paste a URL, annotate the live page, share a link, no account on either side and no script on the site. SureFeedback, formerly ProjectHuddle, has no free plan. Cloud starts at $199 for the first year and renews at $299, and the self-hosted WordPress plugin starts at $99. Atarim, BugHerd and Pastel are the paid routes if you need what those plans buy.

Bottom line

MarkLayer replaces SureFeedback's core job, visual feedback on a live page shared by link, for free and without a script on the client's site. It does not replace private team-only comments, page approvals, mockup review or feedback stored on your own WordPress server. Atarim, BugHerd and Pastel each cover part of that gap, at a price.

On this page

SureFeedback alternatives compared

OptionPriceBest for
MarkLayerCloud: Starter $199 first year then $299 (5 sites), Professional $349 then $499 (20 sites), Business $699 then $999 (unlimited). Self-hosted: $99-$199/year for 1 to 5 dashboard sitesAnyone who wants SureFeedback's live-page review without the yearly bill, and teams reviewing together in real time.
AtarimFree (1 project, one site, 200 credits one time); Pro $67/mo billed monthly, 20% off yearly; Enterprise by quoteWordPress agencies that want white-labelled client feedback and will use the AI maintenance agents too.
BugHerdNo free plan. Standard $50/month (5 members); extra seats $8 eachQA teams that need feedback to land in a tracker and stay in sync, and have the budget.
PastelFree plan (1 user, 1 canvas); Pro $29–35/month; Team from $99/month + $24 per extra seatAgencies that want a client-facing review workspace that is not tied to WordPress.

Prices as published by each vendor, checked August 2026, and read from each tool's owncomparison page. "Not tracked" means there is no comparison page for that option yet, so no price is quoted for it here.

Top free SureFeedback alternatives

1. MarkLayer

Free and open source, with nothing to install for a public page: paste any URL at marklayer.app, annotate the live page with drawings, comments, arrows and highlights, then share a link. There is no site count, no mockup count and no renewal. Live cursors and a peer-to-peer voice or video call run in the same room, a kanban board sorts threads by status, and every share link is also an MCP server, so Claude Code or Cursor can watch the room, resolve threads and leave annotations of their own. A page behind a login needs the free browser extension, in each reviewer's own signed-in tab. An unclaimed link is deleted 90 days after its last activity; claiming it with the free account stops that clock.

2. Atarim

The paid tool closest to SureFeedback's agency shape, and the one most WordPress agencies will look at next. Comments pin to elements on the live site and become tasks with a screenshot, there is a WordPress plugin, a Chrome extension and a Guest Mode, and the client workspace carries your brand. The product is now sold as an AI web agency, with six AI specialists doing maintenance and content on client sites. Free is one project on one site with 200 one-time credits. Pro is $67 a month billed monthly, 20% off yearly, with up to 100 seats and 1,000 projects.

3. BugHerd

A visual bug tracker rather than a review tool: every pinned comment becomes a task on a built-in kanban board, with browser, OS and resolution captured automatically and Jira, Asana, Linear and ClickUp sync on the top tier. There is no free plan. Standard is $50 a month, or $42 billed yearly, for five members and unlimited client users. Private team commenting and custom branding sit on Premium at $150 a month.

4. Pastel

Agency client review with persistent canvases per client, version history and branded review pages, with Trello, Asana, Jira, ClickUp and Monday integrations on Team. The free plan is one user and one active canvas. Pro is $35 a month, or $29 billed yearly, for two users and three active canvases; Team is $119 a month, or $99 yearly, for five users with extra seats at $24.

What SureFeedback sells and what it costs

SureFeedback is two products under one name. Cloud is a managed service: a script on each reviewed site loads the widget, and the agency pays by site count, $199 then $299 a year for five sites. The self-hosted plugin is a WordPress install you run yourself, priced by dashboard site, $99 then $119 for one. Both include private team-only comments, page approvals, a kanban board and mockup review on every plan. Neither has a free tier, and the renewal is higher than the first-year price on every plan.

The head-to-head with SureFeedback goes row by row. This page is for choosing between the alternatives.

Which one fits which job

MarkLayer is the free replacement for the part most people use: annotate a live page, share a link, collect comments. It adds live cursors and an in-room call, which SureFeedback does not advertise, and an agent on every link. It gives up private comments, per-page approvals, mockups and the WordPress-hosted data.

Atarim is the nearest paid match for a WordPress agency: branded client workspace, plugin and extension, comments that become tasks with screenshots. Most of its $67 now pays for AI agents that maintain client sites, so it is a different purchase than SureFeedback's $199. BugHerd is a bug tracker with a client-facing board, and its private commenting needs the $150 tier. Pastel is the agency review workspace for teams not on WordPress.

If the thing you would pay SureFeedback for is feedback stored inside your own WordPress database, nothing here replaces it, and the plugin at $99 is a fair price.

Sources

Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page, read on 11 October 2026:

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest free SureFeedback alternative?
MarkLayer, for the live-page comments SureFeedback's Cloud plan collects, without the site cap and without a script pasted before the closing body tag. For private comments, page approvals and mockup review, none of the free options match SureFeedback, and the paid tools above are the honest comparison.
How much does SureFeedback cost?
Per its pricing pages on 11 October 2026: Cloud Starter is $199 for the first year and renews at $299, for 5 sites and 5 mockups. Professional is $349 then $499 for 20 sites, and Business is $699 then $999 for unlimited sites. The self-hosted WordPress plugin is $99 for the first year then $119 for one dashboard site, $139 then $159 for three, and $169 then $199 for five. Cloud has a 7-day trial and both carry a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Does SureFeedback have a free plan?
No. Cloud has a 7-day trial covering one site and 50 invited users, and the plugin has a 7-day refund window. After that every plan is paid yearly.
Can clients comment on SureFeedback without an account?
Yes. Its pricing FAQ says guests comment without logging in. The account is on the agency side: whoever sets up the project needs a workspace, and the site needs the script or the connector plugin. On MarkLayer neither side needs an account and nothing goes on the site.
Which of these keep feedback on my own server?
SureFeedback's self-hosted plugin stores every comment in your own WordPress database, which is its main reason to exist. MarkLayer is Apache-2.0 open source and can run on your own Cloudflare account, which is data ownership on a different stack. Atarim, BugHerd and Pastel do not offer a self-hosted option on their pricing pages.
Which ones connect to an AI coding agent?
MarkLayer: every share link answers MCP with nothing installed, free, and the agent can watch, resolve, reply, create annotations and suggest text edits. SureFeedback lists an MCP server for Cloud accounts with an API key. Atarim has one hosted MCP per workspace behind OAuth. BugHerd's is in beta, and Pastel does not advertise one.

Try MarkLayer

Paste any URL at marklayer.app and annotate the live page in your browser. No install, no account, no sign-up. Recipients of your share links don't need to install anything either.

Annotate a page

Or add the free Chrome extension for sites the web app cannot embed, such as pages behind a login.