What is the best free Markup.io alternative?

MarkLayer covers the core Markup.io use case (visual feedback on live websites with link-based sharing) for free, with no sign-up. For agency project workflows, paid tools like Pastel or BugHerd remain stronger.

Why might someone leave Markup.io?

The 2025 pricing change is the big one: the free plan was discontinued and Pro moved from $29 to $79 per month. Other common reasons: mandatory sign-ups, one workspace on the Pro plan, and wanting a tool that works on the actual live page instead of an imported snapshot.

Can my annotations be locked behind a bill later?

Not on MarkLayer. There is no account to suspend and no plan to lapse, so nothing can be put behind a paywall retroactively. What does apply is a time limit: annotations are cleaned up 90 days after their last activity, and any comment or view resets that clock. You can keep your own copy at any time: download the annotations as Markdown from the viewer, or fetch the raw JSON from the public API at marklayer.app/api/{id}. The whole thing is open source, so the code that stores your data is on GitHub.

Are these tools open source?

MarkLayer and Hypothesis are open source. The others are commercial SaaS products.

MarkLayer

Free Markup.io alternatives

By Vadym Rusin · Last updated: April 2026

Looking for a free Markup.io alternative? Markup.io discontinued its free tier and moved Pro from $29 to $79 per month, and a lot of teams are shopping around. Below are the strongest options as of August 2026, ranked by how cleanly they replace the core Markup.io workflow: visual feedback on live websites with link-based sharing.

Bottom line

MarkLayer is the closest free, no-sign-up replacement for Markup.io if all you need is visual feedback on live pages. PageProofer, BugHerd, and Pastel are paid options that add agency workflow features. Hypothesis is free but text-only.

Markup.io alternatives compared

Option	Price	Best for
MarkLayer	Free. No tiers, no seats	Anyone who wants the core Markup.io use case (live webpage feedback) without sign-up or fees.
PageProofer	Not tracked	Teams already comfortable with a paid SaaS workflow.
BugHerd	No free plan. Standard $50/month (5 members); extra seats $8 each	Teams that need full bug-tracking workflow, not just feedback.
Pastel	Free plan (1 user, 1 canvas); Pro $29–35/month; Team from $99/month + $24 per extra seat	Agencies running structured client review cycles.
Hypothesis	Free	Scholarly or text-heavy annotation, not UI feedback.

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 Markup.io alternatives

1. MarkLayer

Free and open source, with nothing to install. Paste any URL at marklayer.app, annotate the live page with drawings, comments, arrows, and highlights, then share a link. Recipients need no install and no account. Real-time live cursors. There is no paid tier to upgrade to. Annotations are cleaned up 90 days after their last activity, and any comment or view resets that clock.

2. PageProofer

Visual feedback on staging sites with sticky-note style comments. Has a free trial; paid plans for teams.

3. BugHerd

Visual bug tracker with a Kanban board and integrations into Jira, GitHub, Trello, and Asana. Paid only.

4. Pastel

Polished visual-feedback platform for agency client review. Free plan is limited to 1 canvas; paid plans from $29/month.

5. Hypothesis

Free, open-source text annotation layer. Best for academic and research-style annotation, not visual feedback.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free Markup.io alternative?: MarkLayer covers the core Markup.io use case (visual feedback on live websites with link-based sharing) for free, with no sign-up. For agency project workflows, paid tools like Pastel or BugHerd remain stronger.
Why might someone leave Markup.io?: The 2025 pricing change is the big one: the free plan was discontinued and Pro moved from $29 to $79 per month. Other common reasons: mandatory sign-ups, one workspace on the Pro plan, and wanting a tool that works on the actual live page instead of an imported snapshot.
Can my annotations be locked behind a bill later?: Not on MarkLayer. There is no account to suspend and no plan to lapse, so nothing can be put behind a paywall retroactively. What does apply is a time limit: annotations are cleaned up 90 days after their last activity, and any comment or view resets that clock. You can keep your own copy at any time: download the annotations as Markdown from the viewer, or fetch the raw JSON from the public API at marklayer.app/api/{id}. The whole thing is open source, so the code that stores your data is on GitHub.
Are these tools open source?: MarkLayer and Hypothesis are open source. The others are commercial SaaS products.

Related comparisons

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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.