BubbleNote vs Pastel
Same visual feedback workflow. Simpler setup. Lower price.
BubbleNote
Paid plans from $19/mo
- Unlimited team members
- Unlimited projects & sites
- Unlimited page views
- No credit card required
Pastel
Up to $450/mo
- Free plan: 72-hour commenting window per canvas
- Per-user pricing ($24–45/user/mo on higher plans)
Side by side
A quick look at the details that matter for scaling teams.
Free Tier
Unlimited Team Members
Starting Price
One-Script Install
Built-in Kanban Board
Branding Removal
| BubbleNote | Pastel | |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | 72-hour window | |
| Unlimited Team Members | ||
| Starting Price | Free | $35/mo |
| One-Script Install | ||
| Built-in Kanban Board | ||
| Branding Removal | $99/mo | Paid plans |
The BubbleNote difference
Setup in 60 seconds
One script tag. No extensions, plugins, or onboarding calls.
Modern & beautiful
A clean, intuitive UI that your team will actually enjoy using.
No limits that matter
Unlimited team members, projects, sites, and page views on every plan.
What Pastel does well
Credit where it's due.
- Easy for non-technical clients — just share a link, no login needed
- Zero installation — works entirely through a proxy URL
- Clean, intuitive interface with a low learning curve
Where teams hit friction
Common pain points we hear from teams switching to BubbleNote.
- Free plan limits commenting to a 72-hour window per canvas
- No annotation tools — only pin-style click-to-comment, no drawing or arrows
- No built-in task management or Kanban board
- Per-user pricing ($24–45/user/mo on higher plans) scales expensively for agencies
Why teams switch from Pastel to BubbleNote
Pastel makes it easy to share a link for website review. Its zero-install, proxy-based approach means clients can start commenting immediately — a nice experience for non-technical stakeholders. The interface is clean and approachable.
The gaps show up when developer needs enter the picture. Pastel has no drawing or annotation tools — just pin-and-comment — so reporters can't circle a misaligned element or draw an arrow to a visual bug. Technical metadata capture is partial, and there's no built-in task management or Kanban board for organizing feedback. Everything has to be exported to an external PM tool.
The free plan's 72-hour commenting window creates artificial urgency that doesn't match real review cycles. A client review that takes a week — which is most of them — requires a paid plan. And once you're paying, the per-user pricing on higher plans ($24–45/user/month) scales painfully for agencies. A team of 10 on the Business plan is $450/month just for a feedback tool. Adding a contractor for a launch sprint means recalculating your plan.
The proxy-based approach also introduces reliability issues. There's no script tag install option — Pastel renders your site through its own proxy, which can break layouts, miss dynamic content, and fail on password-protected staging environments. Feedback is captured on a copy of your site, not the real thing.
BubbleNote bridges the gap between client-friendly simplicity and the technical depth developers need. The single script tag install is just as fast as sharing a Pastel link, but feedback is captured on your real site — not a proxied copy. You get annotation tools, full technical context (browser, OS, viewport, page URL), a built-in Kanban board, and a modern UI that's a pleasure to use. The free tier has no time limits, and every plan includes unlimited team members and unlimited projects — no per-user pricing math. Branding removal is $99/month with transparent pricing, not gated behind per-seat Enterprise plans.
Try BubbleNote Free
One script tag. Full technical context on every piece of feedback. No credit card required.
Start Free