Atarim, formerly known as WP Feedback, is a widely-used visual website collaboration and feedback tool. Many agencies are drawn to it for several reasons:
- It allows feedback submission on any website without requiring installation.
- It can also be used for collecting feedback on designs.
- It offers a kind of generous free plan.
However, despite its popularity within the agency world, particularly among WordPress agencies, it may not be the optimal choice for all web agencies. Here are a few reasons why:
- The tool is reported to be unreliable. During our testing, we encountered several bugs and issues. It's not just our experience - other users have raised similar concerns in Atarim reviews.
- Many agencies already use project management tools for their regular tasks and issues. Adding a separate tool for feedback management can lead to frequent context switching. While some workflow integrations exist, they don't provide complete two-way synchronization.
- The system can be confusing for clients. They need to view their website on a staging site and then switch to a separate tool to provide feedback and collaborate, which complicates the process.
Considering these factors, let's explore the top 5 Atarim alternatives that might better suit your agency's needs.
1. Feedbucket
First on our list is Feedbucket, our own tool. Developed by former web agency owners, Feedbucket addresses the challenges of collecting feedback from clients on new website builds.
Two key principles guided Feedbucket's creation:
- Most web agencies already use a project management tool. We believe your team should handle feedback in the same tools they use for other tasks.
- Easy to use, even for non-tech-savvy clients. We understand that not all clients are comfortable with technology. Providing feedback and collaborating on the review process should be straightforward to prevent clients from reverting back to unclear emails.
Let's first explore the second principle: how Feedbucket makes it easy for clients to submit feedback and collaborate.
The ease of use for clients starts with how you install the feedback tool. Website visual feedback tools like Atarim and Feedbucket typically use one of three installation methods:
- Browser extension
- Shareable link for submitting feedback (the most common method for Atarim)
- Script tag installed on the website
Each option has its pros and cons.
If you've worked with clients, you can probably imagine the challenge of getting them to install a browser extension. Plus, browser extensions limit feedback to desktop only. What about getting feedback on the mobile version?
A proxy solution (shareable link) like Atarim has its advantages. It allows you to submit feedback on live websites, or even websites you don't control, without having to install anything.
But it also means that your clients need to keep track of a separate platform and tool. Anyone who's worked with clients knows how tricky this can be sometimes.
That's why Feedbucket went with option 3, installing the script tag directly on the client's staging site.
This approach has several benefits, but the main one is that everything is on the client's staging site. They don't have to remember or keep track of any other tools. They just go to their staging site and start collaborating.
No extensions to download, no accounts to create, and no need to remember multiple URLs.
Submit feedback using screenshot or video without leaving the website
Once you've added the script tag to your client's website, they can submit feedback in two ways:
- With the screenshot feedback feature. This turns the website into an interactive canvas where clients can annotate and place comments exactly where they want to leave feedback.
- Using video recording. Clients can record with or without a microphone, all without having to install anything. It's like giving your clients Loom directly on the website.
Feedbucket automatically captures technical details like the page, browser, OS, and console errors with all feedback. This ensures your developers have all the information they need, cutting down on guesswork and back-and-forth communication.
Take a look below to see how straightforward it is to submit feedback.
Video feedback is particularly handy for explaining complex issues like bugs in forms or animations. It can really cut down on those "Let's hop on a call" meetings.
Keep in mind, even for video recording, clients don't need to download anything. Everything happens right in their browser.
Clients collaborate on feedback directly on the website
Submitting clear and understandable feedback is just the first step. But what happens when clients need to make follow-up comments or share files?
That's where the next phase of visual feedback tools comes in: the collaboration part.
Feedbucket embeds a guest portal directly on the client's staging site. Here, you can see all the feedback that's been submitted, sorted by resolved and unresolved status.
You can also collaborate using features like comments, tags, attachments, statuses, and more.
It might be hard to spot in the image below, but if you look next to the image of a person, you'll see a pin. Feedbucket places these pins where someone has submitted feedback. This greatly reduces duplicate feedback.
So, from a client's perspective, everything needed to submit understandable feedback and collaborate on that feedback is available right on their staging site.
In our view, this addresses the second item of our key principles: "Easy to use, even for non-tech-savvy clients".
Now, let's dive into the other key principle: how your team handles the feedback.
Manage website feedback in your existing tools
The second key principle guiding Feedbucket is "Most web agencies already use a project management tool." That's why we've made deep two-way integrations with popular project management tools a core feature of Feedbucket.
Our goal? Your team should be able to manage all aspects of feedback in the tools they're already using.
Here's how the first part of the two-way sync works. Changes on the website automatically sync over to your project management tool:
- Feedback submitted on the website flows directly into your PM tool as tasks, configured to your needs.
- Comments on that feedback is attached to the task that was created in your PM tool.
- When feedback is resolved on the website, the task is automatically marked as completed in your PM tool.
With Feedbucket, there's no need for manual export of tasks or setting up complex workflows. You simply connect Feedbucket to your project management tool and select the Project/List you want to sync with.
The second part of the two-way integration completes the link and allows your team to manage all feedback in the project management tool.
What if you need to ask a follow-up question about some feedback? With Feedbucket, you don't need to go to the client's staging site or a separate tool to add your comment. Your team can simply add a comment in your project management tool that starts with @feedbucket. This comment will sync over to Feedbucket and notify your client.
Comments without this prefix won't sync over, giving you control over what's shared.
When your team completes the feedback, they can mark it as Done in the PM tool. This action also syncs with Feedbucket, resolves the feedback, and notifies the client.
The two-way integration allows your team to manage all feedback directly from their current tools. This approach doesn't disrupt your existing workflow. Instead, it enhances it by improving feedback management within the tools you already use.
Feedbucket receives praise in TheAdminBar
Recently, a lively discussion about visual feedback tools took place in TheAdminBar, a popular Facebook group for WordPress agencies.
Many members mentioned Feedbucket, citing our core principles as the reasons for choosing our tool.
For example, see this comment from Dave:
While we're proud of the positive feedback, we encourage you to evaluate Feedbucket for yourself. We offer a 14-day free trial without requiring a credit card. You can set up and start using Feedbucket in about a minute, allowing you to experience how it integrates into your workflow.
Feedbucket Pricing
- Pro Plan: Priced at $39 per month, the Pro Plan allows you to use Feedbucket on unlimited projects and gather unlimited feedback, making it easy to collect and organize visual website feedback within your existing tools.
- Business Plan: Available for $89 per month, the Business Plan offers additional features such as console recording, custom branding with your own colors and logo, and several other advanced functionalities.
You can try Feedbucket yourself with a 14-day free trial, no credit card needed, to see the difference.
Atarim vs Feedbucket: At a Glance
| Atarim | Feedbucket | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Agencies, Hosting companies | Web agencies |
| Standalone tool | Can be with plugin | Yes |
| Price for web agency | $35 / month | $39 / month |
| Free trial | 14-days no credit card | 14-days no credit card |
| 2-way integrations | No | Yes |
2. MarkUp.io
MarkUp.io works in a similar way to Atarim, allowing you to submit feedback on any website without installing anything.
As we discussed with Atarim, this approach has a significant advantage. It lets your clients submit feedback on live sites. However, it also comes with similar drawbacks to Atarim.
If you just want to have an easy-to-use visual website feedback tool and not all the bells-and-whistles with time tracking and other features that Atarim offers, I think MarkUp.io can be a good choice for you.
You can submit feedback on over 30 different file types including websites, images, PDFs, videos, and more.
Features
- Provide feedback using screenshots or videos.
- Automatically includes tech info like browser type, screen size, and operating system.
- Connect with Zapier or Slack.
- Work together on feedback using comments and attachments.
Pros
- Gather feedback on websites, images, and PDFs.
- No need for website installation, allowing collaboration on live websites.
Cons
- Requires your team to use an additional platform for feedback.
- Submitting feedback from mobile devices isn't an option.
- Unable to capture screenshots on websites protected by Basic-Auth.
- Limited integrations to export feedback to your project management tool.
Pricing
MarkUp.io has a free version, but it's pretty basic. If you want to use it in your business you probably need the Pro plan at $29 a month. This makes MarkUp.io one of the more affordable alternative if you are OK with it's downsides.
Atarim vs. MarkUp.io: At a Glance
| Atarim | MarkUp.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Agencies, Hosting companies | Marketing-, digital-, creative agencies |
| Standalone tool | Can be with plugin | No |
| Price for agency | $35 / month | $29 / month |
| Free trial | 14-days no credit card | 30-days no credit card |
| 2-way integrations | No | No |
3. BugHerd
BugHerd has been around since 2011, so they've got a fair bit of experience under their belt.
They offer all the essentials you need to collect feedback and collaborate with clients directly on the website.
However, the main drawback is their lack of integrations, especially two-way ones.
BugHerd comes with a full-fledged project management tool built in so they want you to handle the feedback there. If your team isn't already using a PM tool, this might not be an issue. But for others, it might not make sense.
Another point to consider is the cost. BugHerd is quite a bit pricier than other options that offer similar features. It costs about three times as much as Feedbucket and twice as much as Marker.io, even though they provide comparable functionality.
Features
- Capture feedback directly on web pages through screenshots or recordings, including details like the webpage, browser, screen size, and OS.
- Discuss and collaborate on feedback using comments and attachments.
- Manage feedback with a Kanban board that includes all the common project management tools.
Pros
- Feedback locations are marked with pins to show where others have commented, helping to reduce duplicates.
- Clients collaborate directly on the page, avoiding the need for a separate guest portal.
Cons
- Attempts to serve as a complete project management solution, which might be redundant if you're already using one.
- Access to JavaScript installation or native integrations requires the pricier premium plan.
- Only a few integrations like Zapier, Asana, Jira, and ClickUp are available, and there are no two-way connections.
Pricing
BugHerd offers four pricing plans ranging from $39 to $229 a month. To avoid requiring your clients to download a browser extension, you'll need to choose the Premium plan, which costs $129 a month. This makes BugHerd three times more expensive than Feedbucket and twice as expensive as Marker.io, despite offering similar features.
Atarim vs. BugHerd: At a Glance
| Atarim | BugHerd | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Agencies, Hosting companies | Marketing- and web agencies, QA Teams |
| Standalone tool | Can be with plugin | Yes |
| Price for agency | $35 / month | $129 / month |
| Free trial | 14-days no credit card | 14-days no credit card |
| 2-way integrations | No | No |
4. SureFeedback
SureFeedback, formerly known as ProjectHuddle, is another tool that's gained popularity within the WordPress community, much like Atarim.
It's a solid option if you prefer to host all the feedback yourself. To use SureFeedback, you'll need your own WordPress site to serve as a central "Dashboard" for collecting and managing feedback from various projects. Keep in mind that setting this up might be a bit tricky and could require some help from a developer.
Once you've got your "Dashboard" up and running, connecting client sites is pretty straightforward using a WordPress plugin.
However, it's worth noting that there have been quite a few complaints about SureFeedback's reliability. In fact, there was a recent discussion about this in TheAdminBar, a popular Facebook group for WordPress Agencies.
Features
- Click on parts of the website to send feedback. It'll automatically include details like your browser, operating system, screen size, and device.
- Give feedback on different things like images, PDFs, files, and websites.
- Get a daily or weekly email roundup of all feedback.
- Make the feedback widget match your brand by changing its colors and adding your logo.
Pros
- Install on WordPress sites with a plugin.
- Clients can communicate and collaborate with you right on the website.
Cons
- Only a few integrations available. Currently only Slack and Zapier.
- Setup can be tricky and requires a hosted WordPress instance.
- Requires credit card for trial.
Pricing
On the surface, SureFeedback looks quite budget-friendly at $118 per year. However, remember you'll also need to cover the cost of hosting a WordPress instance and setting it up with your team, which adds to the expense and complexity.
Atarim vs. SureFeedback: At a Glance
| Atarim | SureFeedback | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Agencies, Hosting companies | Marketing- and web agencies, QA Teams |
| Standalone tool | Can be with plugin | Yes |
| Price for agency | $35 / month | $118 / year |
| Free trial | 14-days no credit card | 14-days with credit card |
| 2-way integrations | No | No |
5. Marker.io
Last but not least is Marker.io. It's a tool that allows you to collect website feedback from both your clients and team members.
Marker.io is more focused on bug tracking for internal teams, and that's where features like network logging and session recording really shine.
One standout feature is the ability to show different widgets to team members and clients. This means your team can set priorities and assign tasks - things you probably wouldn't want clients doing.
However, Marker.io has a few drawbacks when it comes to client feedback. Clients need to create an account and log into a separate feedback portal to collaborate. It would be more user-friendly if this portal were built right into the website.
Another limitation is that Marker.io doesn't support video feedback. Some bugs or animation issues can be tricky to explain with just text and screenshots.
Features
- Capture feedback with annotated screenshots, including automatic page, browser, and device details.
- Record JavaScript errors and network activity.
- Provide session replay to show steps leading to bug reports.
Pros
- Customize widget separately for team and clients.
- Connect two-way with over 15 popular project management tools.
Cons
- No video feedback option available.
- Require client account creation for collaboration on guest portal.
- Support response was less than ideal when I needed assistance.
Pricing
Marker.io has two pricing options: $59 and $149 per month. The Starter Plan at $59 a month includes all basic tools for managing client feedback. For additional features like session replay and console log tracking, the Team plan at $149 a month is available.
Atarim vs Marker.io: At a Glance
| Atarim | Marker.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Agencies, Hosting companies | Web agencies, QA teams |
| Standalone tool | Can be with plugin | Yes |
| Price for web agency | $35 / month | $59 / month |
| Free trial | 14-days no credit card | 14-days no credit card |
| 2-way integrations | No | Yes |
Next Steps: Choosing the Best Atarim Alternative for Your Company
In this article, we have explored the top 5 alternatives to Atarim for web agencies.
If you're an agency building websites for clients, we recommend trying Feedbucket's free 14-day trial (no credit card required) for these reasons:
- Feedbucket was created by former agency owners who understand the challenges of getting client feedback and have focused on solving this problem.
- It's designed to integrate with your existing project management tools, improving your feedback process without disrupting your current workflow.
- Feedbucket keeps everything on the website for your client. No extensions to install or accounts to create - just easy feedback.
Are you ready to enhance your website feedback process? Start your free 14-day Feedbucket trial today, with no upfront credit card required.
