Jam is for reporting a defect with evidence; Pastel is for client approval of a design. Jam captures console, network and a two minute replay, free for 30 recordings a month, then $14 per creator a month billed yearly. Pastel layers comments over a live site, PDFs and emails, with unlimited guest reviewers on every plan.
A browser extension and an iOS app that turn what just happened into a shareable object carrying console logs, network requests and user events, aimed at handing it to a coding agent.
A review and approval tool for creative work, layering comments over a live site through its own proxy as well as over PDFs, emails and uploaded images.
Jam is a capture tool for the people building the software. A Chrome extension, an iOS app or a shared Recording Link turns the last moments in a browser into an object carrying console logs, network requests, user events and device data, with an MCP server that writes as well as reads and an AI that drafts the reproduction steps. The free plan covers 30 Jams a month with recordings up to 5 minutes; Team is $14 per creator a month billed yearly, and viewers are free and unlimited.
Pastel is built for approving creative work rather than fixing it. It layers comments over a live website through its own proxy, with nothing to install on the site, and over PDFs, emails, uploaded images and uploaded video. Free Forever carries one user and one active canvas with unlimited guest reviewers; Pro is $35 a month or $29 billed annually for two users and three active canvases. It captures no console logs, no network requests and no session replay, and its MCP server has the agent make the change and resolve the comment itself.
Jam PastelEvery claim about Jam and Pastel comes from each vendor's own public materials, read on 13 September 2026. Products change; check each vendor's site before deciding. Pending cells are unresearched, not zero.
The third option
Notarus is for the case where a Pastel review round has turned into a bug queue. A widget on the live page takes the report from the client with no account and no install, and attaches what Pastel does not capture and Jam captures only for its own users: session replay recorded server side, console logs, network requests and the environment, on the free plan with unlimited seats and 5 projects. A named client access follows the project with its own key and never uses a seat.
It reviews no files. There is no PDF, no email, no image and no Figma canvas; a live web page is the only surface, and the widget has to be on it, which Pastel's proxy avoids. It has no mobile SDK, no browser extension, no desktop recording and no Intercom or Zendesk integration.
Every plan's price is on the pricing page, the SAML tier included.
Not in the sense Jam is. Pastel collects comments and approvals on creative work, and its site states it captures no console logs, no network requests and no session replay. Jam exists to capture exactly those three and hand them to whoever fixes the bug.
No. Jam records what happens in a browser tab or on the desktop, from a Chrome extension or an iOS app. Pastel reviews PDFs, emails, uploaded images and uploaded video as canvases beside a live website.
Both start free, and the shapes differ. Pastel's free plan is one user and one active canvas with unlimited guest reviewers, and Pro is $35 a month or $29 billed annually for two users and three canvases. Jam's free plan is 30 recordings a month for five creators, and Team is $14 per creator a month billed yearly with viewers free. A studio paying per client review will read Pastel's canvas count; a team paying per engineer will read Jam's creator count.
Yes, and they point in different directions. Jam's reads a recording's logs and requests and writes comments, folders and Recording Links. Pastel describes its agent reading a new comment, making the change in the codebase, replying with what it did and resolving the comment, and names Cursor, Claude and ChatGPT.
Both do, and only on their Enterprise tiers. Pastel publishes the figure: SAML is on Enterprise at $450 a month from 10 users. Jam lists SAML on Enterprise and prices it on request, so the amount is a conversation rather than a number on the page. Neither free plan carries it, nor Pastel's Pro at $29 a month billed annually, nor Jam's Team at $14 per creator a month billed yearly. Notarus, the third option, publishes the price of its SAML tier on its pricing page.
Notarus vs Jam Jam alternatives Pastel alternatives
BugHerd vs Jam BugHerd vs Pastel
Feedbucket vs Jam Feedbucket vs Pastel
Gleap vs Jam Gleap vs Pastel 
Jam vs Marker.io 
Jam vs Ruttl 
Jam vs Userback 
Jam vs Usersnap 
Jam vs Ybug Marker.io vs Pastel Pastel vs Ruttl Pastel vs Userback Pastel vs Usersnap Pastel vs Ybug
Markup.io vs Pastel5 projects and unlimited seats, session replay included. No card.
