Pastel is for getting a design signed off; Userback for a bug report with the browser's evidence attached. Pastel comments over a live site through its proxy, free with unlimited guest reviewers, capturing no console, network or replay. Userback starts free for two seats and reaches session replay and developer tools at Business, $79 billed annually.
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.
A feedback platform with a four-step ladder, opening up AI insights, replay and mobile SDKs as a team moves up it.
Pastel is a review and approval tool for creative work. It layers comments over a live website through its own proxy, so nothing is installed on the site, and takes the same comments on PDFs, emails, uploaded images and uploaded video. It counts users and active canvases, one on Free Forever and three on Pro at $35 a month or $29 billed annually, and stops counting canvases on Team. Guest reviewers are unlimited on every plan, its MCP server describes an agent that makes the change and resolves the comment, and it captures no console logs, no network requests and no session replay.
Userback is a feedback platform built around a widget, with a four-step ladder. Free Forever carries two seats and two projects and keeps feedback visible for seven days. Team adds five seats, five projects and MCP connectors for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor. Business adds session replay, the developer tools that capture console and network activity, AI insights and sentiment, and 25 projects. Business Plus adds a mobile SDK and 50 projects. Intercom and Zendesk are among its integrations.
Pastel UserbackEvery claim about Pastel and Userback 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 does Userback's job without the ladder and none of Pastel's. Session replay, console logs, network requests and the environment arrive with every report on the free plan, with unlimited seats and 5 projects, and a named client access follows the project with its own key without ever being a member. Every panel action is also an MCP tool as a shipping rule.
There is no canvas: no PDF, no email, no image, no uploaded video, and no proxy, so the widget must be on the page. There is no mobile SDK, which Userback has on Business Plus, and no Intercom or Zendesk integration, which Userback has on its list. A creative team approving a campaign should stay with Pastel.
All three prices are on the pricing page, with SAML on the top one rather than on request.
No. Pastel approves creative work: a comment over a live page, a PDF, an email or an image says what should change, and it captures no console logs, no network requests and no session replay. Userback collects feedback and bug reports through a widget and, from its Business plan, attaches session replay and the console and network logs a developer needs.
For approvals, Pastel's: one user, one active canvas and unlimited guest reviewers, with no clock. For bug reports, Userback's: two seats and two projects, though feedback stops being visible after seven days, which makes it a plan for trying the product rather than running a backlog.
No. Pastel states that it captures no console logs, no network requests and no session replay. Userback lists session replay and developer tools on Business, $99 a month or $79 billed annually, and not on Free or Team.
Pastel does on Team, alongside Trello, Asana, ClickUp and Monday, with GitHub and Linear not listed on any plan. Userback's pricing page names Intercom and Zendesk among its integrations but does not itemise its issue trackers by tier, so that cell is marked pending rather than answered.
Both do, described very differently. Pastel's MCP server is an agent that reads a comment, makes the change in the codebase, replies with what it did and resolves the comment, named for Cursor, Claude and ChatGPT. Userback lists MCP connectors from its Team plan, $39 a month or $29 billed annually, for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, described as giving the assistant context on feedback. Notarus ships every panel action as an MCP tool as a shipping rule.
Pastel alternatives
Notarus vs Userback Userback alternatives 
Userback vs Usersnap
BugHerd vs Pastel BugHerd vs Userback
Feedbucket vs Pastel Feedbucket vs Userback
Gleap vs Pastel Gleap vs Userback
Jam vs Pastel Jam vs Userback
Marker.io vs Pastel Marker.io vs Userback 
Pastel vs Ruttl Pastel vs Usersnap 
Pastel vs Ybug Ruttl vs Userback Userback vs Ybug
Markup.io vs Pastel Markup.io vs Userback5 projects and unlimited seats, session replay included. No card.
