In this post, we’ll go over 15 website annotation tools, their best use cases, and how to use them to their maximum efficiency.
It’s inevitable.
At every stage of a website development project, you’ll have to brace yourself for yet another round of feedback:
- Design & early mockups
- Development & staging
- Internal QA
- Client and user feedback
Color-coded Google Docs, spreadsheets, poorly annotated screenshots—it’s a mess.
The never-ending back-and-forth between all stakeholders will turn any sane project manager crazy.
What if you could directly annotate and markup a website instead?
With the right annotation tools, you can:
- Annotate a website in a flash
- Highlight text or other problematic elements
- Give visual feedback on website functionality with markups
- Take screenshots at the click of a button
- Add sticky notes and comments for team members to read through
- Send feedback and bug reports straight to your favorite issue tracker
- …and more!
But which one should you choose?
Because there are dozens of options out there, it’s not always obvious what the right decision is.
Let’s have a look!
15 Best Website Annotation Tools
Here are the best website annotation and markup tools in 2023.
1. Marker.io
Add comments, annotations, and markups straight on your website.
Marker.io makes it easy for your team and clients to take web page screenshots and annotate them.
In one click, both technical QA and non-technical stakeholders can share their feedback and report bugs.
With its on-page annotations and deep integrations with project management tools, Marker.io is perfect for client feedback and QA testing.
Website annotations and markups
Because Marker.io lives as a widget (or a Chrome extension) on your website, it’s easy to capture web pages and annotate them.
Simply install the snippet code or the browser extension, and annotate away.
The tool comes with its own suite of gadgets:
- Full or partial screenshot
- Arrows to draw attention
- Text-over-image
- Rectangle, circle & pen tool
- Blur out sensitive information
- Add images on top of the screenshot
- Emojis to drive the point home
- Different colors
There are two best use cases for Marker.io:
- Bug reporting. Whether on staging or on a live website, Marker.io will help your QA team or end-users report bugs faster—at the click of a button.
- Feedback collection. Get better feedback from your clients after delivering a website project.
We set out to make it as simple as possible:
- See a bug or want to drop feedback? Click “Report a bug”.
- Annotate and markup the page, then input details in the feedback form.
- Click on “Create issue”—done!
2-way integrations
The best part about Marker.io is our deep 2-way integrations with the most popular project management tools (Jira, Trello, GitHub, Asana…).
Whenever your reporters submit the form, an issue will automatically be created in Jira/Trello/GitHub/Linear.
That’s right: you don’t need to spend hours triaging your inbox anymore.
This also means your developers don’t need to adopt a new tool. They can stay right where they are and do what they do best.
Whenever a task is marked as “Done” in your PM tool, that same task will also be “Resolved” in Marker.io.
All stakeholders can also have an overview of all reports and their status in the dashboard.
And if you need to discuss a specific issue at length, you can do that on the feedback page.
All comments and attachments are, of course, synced back with your PM tool.
Deep bug reporting
When you ask your clients (and other non-technical stakeholders) to markup or annotate your website, important information is bound to be lost:
- Console logs
- Browser and environment info
- Viewport
- etc.
This creates and endless back-and-forth between developer, project manager, and reporter.
And a bunch of headaches, too!
So with the Marker.io plugin, the following information is automatically attached with every report:
- Reporter name
- Source URL
- Console logs
- Environment info
- Session replay
- Anything else your devs might need to reproduce & fix the bug
Customizable feedback forms
QA testing can involve a wide range of reporters, from your own team members to clients or end-users.
Because of this, Marker.io lets you use two different feedback forms:
- Guest Forms (for non-technical users and clients), and
- Member Forms (for your QA team).
Both are 100% customizable. This allows your team to be as detailed as they want while simplifying everything for your client or end-user.
Session replay
As a developer, when you receive bug reports from your clients, your first action is to try and reproduce that scenario.
But even with all the technical data in the report—you sometime still fail to understand what’s going on.
If only you could see exactly what happened on the reporter’s side when the bug occurred…
Well—Marker.io's toolkit includes session replay for that reason.
Straight from your PM tool, simply click the “Watch replay” link.
You’ll then be able to watch the last 30 seconds (or more) before the report was submitted.
Check out session replay in action:
Ready to give it a go? Sign up for a free trial here—no credit card required.
Pricing: $39/mo.
2. Filestage
Comment and annotate on any file.
With Filestage, teams can upload any type of file (spreadsheets, images, website design mockups, videos…) and annotate them.
It’s a collaboration tool that allows you to get through approval faster in just a few steps:
- Create a project and upload your files
- Invite reviewers to leave feedback and comments (clients, QA…)
- Edit & share new versions of your content with side-by-side comparison
- Approve work—done!
Pricing: Filestage starts at $19/user/mo.
3. NoteLedge
Note taking, highlights, and markups on the go.
NoteLedge is a mobile-first app for designers, marketers, and other creatives.
From your phone or on your laptop:
- Discover new ideas and annotate websites on the go, and save them for later. Add highlights to what matters most.
- Organize and visualize ideas with mood boards.
- Use a variety of brushes to sketch on web pages or highlight main ideas
- Export notes to PDF and share your thoughts with teammates
The app has a free version. It is limited in features but perfect for note-taking on the go.
Pricing: Free plan, with upgrades from $2.49/mo.
4. Nimbus
All-in-one workspace for non-technical stakeholders.
Nimbus simplifies your workflow with a full-on shared workspace for your team and clients.
The tool offers a complete white-label portal:
- Share any type of document or web page
- Real-time editing & annotations
- No registration is needed for your clients—just share a link
- Exchange feedback through comments
- Works perfectly on mobile devices
Pricing: Starts at $6/user/mo.
5. Monosnap
Fast screenshots and uploads for startups, designers, and freelancers.
Love to work fast? You might love Monosnap, too.
The app is simple:
- Take a screenshot in one click (or keyboard shortcut)
- Edit & annotate
- Upload to cloud storage
Because it is so straightforward, Monosnap is perfect for any use case you can think of:
- Capture entire webpages and give feedback
- Avoid meetings and work async with editable video recordings (or GIFs)
- Upload your updates on Dropbox, Google Drive, and many other storage solutions
- Share your work with just a link—no sign-up required
Monosnap also comes as a Chrome extension!
Pricing: Just $3/user/mo.
6. Wipster
Video feedback, annotations, and version control.
While not a website tool per se, Wipster is too awesome not to be included.
Plus, more often than not, video is part of website design, too.
Wipster makes it easy to share video feedback with:
- Media management tools: folders with all video, images, PDF, and audio files for review
- Use public URLs or password-protected links to share with clients or your team
- Track progress with customizable review cycles
- Edit and annotate as you like in just a click
- Turn comments into tasks
- Version control and side-by-side comparison so everyone can keep track of progress
Pricing: From $19.95/user/mo.
7. Markup Hero
Multi-page annotations.
Markup Hero is an advanced highlighting and markup software for project managers and teachers.
The tool offers every annotation feature you can think of:
- Screenshot entire websites
- Full editing history
- Arrows, rectangles, blur, oval, pen
- Highlighter
- Shareable links
- Undo & redo
Markup Hero also lets you annotate pages side-by-side. Plus, you can save every piece of feedback with the built-in collections.
Pricing: Free as long as you don’t need to upload your screenshots.
8. Memex
Search and organize feedback with highlights, markups, and annotations.
Though not your typical feedback tool, Memex makes our list as a Google Chrome extension.
This extension is easy to use for anyone in your team and allows you to:
- Highlight, annotate and draw on websites & PDF
- Organize your feedback in spaces
- Search previously annotated screenshots
- Share your work with teammates using a one-time link
- Across all devices - tablet, phone…
- Works offline: all data is stored on your device
- Backup your data with any major cloud provider
Memex also doubles as a productivity tool—highlight important articles, and read them again later!
Pricing: Free
9. Snagit
Async teamwork with annotations.
Snagit by Techsmith is a screen capture and recording software.
Say goodbye to long, complicated how-to-docs. Instead, create step-by-step instructions with annotated images and videos.
Your team will love the visual explanations, and Snagit comes with a handful of features to help you:
- Screen capture
- Screen recorder if it turns out you’ve got a lot to say
- Synced cloud library
- Trim & edit videos and GIF as required
- Grab text from anywhere
- Arrows, steps, and other markup tools
- Record iOS screen on mobile
Pricing: One-time $75 license.
10. Page Marker
Markup and highlight websites with an extension.
Page Marker does one thing, but does it well.
The tool comes as a Chrome extension and allows you to quickly draw over a webpage and take a screenshot.
While it may lack in features, if you’re just looking to annotate a website, this is the way.
It also comes with its own set of shortcuts for those who need to highlight pages at a fast pace:
- Marker - Shift+D
- Highlighter - Shift+H
- Eraser - Shift+E
- Text - Shift+T
- …etc.
Pricing: Free.
11. GoVisually
Client portal for design feedback.
GoVisually is a proofing solution for design teams and web agencies.
Want to get rid of e-mail? Us, too. GoVisually’s client portal allows your team to centralize all feedback and helps:
- Share and review web designs
- Annotate & comment on PDF documents and websites
- Upload any file type (PNG, PSD, PDF…)
- Respond to feedback on time—rather than losing it in the inbox
- Receive client approval faster
Share your projects easily with one link, and keep track of comments more easily.
Pricing: Starts at $20/mo.
12. Zoho Annotator
Website annotations for QA and client feedback.
Zoho Annotator joins our list as yet another Chrome extension.
This QA tool allows you to:
- Add contextual comments and annotate web pages
- Save the changes as an image
- Illustrate your ideas without leaving your browser
- Copy and paste images straight into your PM tool
You can also blur sensitive information. And the extension comes with the usual list of annotation tools: arrows, comments, drawings… you name it.
Pricing: Free
13. PDF Annotator
Advanced PDF annotations.
Next up on our list is PDF Annotator.
This free tool lives up to its name with a plethora of advanced PDF annotations:
- Select and extract text
- Pan and zoom
- Text
- Stamps and icons
- Arrows, lines, ovals
- Eraser
This makes PDF Annotator a great tool to give feedback on website design ideas or early mockups via PDF documents.
Pricing: Free.
14. Spade
On-page collaboration with shareable annotations link.
Another website markup tool is Spade.
This free extension puts a toolbar on every website. This allows you to annotate them with:
- Pen and highlighter
- Text box
- Move and resize
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Export to PDF
Annotations are then saved to the cloud and organized in folders on the Spade website.
You can also share those with teammates!
Pricing: Free.
15. Hypothes.is
Annotate text on any web page and organize your group notes.
Hypothes.is is a great tool for students looking to better organize their web research:
- Select any text to annotate
- Reply to or share any annotation
- Collaborate privately with others
- Search your own notes
With a bit of creativity, it can also be used as a website feedback tool!
Pricing: Free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a website annotation tool?
Website annotation tools let you annotate, highlight, or mark up any webpage.
They typically come with a set of drawing tools like arrows, rectangles, ovals, and others to make it easy to get your point across.
How do you annotate a website? (+ Example)
Pick one of the tools on our list, and start annotating.
A good annotation should convey as much information as possible, in as little time as possible:
- Use arrows and highlights to draw attention to the right spot ASAP
- Not too much text: don’t start writing paragraphs—attach a comment or write a full bug report for that
- Keep it simple: one issue = one screenshot = one annotation
Example:
How to choose a website annotation tool?
This is going to depend on your use case and how often you expect to have to annotate a website.
- Are you doing internal QA on a regular basis? Or need a tool to get website feedback from clients? Marker.io is the way to go.
- Note taking and highlights app that doubles as inspiration for creatives? Try NoteLedge.
- Do you only rarely need to take screenshots and mark them up? Choose one of the free Chrome extensions.
What are some common use cases for an annotation tool?
Web annotation tools have several purposes:
- Discuss and collaborate on webpages
- Annotate web articles and save them for later
- Rate and share web resources
- Research, study, etc.
Whenever you need to get your point across visually is a good use case for a website annotation tool.
And there it is: our list of the best 15 website annotation tools for 2023.
These cover a large range of use cases, and you should be able to find a fit for you there!
Did we miss one? Let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
