eMargin vs Pastel
eMargin
emargin.bcu.ac.uk
Pastel
usepastel.comSide by side
| Figure | eMargin | Pastel |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $25/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 8 |
| Spec score · Web Annotation Tools | 7.6 (#25) | 9.0 (#2) |
| Collaboration | Users can share annotations with groups to generate discussions and combine interpretations. | The product supports real-time updates, team-only comments, and unlimited guest reviewers who can comment without an account. |
| Purpose | eMargin is an online collaborative annotation tool for highlighting, colour-coding, writing notes and tagging words or passages of text. | Pastel collects visual feedback and approvals on websites and other creative work, including PDFs, images, and videos. |
Plans
Pastel
- FreeFree
- Free ForeverFree
- Pro$25 a month
- Pro$29 a month
- Team$84 a month
- Team$99 a month
- Enterprise$383 a month
- Enterprise$450 a month
In their own words
Pastel
Pastel is a visual feedback and approval tool for websites and creative files, including PDFs, images, and videos. Users create a canvas from a website to place comments directly on the page in a browser, or share live sites and upload files for review. Updates are real time, and teams can keep comments private while inviting guest reviewers who do not need accounts. Review workflows support assignments, labels, deadlines, approvals, pausing comments, responsive testing, and CSV export. Listed connections include Trello, Asana, Jira, ClickUp, Monday.com, Zapier, custom webhooks, and API-based integrations. Pastel also says Cursor, Claude, and ChatGPT can act on feedback through its MCP. The Free plan allows one active canvas at a time, though users can archive one canvas and restore it later. The 14-day trial gives access to any paid plan without requiring a credit card. Pro is $29 a month, billed at $350/year; Team is $99 a month, billed at $1,190/year.