Visual design proofing without paying $15/seat for an isolated silo.
MarkUp.io charges $15 per user/month purely to drop pins on mockups, forcing designers to manually copy comments into ClickUp and bill clients through separate Stripe links. Stackon embeds point-and-click visual proofing directly inside your client portal and Kanban task boards at $0 extra cost.
"Align Apple Pay font size with secondary badge."
"Corner radius updated to 8px."
In MarkUp.io, these comments live in an external browser tab. In Stackon, pins immediately generate cards on your agency Kanban board.
MarkUp.io + Project Management vs Stackon
MarkUp.io charges $15/seat/month purely for visual comments, forcing you to pay another $12/seat for project management. Calculate how much your studio saves by using Stackon's built-in canvas proofing.
MarkUp.io has no tasks, Kanban boards, or client invoices. You must maintain a separate project tool.
- Visual canvas proofing (PNG, JPG, PDF) included at $0 extra
- Pins automatically convert to assigned team subtasks
- Clients review deliverables directly inside their client portal
- Flat team pricing with zero per-seat proofing penalties
Plus: your designers stop wasting 30 minutes per deliverable manually transcribing comments between MarkUp.io and your task board.
Why MarkUp.io Frustrates Scaling Creative Agencies
MarkUp.io is good at dropping pins on a web page or image. But running an agency requires client portals, task assignment, retainer tracking, and milestone invoicing. Here is where MarkUp breaks down.
1. The Double-Entry Transcription Bottleneck
When a client marks up 15 comments on a new brochure or website mockup in MarkUp.io, those comments stay trapped inside MarkUp.io. Your project manager or lead designer has to manually transcribe each comment into ClickUp, Asana, or Linear as individual task checklists. Every deliverable creates 30 to 45 minutes of unbilled administrative double-handling.
2. Paying $15/Seat/Month Purely for a Visual Comment Plugin
MarkUp.io charges $15 per seat per month on its Pro tier. If you have 8 teammates (designers, art directors, account executives, and developers), you are paying $120/month ($1,440/year) for a tool that does not track project schedules, manage retainers, or bill clients. You still have to pay for ClickUp ($96/mo) and Slack ($70/mo).
3. Disorganized Links Without a Permanent Client Deliverables Vault
MarkUp.io organizes work as a flat list of individual markup links. Three months after a brand identity project wraps, your client cannot log into a central dashboard to see their approved deliverables, version histories, or paid invoices. They email you asking for links. Stackon provides a permanent, white-labeled Deliverables Vault organized by project and client.
4. Feedback is Completely Disconnected from Retainers & Billing
MarkUp.io has no concept of client retainer hours, out-of-scope revisions, or milestone deposit gates. When a client requests round #4 of design changes, MarkUp.io happily accepts the pins without alerting the client that their contractual revision limit has been exceeded. Stackon checks the client’s retainer ledger and alerts them before work begins.
Real Studio Workflows: MarkUp.io vs Stackon
See how daily deliverable reviews play out when visual proofing is connected to your task board versus trapped in a separate silo.
Handling 18 Client Pins on a Multi-Page Brochure PDF
The client leaves 18 pins across pages 2, 5, and 8 of the PDF in MarkUp.io. Your lead designer keeps two browser windows open: MarkUp.io on the left and ClickUp on the right. She spends 35 minutes retyping comments into task cards, assigning team members, and cross-referencing page numbers.
The client drops pins directly inside the Stackon review room. Your designer clicks "Convert to Subtask" on each pin thread. The tasks immediately appear on the project card with coordinate links, page numbers, and assignee selectors. Zero transcription, zero lost feedback.
Proving Version Changes (v1 vs v2 Side-by-Side Comparison)
When you upload v2 to MarkUp.io, the client has to switch between separate markup tabs or dropdown menus to remember what changed. They ask: "Can you show me where the logo size changed compared to the first round?"
Stackon provides an interactive Side-by-Side Diff Slider. The client slides the divider bar across the deliverable canvas to inspect changes between v1 and v2 in real time. They see the exact modifications and click "Approve v2" immediately.
MarkUp.io vs Stackon: Complete Feature & Pricing Matrix
See the exact differences in pricing, proofing mechanics, client access, and agency management.
Who Should Choose MarkUp.io?
- Solo Freelancers: You only need to send a one-off mockup link once a month and do not manage an agency team.
- No Retainer or Task Management: You manage all your tasks in Jira or ClickUp and do not mind manual double-entry.
- Live Website Scraping: You specifically need live DOM inspection tools on live URLs rather than static design deliverables.
Who Should Choose Stackon?
- Full-Service Creative Agencies: You deliver graphics, branding, mockups, and multi-page PDFs that require formal milestone approvals.
- Unified Workflows: You want visual feedback pins to automatically become assigned team subtasks on your project boards.
- Margin-Conscious Studios: You want to eliminate $15/seat proofing fees and consolidate your portal, retainers, and tasks for $49/mo flat.
Frequently Asked Questions About Switching from MarkUp.io
Everything you need to know about replacing MarkUp.io with Stackon’s integrated canvas engine.
Why do design studios and creative agencies switch from MarkUp.io to Stackon?
Agencies switch because MarkUp.io is a disconnected point-solution that only handles visual comments. Once a client leaves feedback on MarkUp.io, designers have to manually copy and paste comments into task management tools like ClickUp, Trello, or Linear. Furthermore, MarkUp.io charges $15/seat/month on its Pro plan while offering zero client portal capabilities, no retainer tracking, no brief intake forms, and no billing integration. Stackon embeds native point-and-click image and PDF visual proofing directly inside your client portal and Kanban task boards at zero extra cost.
How does team pricing compare between Stackon and MarkUp.io?
MarkUp.io Pro costs $15 per seat per month (or $149/seat/year). For a 6-person creative studio, MarkUp.io costs $90/month ($1,080/year) solely for visual annotations, while still requiring a separate project management tool ($72/mo for ClickUp) and portal. Stackon Studio includes 5 internal team seats for $49/month flat ($39/mo on annual billing, or $468/year) with visual proofing, project management, client portals, retainer tracking, and Stripe invoicing completely unified.
Can clients review deliverables and drop pins without creating an account?
Yes. Clients access their deliverable review rooms through secure 1-click Magic Links sent directly in their email notifications. They do not need to register separate MarkUp.io accounts or remember passwords. They click the link, land directly on the canvas, drop numbered pins with coordinate tags, and click formal approval with legal timestamps.
How do visual comments on Stackon turn into actionable designer tasks?
Unlike MarkUp.io where comments remain trapped in an external tab, Stackon allows project managers and designers to convert any client pin comment into an assigned subtask on the active project card with one click. The subtask preserves the exact canvas coordinate, deliverable version, and client comment text so designers fix issues without tab-switching.
Does Stackon support multi-page PDF proofing and version comparison?
Yes. Stackon supports high-resolution PNG, JPG, WebP, SVG, and multi-page PDF documents. Clients can navigate page-by-page, drop page-specific pins, and compare updated revisions (such as v1 vs v2) using an interactive side-by-side diff comparison slider with opacity overlay.
Is visual proofing white-labeled with our agency domain and logo?
Yes. All deliverable review rooms and client portals render on your custom domain (e.g. portal.youragency.com) with automated SSL encryption. MarkUp.io branding is completely absent; your clients only see your agency logo, favicon, and brand accent colors.
Stop paying extra for visual feedback plugins.
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