Online proofing software lets your clients and your team review and approve creative files in one place instead of over email. For agencies that produce a lot of print, PDFs and campaign variations, Miriad is the easiest tool to get clients to actually use. For enterprise teams with complex, multi-stage workflows, Ziflow and Filestage go further. And for video, Frame.io remains the standard.
OUR PICK FOR AGENCIES
Miriad, if you send PDFs, print work and variations to clients who have little time to learn a new tool.
Clients comment without a seat or a password, internal and client comments stay apart, and every version lives in one place. From €15.83 per user per month.
The comparison at a glance
| Tool | Best for | File types | External reviewers | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miriad | Agencies and marketing teams, print and variations | PDF, image, video, 3D, Illustrator | Free, password-free and identified by email | €15.83 per user per month |
| Ziflow | Large creative teams and brands | 1,200+ formats | Unlimited, via public links | Free for 2, then $199 per month |
| Filestage | Structured marketing teams | Video, image, design, documents, websites, audio | Free, no account needed | Free for 1 project, then €199 per month |
| PageProof | Wide range of digital formats | Static, video, audio, web, 3D, interactive PDF | Unlimited | $249 per month |
| Frame.io | Video teams and post-production | Video first, plus image and PDF | Free, no account needed | Free for 2, then $15 per member per month |
| ReviewStudio | Per-seat budgets | Video, image, documents, HTML, audio, 3D | Unlimited, no account needed | Free plan, then $15 per user per month |
| Approval Studio | Artwork and design review | 23+ formats, MP4 video | Unlimited, no registration | From $60 per month |
| GoVisually | Small design teams | Static files, video on Pro | 15 on Lite, unlimited on Pro | From $16 per user per month |
How we chose these tools
Getting creative work approved keeps taking longer. According to the IPA, the UK body for advertising agencies, the average number of revisions before approval went from 3 rounds in 2007 to 5 today, as Marketing Week reported in March 2025. The same study of 1,034 agencies and marketers across 54 countries found a gap: 52% of marketers believe they give clear feedback, but only 30% of agencies agree.
Rounds of revisions before approval
The average number of revisions before approval went from 3 in 2007 to 5 today.
We talk with agencies every day about how they get work approved. Most still rely on email, attachments and file transfer links that expire before the client replies. So we compared these tools on the questions agencies ask us first:
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Can clients comment without paying for a seat or setting a password?
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Does the tool handle PDFs as well as images and video?
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Are all versions of a file kept in one place?
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Is every approval recorded with a name and a version?
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Does the price work for a team of 5 to 15 people?
The 8 best online proofing tools
Miriad
Miriad is a review and approval platform built in France for agencies and their clients. You upload files, share them with a group of people, and everyone annotates directly on the visual: a spot on a PDF page, an area of an image, a moment in a video or an angle of a 3D model.
What it does well
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Clients never pay for a seat. They get a link by email and sign in without a password, which avoids the classic "I can't get in" on the first share.
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Circles keep conversations apart. Your studio discusses a file internally while the client comments on the same file in their own circle, without seeing your notes.
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Every version stays in one place, from V1 to the final file.
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Every approval carries a name, so you always know who signed off on which version.
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PDFs have no size limit, which matters for catalogs and magazines.
Where it falls short
Miriad is a young product, on the market since 2026. It offers fewer integrations than Ziflow or Filestage and does not try to replicate ten-step approval workflows. The Pro plan includes 200 GB of storage per user, which can fill up fast with large-format print files.
Pricing
From €15.83 per user per month billed annually (€190 per year). Guests are free and the 14-day trial needs no card. See Miriad pricing.
Best for
Agencies and marketing teams that send a lot of print, PDFs and campaign variations to clients who don't want to learn a new tool. See real examples in our use cases.
"The first revolution for our clients was annotating a PDF in Acrobat. The second is having every version of the layouts in one place."
Project manager at a large international agency
Ziflow
Ziflow is one of the most complete proofing platforms on the market, designed for large creative teams and brands that review at scale.
What it does well
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Reads more than 1,200 file formats.
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Unlimited reviewers who access proofs through a public link.
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Advanced automation and multi-stage workflows.
Where it falls short
That depth comes at a price: $199 per month billed annually for the first paid plan. And the more steps and statuses a tool offers, the longer clients take to adopt it.
Pricing
Free for 2 users, then $199 per month billed annually with 15 users, and $329 for Pro.
Best for
Brands and large agencies with high approval volumes.
Filestage
Filestage is a German review and approval platform popular with marketing teams that approve content in several stages.
What it does well
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Reviewers comment for free and only enter their email address.
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Multi-stage approval workflows with different reviewers at each step.
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Supports video, images, design files, documents, websites and audio.
Where it falls short
The free plan is limited to one active project and 5 new files per month. The first paid plan costs €199 per month, a lot for a small agency.
Pricing
Free for one active project, then €199 per month with 10 members included, and €329 for Business.
Best for
Structured marketing teams with a dedicated budget.
PageProof
PageProof stands out for the range of formats it accepts and its security, which makes it a frequent choice for teams producing a lot of digital content.
What it does well
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Review images, video, audio, websites, HTML banners, emails, 3D and interactive PDFs.
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Unlimited versions, reviewers and storage on every plan.
Where it falls short
There is no entry-level plan. Pricing starts at $249 per month, which suits teams that already have significant volume.
Pricing
$249 per month for Team ($2,499 per year), then $399 per month for Team Plus.
Best for
Teams reviewing many digital formats in a secure setup.
Frame.io
Frame.io belongs to Adobe and serves video teams first. It is the reference tool for frame-accurate comments on an edit, with direct integration into Premiere Pro and After Effects.
What it does well
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External reviewers comment for free through a share link, with no account.
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Frame-accurate, timecoded comments on video.
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The Pro plan includes 2 TB of storage.
Where it falls short
Frame.io handles images and PDFs, but the whole product is built around video. The Pro plan caps at 5 members, and agencies that mostly approve print often find the seat price hard to justify.
Pricing
Free for 2 members, then $15 per member per month on Pro and $25 on Team.
Best for
Production companies, editors and video teams.
ReviewStudio
ReviewStudio, powered by Storyteq, is an online proofing tool with simple per-seat pricing and broad format support.
What it does well
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Unlimited guests on every plan, with no account needed, and an optional password on review links.
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Supports video, images, documents, HTML, audio, 3D and 360° images.
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A free plan with unlimited users and 3 active reviews.
Where it falls short
Active reviews and storage are capped per user on Pro (10 reviews and 25 GB per user), and the Advanced plan requires at least 5 users.
Pricing
Free plan, then $15 per user per month on Pro ($12 billed yearly) and $25 on Advanced.
Best for
Teams that want per-seat pricing and a wide range of formats.
Approval Studio
Approval Studio is built around artwork and design review, with packages that include several users at a flat monthly price.
What it does well
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Unlimited external reviewers who don't need to register.
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23+ supported formats, including PDF, AI and Office files, plus live web pages.
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A 14-day trial with no card required.
Where it falls short
Video support is limited to MP4, and storage starts at 5 GB on the Lite and Pro packages.
Pricing
From $60 per month for Lite with 5 users, $160 for Pro and $300 for Pro XL.
Best for
Design and artwork teams that want flat pricing for a small group.
GoVisually
GoVisually is a simple proofing tool for small design teams, priced per user.
What it does well
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Straightforward annotation and approval for images and documents.
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Unlimited external reviewers on the Pro plan, who review at no cost.
Where it falls short
There is no free plan. The Lite plan caps external reviewers at 15 and has no video support.
Pricing
From $16 per user per month on Lite (1 to 5 users), and $33 per user per month on Pro (3 users minimum).
Best for
Small design teams with mostly static assets.
What these tools cost for a team of 5
Sticker prices are hard to compare because these tools don't bill the same way. Miriad, Frame.io, ReviewStudio and GoVisually charge per user, while Filestage, Ziflow, Approval Studio and PageProof sell packages that include several members. For a 5-person agency, the gap runs from about $75 to $249 per month.
Price per month
What each tool costs for a team of 5
Entry plan published by each vendor.
- Frame.io$75Pro, 5 × $15
- ReviewStudio$75Pro, 5 × $15, monthly
- Miriad€79Pro, 5 × €15.83, annual
- Filestage€199Starter, 10 members included
- Ziflow$199Standard, annual billing
- PageProof$249Team, monthly
Prices before tax, from each vendor's pricing page in October 2026, in the currency they display.
Whichever you pick, check what your clients pay. With Miriad, Ziflow, Filestage, Frame.io and ReviewStudio, external reviewers cost nothing, so you can invite the marketing director, the legal team and the printer onto the same file without growing the bill.
Which tool fits your situation
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You produce print, magazines or campaign variations for clients who aren't comfortable with tools: choose Miriad. Our guide to the best proofing software for agencies goes deeper on agency needs.
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You mostly produce video: choose Frame.io.
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You run a large marketing team with multi-stage workflows and the budget to match: choose Ziflow or Filestage.
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You review many digital formats in a secure setup: choose PageProof.
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You want per-seat pricing with broad format support: look at ReviewStudio.
Still deciding what to look for? Read our guide on how to choose creative approval software, or see why email approvals break down once several people review the same file.
Try Miriad free for 14 days, no card required, and invite your clients onto a real project. Create your workspace in 2 minutes.
Before you compare tools, it helps to know the difference between proofing and approval.
Your questions about online proofing software
What is online proofing software?
It is a tool where your team and your clients review creative files in one place. Reviewers annotate the file directly, every version is kept, and each approval is recorded with the approver's name.
Do clients have to pay or create an account to review?
Usually not. Miriad, Ziflow, Filestage, Frame.io, ReviewStudio and Approval Studio all let external reviewers comment for free. The difference is identification. On Frame.io, guests type their name and email, and nothing checks it's really them. On Miriad, they have nothing to type: they click the link sent to their inbox and their account is created automatically. Because that link lands in their own mailbox, you know exactly who approved which version.
Which online proofing tool is best for PDFs and print?
Pick a tool that treats PDF as a core format, keeps every version and records the final sign-off. Miriad is built for that. Video-first tools like Frame.io handle PDFs too, but everything in them is designed around the timeline.
How much does online proofing software cost?
Per-seat tools like Miriad, Frame.io, ReviewStudio and GoVisually cost roughly $15 to $35 per user per month. Flat-rate tools like Filestage, Ziflow, Approval Studio and PageProof start between $60 and $249 per month, with several users included.
Is there free online proofing software?
Several tools have a limited free plan: Ziflow and Frame.io for 2 users, Filestage for one active project, ReviewStudio for 3 active reviews. Miriad offers a free account limited to 2 projects and 2 circles, plus a full 14-day trial with no card required.
Our sources
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Marketing Week, "Only a third of agencies believe they receive constructive feedback", March 4, 2025, with IPA and BetterIdeas Project data.
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Official pricing pages of Miriad, Ziflow, Filestage, PageProof, Frame.io, ReviewStudio, Approval Studio and GoVisually, checked in October 2026.
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Interviews conducted by Miriad with client and prospect agencies in 2026.