Pick a Userback replacement by its main job: visual bug reports from clients and colleagues, public feature boards, or customer surveys. Few tools cover all three the way Userback does, so decide which job matters most, shortlist two that match, and check how each one pushes feedback into the tracker you already use.
Luciq is the name Instabug now appears under, with a mobile observability focus. Atarim's homepage calls it an AI web agency, Gleap leads with AI customer service and Featurebase with AI support. Each was a familiar name in this search, and none of them is a row here.
Which eight feedback tools are left?
Quoted words belong to each vendor; the eight sit in no particular order.
BugHerd
Best for: Client sign-off on live sites, with "the screenshot and technical details" captured for you.
Frill
Best for: Announcements and in-app surveys alongside feature requests, all in "one feedback tool".
Jam
Best for: Handing developers bug reports with "the technical context teammates need".
Marker.io
Best for: Collecting feedback "directly from your site", so reviewers never switch tools.
Pastel
Best for: Designers, developers and agencies who want "fast, visual feedback directly on live websites".
Ruttl
Best for: Design and content reviews with bug reports alongside.
Sleekplan
Best for: Teams that want a public roadmap inside "an all-in-one feedback platform".
Survicate
Best for: Pulling insight from "multiple sources" and automating feedback flows.
Bug reports, feature votes or surveys?
Visual website feedback and bug reports. Marker.io says it sends bug reports into Jira, Trello, Asana and GitHub. BugHerd says clients can point, click and comment on a live site. Ruttl says it handles websites, apps, PDFs and images. Pastel describes itself as an annotation tool for websites. Jam says it attaches console logs, network requests and device details to each report.
Feature boards and surveys. Frill describes an ideas board with a public roadmap. Sleekplan says it pairs feedback boards with a changelog and NPS. Survicate says it surveys customers across every channel.
Whichever group fits, check the reporting side from the reporter's view. Ask a colleague who has never seen the tool to file one report on a live page, then look at what arrived: was the screenshot clear, was the page address captured, and could a developer act on it without asking anything else?
Write down who files feedback today and who acts on it. If the people filing are clients or reviewers and the people acting are developers, the visual group fits. If the people filing are customers and the people acting are product managers, boards and surveys fit. Some teams need one tool from each group, which is fine as long as both feed the same tracker.
My bug reporting tools guide covers more visual tools, and the customer feedback tools guide goes wider on surveys and boards.
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Run a feedback or bug reporting tool that fits one of these jobs? Ask to be included in this list.
What does each one offer for free, and where does it sit?
| Tool | Free option | Group on this page |
|---|---|---|
| BugHerd | Free trial | Visual feedback and bug reports |
| Frill | Not stated | Feature board |
| Jam | Not stated | Visual feedback and bug reports |
| Marker.io | Free trial | Visual feedback and bug reports |
| Pastel | Free trial | Visual feedback and bug reports |
| Ruttl | Not stated | Visual feedback and bug reports |
| Sleekplan | Not stated | Feature board |
| Survicate | Not stated | Surveys |
What's my advice for a two-tool trial?
Pick the job first. If the main need is problems reported on a website, trial two visual feedback tools. If customers ask for features, trial two boards. If you need answers to specific questions, a survey tool is the closer match. Then run both shortlisted tools on the same project for a week.
- Ask someone outside your team to report a bug and count the clicks it takes.
- Check what technical detail arrives with each report: browser, screen size and console output.
- See whether a public board can be made private when you need it to be.
- Look at how duplicates are merged so the same request isn't counted twice.
- Check whether a report can carry a short screen recording as well as a screenshot.
- Ask the person who triages feedback today which tool's inbox they'd rather open every morning.
Keep the trial small enough that you can compare like with like: one site or one product area, the same reporters, and the same week. If one tool produces reports your developers can act on without a follow-up question, that's the result to weigh most.
Where will the feedback land?
Feedback is only useful if it reaches the people who fix things. Before you move, check the route from each tool into your tracker.
- Does it create issues in your tracker, or only send notifications?
- Do status changes in the tracker flow back so the reporter sees progress?
- Can you map fields such as priority, labels and assignee?
- Can reporters be told automatically when their item is fixed or shipped?
- What happens to feedback already sitting in the old tool: import, archive or start fresh?
Also check who can see what. Client feedback on a staging site may include unreleased work, and public boards show requests to everyone, so confirm the privacy settings before you invite anyone outside the team.
If the answer to the first question is notifications only, someone on your team becomes the copy-and-paste step, which is the work a feedback tool should take off your hands.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between bug reporting and feedback tools?
Bug reporting tools capture a problem with screenshots and technical details for developers. Feedback tools collect ideas, votes and survey answers from customers.
Do clients need an account to leave website feedback?
It depends on the tool. Ask each vendor whether guests can comment through a link or widget, especially if your clients won't sign up.
Should feature requests be public?
A public board shows customers you're listening and can cut duplicate requests. Keep it private if your roadmap is sensitive.
Do these tools work on staging sites?
It depends on how each tool installs. If it runs through a script or browser extension, staging is often fine; check each vendor's setup guide for password-protected sites.
How do I stop feedback piling up unanswered?
Give one person the job of triaging new items each day, close duplicates quickly and reply to reporters when something ships.
Why aren't Hotjar or Canny here?
They have their own pages on this site, so this list keeps to other tools.
