MarkLayer and Volley both collect visual feedback on websites, including staging sites and pages behind logins, but they capture fundamentally different things. Volley takes a screenshot first, then layers pinned comments onto that static image. MarkLayer skips the screenshot and overlays the live page directly, anchoring each annotation to the real element underneath it.
That one mechanical choice decides what each tool is actually good at. A screenshot can never change out from under a reviewer mid-conversation, which is genuinely useful for a formal sign-off: everyone comments against the exact same frozen frame, and there's no ambiguity about what state the page was in. The cost shows up the moment the page ships an update: the capture is now a picture of a page that no longer exists, and every pin on it is annotating history.
Live-page annotation trades that stability for durability across changes. A MarkLayer pin tracks the actual element, so it survives a copy edit or a minor layout shift that would silently orphan a screenshot-based comment. For a fixed review round meant to be archived exactly as-is, Volley's model is arguably the more honest artifact. For an iterative back-and-forth where the page keeps moving, which is most day-to-day feedback, live annotation is the one that doesn't quietly go stale.
Choose MarkLayer for free annotation on the live page itself, with real-time cursors and an open-source codebase. Choose Volley if you prefer screenshot-anchored feedback with Jira/Trello export and your team fits the $29/month Pro plan.
| Feature | MarkLayer | Volley |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no tiers | Pro $29/month (25 projects); 30-day trial; no permanent free plan |
| Sign-up required to create feedback | No | Yes |
| Capture model | Live page. Annotations anchor to the actual elements | Screenshot of the page with comments layered on top |
| Guest reviewers | Open a link, no install, no account | Invited via link, no account needed |
| Works behind logins / on staging | Yes. The extension overlays whatever your browser shows | Yes. The capture includes gated pages you can see |
| Real-time live cursors | Yes | No |
| Integrations | None. Paste the share link | Jira, Trello, Slack; webhooks on Enterprise |
| AI coding agent access (MCP) | Yes. Live watch, acknowledge, resolve, reply | No |
| Open source | Yes (Apache-2.0) | No |
| Best for | Feedback on pages that keep changing | Fixed-snapshot review rounds exported to a tracker |
Volley is a screenshot-based website feedback tool that layers pinned comments on a capture of the page, with Jira, Trello, and Slack export.
MarkLayer is a free, open-source web app for annotating any live webpage. Paste a URL atmarklayer.app and draw, comment, arrow, or highlight directly on the page in your browser — no install, no account, no sign-up. Share a single link and anyone can open the annotations in any browser. A free Chrome extension is available for the sites the web app cannot embed, such as pages behind a login, but it is optional and never required to view a share link. There is no paywall and no trial period.
Volley's screenshot model has one real advantage: the capture can't change under the reviewer. The cost is that it goes stale the moment the page updates. MarkLayer anchors annotations to the live element, so the pin survives a deploy instead of pointing at an old picture.
Paste any URL at marklayer.app and annotate the live page in your browser. No install, no account, no sign-up. Recipients of your share links don't need to install anything either.
Annotate a page