Ziflow routes proofs through configured workflow stages with real approval governance, and it is the most complete product in the category at that. BugSmash does not have that. What it gives you is a link your client opens without being placed into anything, and thirteen file types including CAD drawings, 3D models and native mobile apps that Ziflow does not open.
4.8 out of 5 · 1,250+ agencies in 100+ countries
Loved by1,250+Agenciesand companies in 100+ countries
Both review live websites, video, audio, images and documents, with no login for reviewers. Ziflow supports more raw file types and has the more mature website proxy. BugSmash has no workflow builder at all: one review, one set of comments, one approval on a version. What it adds instead is reach, with native mobile app, 3D and CAD review that Ziflow does not open, and a client who opens a link without being placed into a stage.
| Feature | Ziflow | BugSmash |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $0, then $199/mo annually (15 users) | $0, then $25/mo (2 users included) |
| Multi-stage approval routing | 2 stages on Standard, 3 on Pro | Not offered, single-stage review |
| Users included | 15, then 20, then 30 | 10 on Team, 25 on Agency, $5 each after |
| Free plan | Yes, 2 users | Yes, unlimited guest reviewers |
| Raw file type count | 1,200+ | 13 asset types |
Ziflow is an enterprise online proofing platform supporting more than 1,200 file types, including native Adobe files, Office documents, HTML5 banners, video, audio and live websites. Proofs move through configured workflow stages with defined approvers at each step.
It is bought for governance: stage routing, workflow templates, decision checklists and multi-asset proofs, with a free plan for two users that carries all file types.
Ziflow is the most complete online proofing platform in this category and we say so plainly further down. Nothing here argues that it does the job badly. It argues that most agencies are buying a governance layer they will never switch on.
Standard includes two workflow stages and one active workflow template. Pro includes three stages and still one active template. Only Enterprise makes stages and templates unlimited.
If your review process is upload, client comments, you approve, two stages is plenty. If it is internal check, then client, then legal, you are already at the Pro line, and one active template means every project reuses the same route.
Standard is roughly $199 a month billed annually and closer to $249 billed monthly. Pro is around $329 annually and $399 monthly. The free plan covers two users, which works for a freelancer and stops working the moment a second person joins.
Decision checklists, multi-asset proofs, workflow templates and stage routing are what the price is for. They are excellent if you are a brand running campaign approval across departments. For an agency whose process is send work to client, get comments, ship, most of that capability is paid for and unused.
Ziflow exists so that a proof moves through a defined route every single time and the record proves it did. Getting there means choosing your stages, building a workflow template and mapping who signs off at each step before the first file goes anywhere. For a brand routing a campaign through legal, brand and three regional teams, that is not overhead, that is the entire reason to buy it.
For an agency whose route is client comments, then client approves, it is configuration you carry forever in exchange for governance you never use. And because Standard includes one active workflow template, the route you build first is the route every client gets.
The second cost is adoption, and it lands on the reviewer rather than on you. Enterprise proofing platforms solve reviewer confusion by training the reviewers, which works when the reviewers are employees. An agency cannot train its clients. The client opens one link, once, in a hurry, and either understands it or emails you a screenshot instead.
The real worry about changing review tool is never whether the new one is better. It is whether your client will refuse to use it. Nothing you ask of your clients changes.
Clients open the link and comment. No account, no password, no install.
Paste it into the email you were already writing.
Click the exact spot, type, reply in a thread.
Organise by client, control who can view or comment, get notified when they do.
The short version. The detailed comparison is underneath.
| Feature | Ziflow | BugSmash |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $0, then about $199/mo (15 users) | $0, then $25/mo (2 users included) |
| Fifteen people | About $199/mo | $94/mo |
| Multi-stage approval routing | 2 stages, then 3, unlimited on Enterprise | Not offered |
| Raw file type count | 1,200+ | 13 asset types |
| Mobile apps, 3D and CAD | Not supported | Yes |
| Setup before the first review | Stages and a workflow template | None |
| Feature | Ziflow | BugSmash |
|---|---|---|
| COST AND LIMITS | ||
| Free plan | 2 users, unlimited reviewers, all file types | 2 projects, unlimited guest reviewers |
| Entry price | $0, then about $199/mo annually (15 users) | $0, then $25/mo (2 users included) |
| Next plan up | About $329 annually, $399 monthly | $69/mo |
| Users included | 15, 20, 30 by plan | 10 on Team, 25 on Agency |
| Extra seats | Not published | $5 each, published |
| Multi-stage approval routing | 2 stages, then 3, unlimited on Enterprise | Not offered |
| Workflow templates | 1 active template on Standard and Pro | Not offered |
| Storage | 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB+ | 5 GB free, up to 500 GB |
| WHAT YOU CAN REVIEW | ||
| Raw file type count | 1,200+ | 13 asset types |
| Live websites, snapshot and live modes | Yes, including on Free | Proxy plus optional widget |
| Video and audio with timestamps | Yes | Yes |
| Native mobile apps | No | Yes |
| 3D models and CAD drawings | No | Yes |
| COST OF THE THINGS AGENCIES ACTUALLY BUY | ||
| Hand open comments to an AI agent | No | Yes, over MCP |
| WHERE ZIFLOW IS STRONGER | ||
| Raw format breadth | 1,200+ file types, all on the free plan | 13 asset types |
| Website proxy maturity | Snapshot and live modes, documented handling for mixed content, URL rewriting, IP allowlisting and basic auth | Proxy plus widget, fewer documented escape hatches |
| Approval governance | Stages, templates, decision checklists, multi-asset proofs | Single-stage approval per version |
| Enterprise storage | Terabytes as standard | Gigabytes |
| Single sign-on | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| If this is you | Ziflow | BugSmash | Difference a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Three person studio | About $199 | $30 | $2,028 |
| Twelve person agency | About $199 | $79 | $1,440 |
| Agency needing white-label client reviews | About $329 | $129 | $2,400 |
The freelancer row is a genuine tie and Ziflow's free plan is better than most paid plans in this category. The gap opens at the second seat.
View BugSmash Plans & PricingZiflow opens more raw file types than BugSmash does, and it cannot open a CAD drawing, a 3D model or a native mobile build. Creative proofing tools stop at the creative work, and engineering review tools cannot open a website or a video. BugSmash is the one workspace that holds both.
Upload or paste a URL, send the link, collect pinned comments, ship a new version, get an approval recorded against it. A new client takes a minute to set up rather than a planning session, and the reviewer sees the work rather than a stage they have been assigned to.
That is a real trade. If your reviews have to route through legal, then brand, then a regional team, with the record proving each step, Ziflow does that and BugSmash does not. If they do not, the configuration is cost without return.
ClickUp, Asana, Trello, Linear, Notion and Airtable alongside Jira, Slack, Monday, Zapier, Make, n8n and webhooks.
Connect BugSmash to Claude, Cursor or any MCP client. The agent reads the open comments with their exact location and context, ships the fix and pushes the new version back for approval.
If you are a brand or a large agency running campaign approval across departments, with distinct review stages, decision checklists and a need to open native Adobe files, Office documents and HTML5 banners without conversion, Ziflow is the better platform and the price is defensible. Its live website proofing is also the most mature implementation in the category, with documented handling for mixed content, URL rewriting, IP allowlisting and basic auth staging sites.
If your review process is two steps and your bill has to make sense at twelve people, keep reading.
Everything you didn't know you needed, until now.
There is no structured import from Ziflow into another review tool, so nobody should promise you a migration. Here is what actually works.
Start free and put your next new project in BugSmash. Do not move history. New work only.
Send one client the link. No account for them means no email explaining a signup, which is the step that usually kills a tool change.
Leave Ziflow running until your billing period ends. Finish the reviews already in flight over there.
Cancel once the last one closes. Nothing is stranded, because nothing moved.
Deep multi-stage approval routing, Adobe plugins and regulated-industry sign-off. Starts at $199 a month.
Simple canvas-style review on live sites, images, PDFs and video, unlimited users on every plan. Pro is metered at 100 reviews a month and the next plan is $499.
The most reliable live website rendering in the category. Meters active canvases and charges per seat above five people.
Strong bug triage board with unlimited projects and guests. Needs a JavaScript snippet on every site.
Two-way sync with Jira, Linear and GitHub, with status flowing back to the reporter. Built for engineers rather than clients.
We keep a page on every tool in this category, including the ones that beat us in places. See all comparisons
If you need enterprise proofing with multi-stage approval, Filestage is the closest like-for-like. If you want review and approval at a fraction of the price without governed workflow, BugSmash is the closer fit and adds mobile app, 3D and CAD review.
Set up your first review in under a minute. No credit card, no onboarding calls.
