This review contains affiliate links. If you sign up to SiteViewer through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. I pay for and use the tool on real client work, and I would recommend it without the link.
Every agency knows the feedback round from hell. A WhatsApp voice note, an email with three cropped screenshots, a text that just says the top bit looks odd on my phone, and no idea which page, which device or which version any of it refers to. At Design by Altitude we are a Squarespace Platinum Partner with more than 400 client builds behind us, and the website itself was never the slow part of those projects. Sign-off was.
SiteViewer is the tool I now reach for to fix that. It is built by Dave Hawkins, founder of the London studio Made by Dave and the Squarehead training platform, and one of the most experienced people in the Squarespace world. I have used it on live client projects, and this is my honest review: what it does, where it beats the obvious alternative (Markup), where it falls short, and which plan actually makes sense.
Quick Verdict
SiteViewer is the best client feedback tool I have used for Squarespace agencies and freelancers, and a strong one for anyone shipping WordPress, Webflow, Framer or hand-built HTML. Clients click the page, type their comment, and it lands pinned to the exact element with a screenshot and their browser details attached, without them creating an account. The review link sits on your own domain with your logo, so the client never sees a third-party tool. Version history, preview analytics, deadlines and an MCP connection for AI assistants like Claude round it out. The one thing to understand before buying: pinned comments on live websites are a Studio plan feature, so budget for Studio if client feedback is why you are here. For small studios running a handful of projects at a time, it is excellent value. For a quick summary of features and plans, see our SiteViewer extension guide.
What Is SiteViewer?
SiteViewer does two jobs that most agencies currently stitch together from separate tools. First, it hosts private previews: drop in an HTML file or a zipped site, a PDF, a single image or a whole image set, and you get a password-protected link. Second, it runs the feedback round on top: your client opens the link, adds their name once and starts pinning comments directly onto the page.
Crucially for anyone reading SquareLocator, it also reviews live websites. Paste a Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Framer or Wix URL and SiteViewer frames it in a review room with the comment layer on top. Your build stays exactly where it is. That is the part that makes it a genuine rival to Markup rather than just a preview host.
The pitch is simple and it holds up in use: one link, one thread, one version, all under your name.
Who Made It (and Why That Matters)
Tools in this space are usually built by software companies guessing at how agencies work. SiteViewer is the opposite. Dave Hawkins has run Made by Dave since 2014, has delivered more than 600 bespoke Squarespace sites, and is a Squarespace Circle Platinum Partner, Authorised Trainer and Community Partner. Before the studio he worked in software product roles, including a stint as a technical product owner and a project with Google for Transport for London.
You can feel that background everywhere in the product. The client-facing screens are polished enough to put your own brand on, the defaults assume a non-technical client, and the features that exist are the ones a studio owner actually needs on a Thursday afternoon. It is independent and self-funded, built and supported in the UK. For a directory like ours, which exists to surface the best work from people inside the Squarespace ecosystem, it is exactly the kind of tool we want to champion.
SiteViewer Features: The Full List
Pinned comments with context attached
Clients switch between Browse mode (use the site normally) and Comment mode (a click drops a pin). Each comment anchors to the element on the page, not just an x and y coordinate, and arrives with an automatic screenshot plus the browser, operating system, viewport, screen size, pixel ratio, language and time zone. So a comment saying it looks broken on mine comes with the setup it broke on. Clients can switch between desktop and mobile views inside the review room, and the comment records which one they were using.
- No client accounts. They add a name once. Returning reviewers get a one-click sign-in link to a portal listing every preview they are reviewing.
- Threads, replies and reactions. You reply in place, they can reply straight from the notification email, and emoji reactions save a round of agreed messages.
- Assign to a teammate. Hand a comment to a designer or developer and it lands in their list with an email.
- Private comments. Mark a thread private and the client never sees it, on the page or in emails. Handy for the internal version of why something cannot be done.
- Filters and resolve. Open and resolved comments sit in separate lists, and you can filter to new since you last looked, or mobile-only feedback.
Your own domain, fully white-label
This is the feature that sold it to me. Point a subdomain such as review.yourstudio.com at SiteViewer and every link goes out on your address, with SSL issued and renewed automatically. The password gate carries your logo and colours (or one of eight preset backgrounds), client emails are sent in your studio's name, and replies come back to you rather than to SiteViewer. Pro includes one custom domain; Studio includes ten, so every retainer client can have their own.
For an agency, this matters more than it sounds. A review link on your own domain feels like bespoke infrastructure. One of SiteViewer's own customers put it well: clients assume the studio built a portal just for them.
Anything the client can open, they can comment on
| Source | How it works | Comment pinning |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted page | Upload an HTML file or a zip, hand-built or exported from Claude, v0, Lovable or Bolt | Anchored to the element |
| Live website | Paste a Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Framer or Wix URL | Anchored to the element |
| Decks, brand guidelines and proposals in SiteViewer's own viewer | Fixed to page position | |
| Single image | One visual for comment | Fixed position |
| Image set | A gallery with Approve or Request changes on each image | Per-image decision |
That breadth means one tool covers the whole project: the brand deck as a PDF, the homepage concept as HTML, the photography selects as an image set, and the finished build as a live URL.
Squarespace trial-mode reviews
This is the feature Squarespace designers will care about most, and I have not seen it done elsewhere. Most feedback tools need a publicly reachable URL, which is a problem when the site is still in trial mode behind Squarespace's password gate. SiteViewer lets you enter the trial password once; it authenticates, and serves the page to your client through the review room. The client never sees the Squarespace password prompt, never needs a contributor seat, and gives feedback before you publish.
On our builds this removes an awkward step. Previously the choice was sharing the trial password with every stakeholder or adding them as contributors to the site itself. Neither is ideal on a hotel project where the general manager, the marketing lead and the owner all want a say. It works with both Squarespace 7.0 and 7.1.
Versions on one unchanging link
Push a new version and the share link stays identical, so you send one link at kickoff and never another. Clients always land on the current version, you can roll back to any earlier one in a click, and when you publish a new version SiteViewer offers to carry the earlier comments forward, in the same spot and with a badge showing where they came from. Preview analytics show total views and when the link was last opened, so the chase-up email is informed rather than hopeful. Links can also be set to expire, so last year's pricing proposal is never still live.
Feedback windows that actually close
You can give a review round a deadline. The client gets a reminder email roughly two days before, commenting genuinely stops on the date (the link stays live as read-only), and you can extend or reopen with a click. Anyone who has watched a project quietly collect notes for six extra weeks will appreciate this one. It turns a scope conversation into a system setting.
Notifications that chase for you
Clients are emailed automatically when a preview is ready or a new version is published. You get comment notifications as a digest on a schedule you choose (every fifteen minutes, hourly, daily, weekly or off, set per team member), or instantly in a Slack channel on Studio. The client-facing emails are editable, so the wording is yours.
AI assistants and the MCP server
Every comment already carries the page, the element's selector and the screenshot, which makes it unusually useful input for an AI assistant. There are three levels. Generate a prompt from any single comment. Use Copy for AI to export every open comment as clean Markdown. Or connect over MCP, so Claude Code, Cursor or Codex can read the comments, make the fix, publish the new version to the same review link and mark the addressed comments resolved.
We run the SiteViewer MCP connector alongside the rest of our tools in Claude, and for HTML concepts and code-heavy work it closes the loop nicely. For a Squarespace build the practical use is the change brief: export the round, ask Claude for a numbered task list, and work through it in the editor. The connection is scoped with one revocable key and fenced so an assistant can never rename, delete or unlock a link you have already shared, which is the right level of caution.
Security and hosting
Link passwords are stored hashed and can be changed without changing the link. Your own account uses email sign-in links rather than passwords, you can see and sign out active sessions, and client previews are served from a separate address to your dashboard so an uploaded page can never reach your account. Everything runs on Cloudflare's edge, with data anchored in UK and EU infrastructure, which is a genuine plus for UK and European agencies with GDPR-minded clients.
SiteViewer Pricing
Prices are in US dollars, exclusive of VAT. Every new account gets a 14-day Studio trial with no card required, and if you do not upgrade you drop to Free with your previews still live.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 projects (HTML, PDF, images), 1 seat, password protection, siteviewer.app subdomain, 100 MB storage |
| Pro | $6.40/month billed annually ($76.80/year) | Unlimited HTML, PDF and image projects, 1 live website, 3 seats, 1 custom domain, white-label gate, branded emails, analytics, MCP |
| Studio | $16/month billed annually ($192/year) | Everything in Pro plus pinned client comments, unlimited live websites, Export to AI, Slack, private comments, 10 seats, 10 domains, 1 GB storage |
| Studio Lifetime | $399 one-off | Studio forever, including all v1.x updates, with a 30-day refund window |
My advice is straightforward. If you want clients commenting on the page, which is the reason most agencies will look at SiteViewer, you need Studio. Pro is a very good private preview host with your branding on it, but the pinned comment layer is Studio-only. At $192 a year for ten seats and ten domains, Studio costs less than a single revision round, and the lifetime deal is worth serious thought if you are confident you will still be sending previews in two years. Extra seats are $4 a month each on either paid plan. Check the current figures on the SiteViewer site before you buy.
SiteViewer vs Markup
Markup is the tool most agencies will be comparing against, and it is a mature, capable visual feedback platform. The difference is in everything around the comments.
| SiteViewer | Markup | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosts the preview for you | Yes, upload the file | No, you host it elsewhere first |
| Pinned comments on live sites | Yes (Studio) | Yes |
| Your own domain and branding | Yes, fully white-label | Tool-branded review layer |
| Squarespace trial-mode sites | Yes, password handled for the client | Needs a publicly reachable page |
| Version history on one link | Yes | Depends on your hosting |
| AI export and MCP | Yes | Not built in |
| Video and wider file types | Not its focus | Broader file support |
If your review process is agency-to-client sign-off on websites, SiteViewer is the stronger fit, and the white-label domain alone is a reason to switch. If you need one feedback hub across video, lots of file types and production sites your team does not control, Markup still has the edge, and SiteViewer is refreshingly open about that on its own comparison page. Plans on both change regularly, so compare current pricing before you decide.
The Honest Limitations
- Client feedback needs Studio. Pro is branded hosting; the comment layer, Slack and Export to AI are on Studio. It is still cheap, but know it going in.
- Live URL reviews are a captured snapshot. SiteViewer captures the page at the moment you start the round, so reviewers see a fixed version. That is good for version control, but it means re-capturing after changes rather than expecting the review room to update itself as you edit.
- It is not a bug tracker. There are no sprint boards, workload views or two-way Jira sync. SiteViewer says so itself and points larger product teams to BugHerd or Usersnap.
- Some features are still arriving. AI pre-flight checks for responsiveness, accessibility and copy are listed as coming soon.
- USD pricing, plus VAT. UK buyers pay in dollars with VAT added at checkout, so the sterling cost moves with the exchange rate.
- It is a young, independent product. That is a strength for responsiveness and focus, but agencies betting their whole workflow on it should weigh that. The lifetime plan notes that future major versions may carry an upgrade fee.
Who Should Use SiteViewer
SiteViewer is built for the studio or freelancer running a handful of client projects at a time who wants the review to look like it came from them. In practice that means Squarespace designers and agencies above all, thanks to the trial-mode support and the builder's own background; WordPress, Webflow and Framer studios who want a branded sign-off process; designers presenting HTML concepts or AI-generated prototypes to clients; and agencies with retainer clients who each deserve their own review domain.
It is the wrong tool for large product teams gathering feedback from thousands of end users, or for anyone who needs full bug tracking and Jira integration.
For our own work, where hotel and hospitality clients often have three or four decision makers on one site, the combination of no-login commenting, device context and a hard feedback deadline has shortened sign-off, and the white-label link makes the whole process feel like part of our service rather than a bolt-on. Start with the free plan and the 14-day Studio trial on your next project and you will know within one round whether it fits.
Building Out Your Squarespace Toolkit
SiteViewer sits at the end of a build, so it pairs naturally with the tools that come earlier. For design control beyond Squarespace's style settings, read our SquareKicker review. For pre-launch SEO checks, see the SEOSpace review. And for the wider set of plugins and tools we use on client builds, start with our guide to the best Squarespace plugins in 2026 and the Ultimate Squarespace Toolkit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SiteViewer?
SiteViewer is a client feedback and preview hosting tool for designers and agencies. Clients pin comments directly onto live websites, HTML files, PDFs and images, without creating an account, and every review link can run on your own domain with your branding.
Who makes SiteViewer?
SiteViewer is built and run by Dave Hawkins, founder of the London Squarespace studio Made by Dave and the Squarehead training platform. He is a Squarespace Circle Platinum Partner, Authorised Trainer and Community Partner with more than 600 client sites delivered.
Does SiteViewer work with Squarespace trial sites?
Yes. You enter the trial-mode password once in SiteViewer, and your client reviews the site through the review room without seeing the Squarespace password gate or needing a contributor account. It supports both Squarespace 7.0 and 7.1.
How much does SiteViewer cost?
There is a free plan for five projects. Pro costs $6.40 a month billed annually and adds unlimited projects, a custom domain and white-labelling. Studio costs $16 a month billed annually and adds pinned client comments on live sites, Slack and AI export, and there is a one-off Studio Lifetime plan at $399. Prices exclude VAT.
Is SiteViewer a good alternative to Markup?
For agency-to-client website sign-off, yes. SiteViewer hosts the preview as well as collecting the feedback, runs on your own domain, handles Squarespace trial sites and exports feedback for AI assistants. Markup remains stronger for video and very broad file-type feedback.
Can SiteViewer connect to Claude or other AI tools?
Yes. SiteViewer has an MCP server that lets Claude Code, Cursor and Codex read comments, publish fixes to the same review link and resolve the comments they address. You can also export all open comments as Markdown or generate a prompt from a single comment.
Related SquareLocator Guides
- SiteViewer Extension Guide
- Best Squarespace Plugins in 2026
- The Ultimate Squarespace Toolkit (2026 Edition)
- SquareKicker Review (2026)
- SEOSpace Review
- Squarespace Pricing in 2026: Every Plan Explained
- Squarespace vs WordPress: An Honest Comparison
This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up to SiteViewer through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. We only feature tools we would recommend on their own merits. Screenshots courtesy of siteviewer.app.
