HopBack is a Filestage alternative for agencies, studios and freelancers. Filestage is online proofing software for brands and larger marketing teams, with review workflows, automations, compliance features and reporting, from $199 a month. HopBack covers the parts a small agency actually uses: a client opens a link with no account, pins comments on the live website or the artwork, reviews in numbered rounds, and approves with a name and a time. From $19 a month with unlimited reviewers.
FilestageFilestage is serious proofing. Multi-step review workflows, reviewer groups, automations, review agents, project templates, review reports, verified approval, audit logs, data residency and SSO. Its Business and Enterprise plans are built for regulated brands and big marketing departments, and its free plan gives one active project to try. If you need compliance-grade proofing, Filestage is the right category.
Studio at $49 a month versus Filestage Starter at $199.
Filestage reviews uploaded files and website proofs. HopBack loads the live site, staging password and all, with device preview and pins that hold at every screen size.
No workflow builder, no reviewer groups. A link, rounds, a lock, an approval. Enough for a five-person studio; not enough for a pharmaceutical brand, and it is not trying to be.
Websites, logos, brochures, packaging and video, one tool the client learns once.
Business-day client reminders and Slack or Teams alerts on Studio and Agency.
| HopBack | Filestage | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 14-day Studio trial, no card | Free: 1 active project, 5 new files a month, 2 GB |
| Entry | Starter $19/mo ($16 annual), 10 active reviews | Starter $199/mo ($1,990 a year), unlimited projects, 1 TB, branding, reminders |
| Middle | Studio $49/mo ($41 annual), 30 active reviews, video, reminders | Business $329/mo ($3,290 a year), automations, review reports, API, 3 TB |
| Top | Agency $99/mo ($82 annual), unlimited reviews, MCP | Enterprise, custom, SSO, audit logs, data residency |
| Reviewers | Unlimited, no account | Unlimited |
Prices and features checked on 1 November 2026 against Filestage's pricing page. If something has changed, tell us and we will fix it.
Filestage figures from filestage.io/pricing, checked 11 September 2026.
Filestage→HopBackStart your next project in HopBack. There is no import, and you do not need one: paste the URL or upload the file, set the rounds, send the link. Finished Filestage projects can stay where they are.
It does the proofing an agency needs: rounds, a locked record and a recorded approval on websites, print and video. It does not have enterprise workflow, compliance or reporting features.
No. Every account starts with 14 days of Studio, no card.
Free for one project, then $199 and $329 a month, or custom for Enterprise. Checked 11 September 2026.