6 Filestage Alternatives for Fast Content Review & Approval

Having solid review and approval processes in place is essential to ensure your content rolls out error-free. Among the specialized approval tools that can help you achieve this, Filestage stands out with its extensive collaboration and approval functionalities. However, the platform has its fair share of gaps, which other Filestage alternatives can fill in.

If that’s what you’ve been looking for, in this post, you’ll find the best alternatives to Filestage currently available.

Why you should consider a Filestage alternative

Filestage is a content review and approval platform that allows creative teams to collaborate on and approve any type of content, like text documents, videos, and images.

Team members can leave feedback on digital assets through comments and annotations. They can also highlight specific text fragments and even draw on a document to illustrate feedback. Filestage also includes multi-level approvals, which ensures the content is reviewed by multiple team members before it rolls out.

As for the drawbacks, I found the platform rather tricky to get used to — the interface is unnecessarily busy and slightly confusing.

Multiple users also report the occasional bugs and glitches, as well as the fact that the platform strictly focuses on collaboration and approval, with few additional features. The option to schedule content directly from the platform would’ve been great for streamlining content creation.

Planning

You can plan digital assets under the Projects dashboard in Filestage and get an overview of both the internal and external stakeholders that handle the approval process for a specific project and its creative assets.

You can organize creative assets based on their type (like blog posts, videos, or images), as well as upload files, assign due dates, and view each asset’s approval status directly within the dashboard.

However, the interface often feels clunky. The screen looks cluttered, especially if you upload multiple digital assets, making it hard to browse through different files. Organizing files under calendar formats with content previews that display key information like approval status would’ve made the interface much cleaner.

Collaboration

Creative teams can collaborate through comments in context, leave mentions, attach files, and make each comment public or invisible to external stakeholders.

I loved that you can highlight specific areas that require edits through markings or drawings. As for videos, you can leave comments under specific timestamps — excellent for precise feedback.

As for the platform’s limitations, handy features like team-only comments and the ability to compare two versions of the same document side-by-side are locked behind the Professional plan, which costs $249 per month (billed annually).

Approvals

Filestage’s approval process is straightforward — you can set up multiple reviewer groups for each project by typing in your team members’ email addresses. Reviewers can either approve the content or highlight necessary changes via color-coded labels directly from the Projects dashboard or within each asset.

Pricing: There’s a free version available. Paid plans start at $49 per month (billed annually), with a 7-day free trial available.

Here’s why marketing managers should consider a Filestage alternative in 2024

• Clunky interface: The platform’s UI is not the most intuitive — it can get particularly confusing if you manage multiple projects.
• Occasional bugs: Bugs like sudden sign-outs or external clients being unable to leave feedback can be frustrating and slow down your workflow.
• Pricing: Although there’s a free version available, the paid plans cost $49 and $249 per month, respectively — which makes scalability a big issue.

1. Planable – best for content strategy and a smooth review and approval process

Content creation and approval in Planable

Planable is a content planning platform that stands out as one of the best Filestage alternatives thanks to its extensive collaboration and approval functionalities. Its features allow creative teams to work on any type of content, like social posts, blogs, or emails.

Team members can collaborate on content through comments, text suggestions, internal notes, and more. You can also streamline the review and approval process through Planable’s highly customizable workflows and choose one of four types of approvals: none, optional, required, and multi-level.

The platform also includes a built-in asset library, as well as video and image editing tools, which help streamline the content review and editing process — features that are unavailable in Filestage. But there’s a lot more to it than that. So let’s go through some of the platform’s key features.

Planning

In contrast to Filestage, I found Planable’s interface a lot cleaner, giving you a clear overview of your creative projects. You can also see and organize your work through a broad selection of layouts, including list, feed, grid, and calendar views. The platform’s calendar view is particularly convenient.

You can organize posts through color-coded labels while rescheduling content is just a matter of dragging and dropping it across the calendar. Planable also lets you leave comments and approve posts directly in the calendar view.

As for content scheduling, the platform allows you to set up recurring posts, while its SYNC feature lets you publish the same post across multiple social media platforms simultaneously — you can turn this feature off to make changes specific to each network.

Collaboration

Planable’s collaboration tools are among the platform’s hallmarks. Team members can ask and receive feedback through real-time comments next to each post, with the option to add attachments and notify team members through mentions.

Collaboration on a blogpost in Planable

Just like Filestage, Planable also includes annotations, which allow you to highlight and leave feedback for specific fragments of texts. But Planable includes something more: clear text suggestions, which can be accepted with one-click. Particularly handy for long-form content, like blogs.

Other notable collaboration features include the ability to invite external collaborators and clients via shareable links, team-only comments and posts (not visible to the client), and version control.

Approvals

Planable offers a solid selection of approval workflow types to help you streamline review and approval processes based on your needs.

Multiple levels of approval in Planable

The platform’s multi-level workflows are especially useful if your project involves multiple teams and clients. You can set up multiple approval layers, with each including as many teammates as you wish. All you need to do is simply drag and drop collaborators into the workflow builder.

Unlike Filestage, with Planable you can automatically schedule a post once it’s approved by all parties involved. You can also lock content after approvals to avoid any accidental changes.

Pricing: Planable’s free version lets you schedule up to 50 posts. Paid plans cost from $11 per user per month (billed annually). Pricing varies according to the number of users and workspaces you include.

Drawbacks: Although Planable covers social media analytics, it currently doesn’t include social listening tools. The platform also lacks native integrations with CMSs, meaning that you can’t publish website content directly from Planable.

Planable vs Filestage

• Features: Planable brings much more to the table. Besides its extensive collaboration and approval tools, you also get access to direct social media publishing, analytics, recurring post scheduling, and more.
• Ease of use: Despite its broad set of features, Planable’s interface is cleaner and more intuitive.
• Scalability: Planable’s flexible pricing structure makes it more scalability-friendly.

Takeaway: Planable is one of the top Filestage alternatives for streamlined review and approval processes. Its real-time collaboration tools, approval workflows, and social media scheduling features ensure smooth end-to-end creative processes.

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2. GoVisually – best online proofing software for designs, videos, and PDFs

GoVisually is a review and approval platform specifically dedicated to videos, designs, and PDF files. GoVisually can help you elevate your creative assets through an easy-to-follow, highly visual interface, which allows creative teams to leave direct feedback.

The platform also includes native integration with Adobe Creative Cloud products — perfect for precise edits.

Key features

• Team collaboration: Leave public and internal comments. Give precise feedback on visual elements via the platform’s box, arrow, and point annotations. Attach files to comments and invite external collaborators without requiring them to create an account.
• Approvals: Set up multi-layer approval processes. Easily track the approval status of multiple projects directly within the dashboard. Assign deadlines with automatic reminders and lock downloads until a project gets approved.
• Version management: Easily compare two versions of the same project side-by-side through the platform’s Smart Compare Revisions feature. Archive completed projects along with their comments, or restore them whenever you need to.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $49 per month (billed annually), with a free trial available.

Drawbacks: PDF files can take a long time to upload.

GoVisually vs Filestage

• Features: Both platforms offer roughly the same features. But Filestage offers slightly more native integrations with platforms like Notion, Figma, Monday.com, and Dropbox.
• Ease of use: GoVisually offers a more intuitive UX, making it easier to get used to the platform.
• Scalability: Both platforms have steep pricing gaps between packages. But GoVisually’s up-tier plan costs $99 per month (billed annually), which is significantly cheaper — as long as you include up to three users. Pricing for additional users starts at $16.3 per month.

Takeaway: GoVisually is one of the best Filestage alternatives for smaller teams seeking an easy-to-use online proofing platform for videos, PDFs, and designs.

3. Ziflow – best for enterprise creative teams

Ziflow is an online proofing and collaboration platform packed with advanced features like overlay comparisons, automated proofing workflows, and audit reports.

The platform handles all sorts of assets — be it videos, PDF files, images, audio files, and even website pages. The stand-out feature is the platform’s ability to show webpage previews across various device types. Creative teams can easily see how a webpage would look on iPads, netbooks, or Android.

Key features

• Automation: Set up an automated workflow via if and then parameters to move assets from reviewer to reviewer after each approval. Get access to the platform’s ready-made workflow automation templates and quickly make necessary adjustments to your creative process.
• File proofing: Compare file versions side-by-side or put them on top of each other via the platform’s Overlay Mode to easily identify all file changes. Approve the same file across multiple formats in batches to spare yourself from unnecessary clicks.
• Reporting: Use Zillow’s Proof Insights functionality to track metrics like average proof version turnaround times, total number of versions completed, or missed deadlines.

Pricing: There’s a free version available for up to two users. Paid plans start at $199 per month (billed annually).

Drawbacks: The interface is a bit busy — finding your way around projects and sending messages across various approval stages often involves a lot of clicks.

Ziflow vs Filestage

• Features: Ziflow includes significantly more advanced features like overlay file proofing, the ability to work on web pages without needing to convert them into PDFs, and customizable dashboards.
• Ease of use: Filestage has less going on to it, making it easier to use. Ziflow’s large selection of features can make the platform more difficult to navigate.
• Scalability: Filestage is more affordable across the board. Unlike Ziflow, all of Filestage’s pricing packages also include unlimited users — good for scalability.

Takeaway: Ziflow’s large selection of advanced features makes it the best Filestage alternative for enterprise-level companies or creative agencies that handle multiple design projects, including websites.

4. Wrike – best free project management tool

Wrike is a comprehensive project management platform that stands out through its solid free plan. The plan is available to unlimited users and includes features like an AI assistant for content ideation or generation, tasks and sub-tasks, as well as various project templates for specific use cases.

However, the platform’s file-proofing capabilities are locked behind the Business package, which costs $24.80/user/month.

Key features

• Artificial Intelligence: Use Wrike’s AI tools to generate all sorts of written content (briefs, blogs, event plans, etc.). Automatically transform project notes into tasks and leverage the platform’s AI Project Risk Prediction to identify projects that may not hit the deadline.
• File proofing: Upload any file type — from images and videos to webpages, PDFs, or Microsoft Office documents. Easily compare different versions of the same file side-by-side, and set up automated approval workflows.
• Reports and analytics: Get a high-level overview of all your projects’ status, completed or overdue tasks, and more. See how many tasks each team member has to deal with to gauge employee productivity and avoid overloading.

Pricing: There’s a free plan available to unlimited users, but it lacks reports and the AI Project Risk Detection tool. Paid packages start at $9.80 per user per month.

Drawbacks: Users report a rather tricky learning curve and the occasional bugs — the search function doesn’t always bring up relevant results, for instance.

Wrike vs Filestage

• Features: Wrike includes more advanced features outside of its proofing functionalities — it offers a solid AI assistant and numerous project management features complete with Gantt charts and Kanban boards.
• Ease of use: Wrike is more complex and the platform might be difficult to pick up at first.
• Scalability: Wrike’s per-user pricing model makes it a less scalable option, especially for larger creative teams.

Takeaway: Wrike is an excellent Filestage alternative for those seeking a solution that blends project management features with file-proofing capabilities.

5. QuickReviewer – best for small teams

QuickReviewer is a straightforward online proofing platform that allows marketing teams to review and collaborate on videos, images, HTML, and PDF files.

The platform’s HTML file-proofing capabilities are particularly handy — you can upload banner animations and see how they would look on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. You can also leave annotations on each viewport.

Key features

• Video review features: Review video files by slowing them down or speeding them up. Leave real-time comments and zoom in on each frame for precise feedback. Compare two versions of the same video side-by-side.
• Team collaboration: Highlight necessary file changes through multiple annotation options. Use the platform’s ranged comments for videos — you can select multiple frames within a video and then leave feedback.
• Integrations: Integrate QuickReviewer with Dropbox, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Pricing: There’s a free version available for one user. Paid plans start at $35 per month for ten users.

Drawbacks: QuickReviewer lacks multi-level approvals.

QuickReviewer vs Filestage

• Features: QuickReviewer is not as advanced as Filestage — it lacks analytics, the ability to set due dates, etc.
• Ease of use: QuickReviewer is easier to use, as it’s not as complex as Filestage.
• Scalability: QuickReviewer is more affordable across the board, making it the better option for scalability.

Takeaway: QuickReviewer is a straightforward review platform with highly affordable pricing plans, making it an excellent option for small teams.

6. Bynder – best for streamlined digital asset management

Bynder is a digital asset management software solution designed to streamline all your assets. The platform centralizes and organizes your files by type (logos, videos, files, or images), and by channel (social media, website, email, press, etc.).

The platform stands out through its Digital Asset Transformation tool. It automatically resizes images to fit various formats, adds or removes image backgrounds, and generates SEO metadata for improved search engine visibility.

There’s also a handy AI writing assistant that can automatically shorten, lengthen, and change a text’s tone of voice — perfect for content repurposing.

Key features

• Collaboration and approvals: Set up approval workflows from scratch or use the platform’s approval workflow templates dedicated to various formats (like blogs, social media, emails, and more). Collaborate on projects in real time through comments and annotations.
• AI-powered tools: Leverage the platform’s AI features to automatically spot duplicate assets in your media library, analyze and tag your images for improved asset searchability, and optimize visuals.
• Asset design: Create digital assets directly within the platform and save them as templates to streamline the design process, or import existing assets to Bynder from Sketch or Photoshop PSD. Set up brand guidelines within Bynder to ensure all of your digital assets align with your company’s design language.

Pricing: Pricing is on request for all of Bynder’s packages.

Drawbacks: Despite its AI asset-tagging capabilities, users report that uploading and tagging assets is a time-consuming process.

Bynder vs Filestage

• Features: Bynder is more complex than Filestage. It includes numerous functionalities designed to easily organize and search for assets within your library, AI-powered optimization tools, and more.
• Ease of use: Bynder has a little bit more of a learning curve due to its complexity.
• Scalability: Filestage is better for scalability. Bynder locks many features behind up-tier packages — the entry-level plan only handles digital asset management, with no optimization and design tools available.

Takeaway: Bynder is an excellent option for larger creative teams looking to easily manage a large number of assets and scale up their design processes.

Final thoughts: Enhancing productivity with the right tools

And there you have them — some of the best Filestage alternatives currently available. Although there’s definitely no shortage of options, Planable stands out as a more robust solution, with more practical features and a more intuitive design.

It fills in most of Filestage’s gaps and also manages to bring a lot more to the table. Its built-in media library, multi-level approval workflow solution, and collaboration tools coupled with its direct social media scheduling features allow your creative team to handle the content creation process from beginning to end. So try it for free here!