Timestamped Notes Beat Email Threads
Video proofing, also called video review, is the step where a client watches your cut and tells you what to change. Done by email, it goes wrong in a predictable way: a client who writes "the middle part drags a bit" has told you something true and almost useless. You open the cut, scrub around, and guess which moment they mean. Multiply that by twelve notes and three rounds of changes.
A note pinned to a second removes the guessing. "0:20, hold this shot two seconds longer" is a task you can do in the time it takes to read it. The tools below differ in what they cost, what the client has to do, and what happens when cut three arrives.
Loop
Loop is a Mac app that turns a file into your own branded link. For a video, the client opens the link in any browser, presses play, and presses Add Note when something needs to change. The film pauses while they type, and the note is stamped with the second they were on. The recording below shows it happening.
A real recording of Loop's reader page. Press play, or jump to a step.
The same steps in words:
- Watch. The client opens your link and presses play. There is no account to create.
- Add Note. Press Add Note at the moment that needs work. The film pauses.
- Write it. The box shows the time the note belongs to, here 0:20. The client types "Hold this shot two seconds longer."
- Send. Leave Note sends it to you and shows a Note Sent confirmation.
- On the timeline. The note appears as a numbered tab on the timeline, and in the client's own list of notes.
On your side, Loop lists each note against the person who wrote it, as "Note At 0:20".
Highlights
- Your own branded link. Your logo, colours and typeface on every page your client opens.
- Feedback pinned to the timeline. Down to the second. The film pauses while the client writes.
- No account for your client. They open the link in any browser.
- Downloads off until you're ready. Loop hides the Download button; it is not copy protection.
- Your files stay yours. They sit in your own Cloudflare account.
- Pay once. $49 for one person, yours forever, with a 14-day free trial.
Sending Cut Two
Replace the file and the link stays the same, so the client's bookmark from round one opens the latest film. Loop keeps every earlier cut, and you can restore one.
Your own branded link, with notes on the exact second. $49 once.
Options
The differences between the tools are what they cost, what the client has to do, and what happens when you send cut three. Other review suites you may come across include Wipster, Filestage and PageProof. We have not reviewed them here.
| Tool | Notes | Cost, one person |
|---|---|---|
| Typed, found by guessing | Free | |
| Frame.io | Frame or range, drawing | $156 a year |
| Vimeo Review | Notes tied to timecode | From $144 a year |
| Dropbox Replay | On the frame, drawing | About $240 a year |
| Loop | To the whole second | $49 once |
US dollars for one person, billed yearly, before tax, read from each vendor's own pages in October 2026. Vimeo and Dropbox show local currency to some visitors, so their dollar figures come from archived US copies of those pages. How each total is built is in the sections below.
Email Threads
Email is free and every client already has it. Its cost is your time. Each note needs a decision about which moment it means, and nothing keeps notes from different rounds apart.
Frame.io
Frame.io is built for teams that review video together. Reviewers can comment on a single frame or a range, and draw on the picture. It connects to Premiere and Final Cut Pro, and in Final Cut a reviewer's comment arrives as a marker on your timeline.
Its pricing page lists a free plan for up to 2 members with 2 GB, and Pro at $156 a member a year plus tax, billed yearly, for up to 5 members. A reviewer who is not signed in is asked for a name and email on their first comment (Frame.io help). Frame.io's share activity records four actions: opened the link, viewed an asset, commented and downloaded.
Vimeo Review
Vimeo's review pages give clients time-coded comments, and the status can be set to Approved when you switch that option on. Clients do not need a Vimeo account, though they enter a name and email before posting (Vimeo help). On a free plan you get one review link per video. Vimeo's plan comparison lists video review on every paid plan from Starter, while its help article says extra review links need Standard or above. Starter is $12 to $13 a month billed yearly on Vimeo's US pages, so $144 to $156 a year for one seat. It also syncs comments into Premiere Pro. If your finished films already live on Vimeo, this is the nearest fit.
Dropbox Replay
Replay is an add-on to a Dropbox plan. Reviewers comment on frames and draw on the picture, and they need no Dropbox account (Dropbox help). Free accounts can create 4 files in Replay, or 10 on Essentials, Business and Business Plus; the paid add-on lifts the limit and adds password-protected links (Dropbox FAQ). The add-on is $10 a month per user billed yearly, so $120 a year, and it needs a paid Dropbox plan underneath. Dropbox Plus is $9.99 a month billed yearly, which makes about $240 a year in total for one person.
WeTransfer Reviews
WeTransfer ended Reviews and Portals. New ones stopped on 22 October 2025, new comments and approvals stopped on 22 November, and on 22 December 2025 existing content and comments were removed (WeTransfer help, archived copy). WeTransfer pointed people to its Previews feature instead. If your clients were used to that link, any tool above replaces it.
Limits
Loop is built for sending a file to someone outside your team. It is not a review suite, and these gaps matter for some jobs:
- No editor connection. Notes do not arrive as markers in Premiere or Final Cut Pro. You read them in Loop. Frame.io and Vimeo both connect to Premiere.
- Whole seconds, not frames. A note lands on a second, not a frame or a range of frames.
- No drawing on film. Drawing tools work on PDFs and pictures. On a video the client writes.
- Each reviewer sees their own notes. A client sees the notes they wrote. You see everyone's. Reviewers cannot reply to each other in a thread.
- Mac only on your side. Clients open the link on any device. You send from a Mac.
If several editors review together and need frame-accurate marks and approvals, use Frame.io. If you send cuts to clients and want your own name on the link, use Loop.
Cost
For one person for one year, Loop is $49, paid once. Frame.io Pro is $156, Vimeo Starter is from $144, and Dropbox Replay is about $240 including the Dropbox Plus plan it needs. Those three renew every year, so the gap widens each year; Loop has no renewal.
Frame.io, Vimeo and Dropbox also charge per person, so a second or third editor adds the same amount again. Five people on Frame.io Pro, which allows up to 5 members, pay $780 a year.
Loop includes a 14-day free trial that starts on first run, and Loop asks for no payment to begin it. Your files are stored in your own Cloudflare account, and Cloudflare may ask for a card when you switch storage on.
Preparing a Cut
Five habits make any round of notes go faster, whichever tool you use.
- Export an H.264 MP4 review copy. It plays in current browsers. Keep it at 4K or smaller; browsers cannot play H.264 much larger than that.
- Name the cut. "Launch Film, Cut 2" tells the client which round they are looking at.
- Ask for notes, not opinions. "Leave a note at any moment you want changed" gets more usable feedback than "let me know what you think."
- Set the deadline in the message. A date in the email does more than a reminder after the fact.
- Send one link per film. Reuse it for each new cut so nobody reviews an old one.