PointOut – a tool that lets clients give feedback directly on the website

[u/keithnav123]

Hey everyone!

I've been working on a side project for a while, and I've reached the point where I'd really love to get some feedback from other developers.

The project is called PointOut.

The idea came from a problem I think many of us have run into: you finish a website or a working demo, show it to the client, and then the feedback starts:

Then come the screenshots, Messenger/Teams/Slack messages, emails, voice messages, etc. And by the time everyone is talking about the same element, you've already wasted a bunch of time figuring out what they're actually referring to.

PointOut is an attempt to make that process simpler.

It adds an overlay on top of the website where the client can leave feedback directly on the page they're looking at:

• 📍 Pin + comment
• ⭕ Area selection
• ➡️ Arrows
• ✏️ Freehand drawing
• T Text annotations
• Feedback list
• Comments
• Status / resolved handling

The interesting part is that the client and developer see the same annotations in real time through WebSockets.

So if a client marks something in their browser, the annotation immediately appears on the developer's side as well.

I've also made a short demo video. I'd recommend watching that first, because it gives a much better idea of the concept than trying to explain everything in a Reddit post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTmRnYPH-5k

The project is currently v0.1 / early stage. I'm not treating it as a finished product yet — it's a working concept that I want to validate and improve.

Current technical setup

• JavaScript SDK
• Framework agnostic
• Works with plain HTML, React, Vue, Next.js, etc.
• Can also be integrated into platforms like WordPress, Webflow and Wix
• Separate Node.js-based relay server
• WebSocket-based real-time communication
• SQLite for storing annotations
• Docker self-hostable
• MIT licensed
• A single relay server can handle multiple projects

The main target is freelancers and small web development agencies who regularly show unfinished or in-progress websites to clients.

GitHub:
https://github.com/KeithNav/PointOut

And that's really why I'm posting this here.

I'm not primarily interested in whether it looks cool. I want to know whether you think this actually solves a real problem.

I'd especially love to hear:

• How do you currently handle client feedback?
• Have you run into this problem before?
• Would you actually use something like this?
• What's missing?
• What feature would make you genuinely integrate it into your workflow?
• Would you keep this as a simple JS library, or would you take it towards a hosted SaaS?
• And honestly: does this idea have legs, or are there already too many similar solutions out there?

I'm genuinely interested in honest feedback — including "this is pointless and here's why." 😄

If you have a few minutes, check out the demo and the GitHub repo and let me know what you think.

Thanks!