pincushionAgentation is for your own pass. Pincushion is for your clients.
Agentation is one of the best ways to point a coding agent at a UI element while you build. Pincushion starts where the feedback comes from someone else: a client pins the live page from a link, for free, and your agent gets a work packet with a commit, PR and verification trail behind it.
What Agentation does well
Credit where it's due. You add one dev dependency (npm install agentation -D), click the toolbar, click an element and write a note. Agentation copies markdown your agent can act on: CSS selectors, source file paths, the React component tree, computed styles, and your note with intent and priority. You can select text to flag a typo, and pause animations to annotate a single frame.
It also ships a local MCP server, so an agent can list pending annotations, acknowledge them, reply in a thread and resolve them with a summary. Webhooks, an API and a published annotation schema round it out. Agentation says it is free for individuals and companies for internal use. For a developer tightening their own React app before anyone else sees it, that's a very good deal.
Where the model differs
Agentation is built around the person writing the code. Its FAQ calls it "a development tool" and suggests rendering it only in development or behind a feature flag. It needs React 18+ as a peer dependency and is desktop only. By default, annotations live in that browser's localStorage; sharing them with other people means turning on Agent Sync to a shared server, and the bundled server binds to your own machine unless you configure it otherwise.
That fits a builder's own pass well. It's a harder fit for the round of feedback that comes next, from a client or PM who will never run your dev build. Pincushion is made for that round:
- Free client pins from a link. Share a report link and reviewers pin the real page with just a name, no account or install on projects open to feedback. Collaborators never pay. A one-line widget script and a Chrome extension cover teams that prefer those.
- The agent work packet. Each pin carries the selector, DOM snippet, screenshot, viewport, thread and project context. Cursor, Claude Code or Codex reads it over MCP with
implement_approved_pins, so nobody re-types the client's note into a prompt. - The commit, PR and verify trail.
fix_and_resolverecords the commit SHA, branch and PR URL on the pin. On Pro, the deploy hook links the live deploy and Pincushion AI checks the fix, writing a verdict back to the pin. The client sees what shipped, on the pin they left.
How they differ
| Pincushion | Agentation | |
|---|---|---|
| Who leaves feedback | Clients, PMs and teammates from a link — free and unlimited | Whoever runs the app with the toolbar installed |
| Where it runs | The live or staging page, in the reviewer's own browser | Your app, typically in development (React 18+) |
| Context handed to the agent | Selector, DOM snippet, screenshot, viewport, thread, project context | Selectors, source file paths, React component tree, computed styles |
| Agent reads and resolves via MCP | Yes — any MCP agent | Yes — local MCP server |
| Commit SHA, branch and PR recorded on the feedback | Yes, via fix_and_resolve | Resolve with a summary |
| Post-deploy check of the fix | Yes (Pro) | Not described |
| Where annotations are stored | Pincushion cloud, shared with the project | Browser localStorage, or a sync server you run |
| Best for | Feedback from people who aren't in your codebase | A developer's own pass on a React app |
Agentation gives your agent rich context about your own notes. Pincushion brings in everyone else's, and keeps the receipt of what shipped.
When Agentation is the better fit
If you're working alone or on a small dev team, the app is React, and every note comes from someone with the dev build open, Agentation is quick, free for internal use, and its source paths and component tree are richer local context than a selector alone. Use it. Pincushion is the better fit once clients or non-developers are reviewing the deployed site and you want their pins, the thread and the PR trail kept in one place.
Use both
Many teams will: Agentation for the builder's own pass, Pincushion for the client round that follows. The free plan covers one project with unlimited manual pins and 25 AI actions a month, and reviewers never need a paid seat. Every new account starts with a 14-day full-Pro trial — no card required. See the loop in Cursor, Claude Code or Codex, or compare with Codex browser annotations and Cursor Design Mode.