A Filestage alternative for social post approvals
Filestage is an online proofing tool for videos, images, designs, documents, websites and audio, aimed at marketing, creative and agency teams, including regulated ones. Reviewers comment on the file itself and approve it in stages. It does not schedule or publish.
Read this bit first. PostDecks does not schedule or publish anything. It previews posts and collects client approval, and you keep posting however you post today. If you want scheduling and approval in one tool, PostDecks is not it.
What Filestage does better
- It reviews almost any file: timestamped video comments, PDFs, live websites and audio. PostDecks only does social posts.
- It compares versions, passes a file from one review group to the next, and has AI review agents for brand and compliance checks.
- It has audit controls and password-signed approvals for regulated work, on its Enterprise plan.
- It connects to Adobe Creative Cloud, Jira, monday, Zapier and Slack.
Where PostDecks is the better answer
- Your client sees the post the way each app will show it, in 12 formats from Instagram to TikTok. Filestage shows the file you uploaded, not a post.
- Caption cut-offs, crops and safe zones are drawn for you, so the client approves what will actually go out.
- It is free. Filestage's free plan allows 1 active project and 5 new files a month, and its paid plans start at $199 a month billed yearly.
- Previewing and exporting run in your browser, so there is nothing to upload.
What each one costs
Filestage
A free plan with 1 active project and 5 new files a month. Starter at $199 a month billed yearly ($249 monthly) and Business at $329 ($399), each with 10 seats. Reviewers are unlimited on every plan. There is a 14-day trial, after which an account drops to the free plan.
PostDecks
PostDecks is free. Previewing and exporting need no account, and client approval links come with a free one.
Filestage pricing checked on from their own pricing page. Prices change, so confirm with them before you decide anything on the strength of a number here.
So which one
Buy Filestage if
you approve more than social posts: video, print, websites and documents, especially where compliance matters. Filestage is a proper proofing tool and PostDecks is not.
Use PostDecks if
what you send a client is social posts, and you want them to see each one the way Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok will show it, not as an image with the caption pasted underneath.
Questions
- Can Filestage preview social media posts?
- It reviews the image or video you upload, and its Business plan adds a video safe-zone overlay. It does not lay the asset out as a post in each app's feed, which is what PostDecks does.
- Do reviewers need an account?
- Not in either. Filestage asks a reviewer for an email address, and a PostDecks client opens a link and approves.
- Is PostDecks a replacement for Filestage?
- For social posts, it can be. For video, print, websites or regulated sign-off, no: Filestage does far more there.
PostDecks is free, and previewing needs no account. Try it against a real post and see whether it covers what you need.