Skip to main content
Projects
10 Best Project Management Software With Client Portals

The Best Project Management Software with Client Portal List

Here’s the best project management software with client portals:

  1. monday.com

    Manage client relationships, showcase project plans, tag clients to get feedback easily

  2. Celoxis

    Best affordable client portals with optimized mobile interface

  3. Wrike

    Powerful collaboration tool for teams of all sizes

  4. Coordinate

    Best for its client-centric workflows

  5. ClickUp

    Flexible workflow platform that allows clients to submit new task requests by email

  6. Freshdesk

    For teams with large customer bases who deal with lots of support tickets

  7. Accelo

    An easy-to-use self-service portal that also keeps your client’s billing history

  8. OneHub

    A simple client portal software that puts security and storage first

  9. Easy Projects

    With a great minimalist design, EasyProjects keeps it simple with project tagging and tracking

  10. Client Portal For WordPress

    Ideal for freelancers and contractors who need a portal to manage contracts and expectations

Below you’ll find an overview of these tools with screenshots, feature overviews, and pricing.

Picture this: you are working on a project, and you need to ask the client for feedback. Or send over a proof. Or share a folder with finished assets. Or invoice them.

Where does all this happen? From your email inbox? Inside a Google Folder? A physical meeting?

Not anymore. Enter: Project management software with a client portal.

Client portal software allows agencies to close the communication gap with clients. Instead of holding project update meetings or having back-and-forth email chains, portals give agencies a direct line to share and request files with clients, send invoices, and for feedback.

How well you communicate with clients and manage their expectations can have a massive effect on whether they remain loyal customers or look to a competitor for future projects. Adding a client portal to your tech stack shows clients that you are serious about collaborating with them, listening to their advice, and having a space to share information securely.

I’ve already covered the best project management software, but in this article I’m looking specifically at the best project management software with client portals and how each tool stacks up.

Client Portal Project Management Software Comparison Criteria

What do I look for when I select the best project management software with client portals? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:

  • User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive? Does it provide a client-facing dashboard?
  • Usability: Is the tool easy to learn and master? Does it come with adequate training resources and learning materials?
  • Integrations: Does it play well with other tools? Does it have any pre-built integrations?
  • Value for $: Is it affordable? Does the price tag match the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear and upfront? Are the plans flexible if your needs change?

Client Portal Project Management Key Features

Here are some of the key features you should be looking for when selecting a tool for client portal project managent.

  1. Collaboration - Can you share files and documents with clients inside the portal?
  2. Branding- Does it have white-labeling, so you add custom branding and/or watermarking features?
  3. Productivity - Does it allow you to build workflows around content-related procedures?
  4. Security - Can you remotely and securely store data so it can be accessed by clients anywhere? Do tools like encryption secure client files?
project management software with client portal logos list

Overviews Of The 10 Best Project Management Software With Client Portals

Here’s a brief description of each of the software with client portals on my list showing what it does best, plus screenshots to showcase some of the features.

1

monday.com

Manage client relationships, showcase project plans, tag clients to get feedback easily

monday.com’s client management portal mixes Kanban boards and Gantt charts with a simple CRM to make team collaboration easy.

The portal takes some of monday.com’s most recognizable features—boards, reminders, due date notifications—and combines them into a shareable workspace. Once you invite a client in, they can @mention your team members, give feedback, and approve tasks so a project can progress to the next phase.

Much like Slack, the portal’s communication feature shows conversations in a thread, like this:

You can embed links in messages and, as each message is given a stamp showing when it was sent/read, it's easy to see if a client has received your messages in real-time.

It's up to you how you manage the portal's layout. You can share project roadmaps or build simple Kanban boards and pipelines so your client can visualize how a project is progressing. As you can split projects into separate tasks—where you can attach notes and links—clients can also have access to these to give feedback or ask questions (if you permit them!)

The most helpful part about sharing project information like this is that your client is constantly kept in the loop. They can see due dates for tasks and milestones, which sets an expectation for when they can expect work to be completed. Instead of emailing you and asking when a task will be finished or when a project will be delivered—they can just log into the portal.

Unlike some other tools on the list, monday.com doesn't have inbuilt features like invoicing or ticketing, but with their list of integrations, you'll likely be able to add tools from your existing tech stack. Some notable integrations include Dropbox, Excel, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Integromat, Slack, Trello. If your tool isn't on the list, Zapier also integrates with monday.com.

monday.com costs from $8/user/month and comes with a free 14-day trial. They offer a free plan for up to 2 users.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 6745

14-day free trial + freemium plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats)

2

Celoxis

Best affordable client portals with optimized mobile interface

Celoxis has a refreshing one-price-fits-all approach to project management software whereby their cloud-based or on-premise plan encompass all of their offerings without having to wade through a slew of confusing pricing packages. With this, you will have access to client portals at no additional cost, which helps with filtering, reporting, charting, and sharing your data.

You can easily give your clients access so that they can login to view reports shared with them, engage in online discussions, share files and even participate in business workflows like bug tracking, change requests, and item approvals. You can share reports and dashboards with clients that can include tabular, pie charts, bar charts and many other views of reports. To share it with a client, select the client in the 'visible to clients field' in the add/edit report form. If you pick the 'all' option, the report will be shared with all clients. Easy as that. You can also control which project tabs are visible to clients in a similar way.

Every client account can be configured to have the following privileges: 1) Allow client to view task information, excluding financial information. This determines whether clients can view task details. Financial fields (including custom fields) are never shown to the clients. 2) Allow client to view details of progress update on tasks. This determines whether clients can view updates and comments on the task. 3) Allow client to do progress update on tasks. This determines whether clients can add comments on a task.

One thing to note: If you share reports with your client, then the above privileges override the data shared in reports. For example, if you share a task list report to a client that does not have the 'allow client to view task information, excluding financial information' privilege, then that client will see an empty report.

Celoxis integrates with over 400 third-party apps like Google Drive, MS Excel, JIRA, QuickBooks Online, Salesforce, Evernote, Slack, Zendesk, G Suite, Trello, Harvest, MailChimp, and more through a paid account with Zapier.

Celoxis costs from $25/user/month with a 5 user minimum and offers a free 30-day trial.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3 64

30-day free trial

From $25/user/month

3

Wrike

Powerful collaboration tool for teams of all sizes

Wrike is a project management software with client portals that’s trusted by over 2.3 million customers worldwide and suitable for any size team. Wrike’s features are available to external clients at no extra cost, ensuring stakeholders, clients, vendors and contractors all have access to the same information throughout the project management process. Wrike enables managers and clients to communicate directly without relying on constant back-and-forth emails with a single digital hub that features customizable dashboards, reports, and request forms to suit their needs.

Wrike offers highly functional client portals that will make communicating with clients more efficient. Instead of chasing clients for approvals, use Wrike’s customizable request forms to streamline project intake and ensure nothing gets lost in an overloaded inbox. Optimize project planning with one-click Gantt charts, and adjust your dashboard, task list, and workflow to suit your working style. Wrike also features integrations with customer management solutions and sales lead tools, employee capacity monitoring, and onboarding templates.

With a simple user interface, Wrike helps project managers engage with clients and improve communication — without the need for in-person training. Real-time commenting and instant @mentions mean stakeholders are kept in the loop at all times. While Wrike is very user-friendly, you can also avail of the dedicated help center with interactive training, videos, a ‘getting started’ guide, and a thriving community.

Wrike integrates with 400+ apps, including the most popular applications from Microsoft, Slack, Google, and Dropbox, along with sales and marketing software like Salesforce and Marketo. Check the app directory to see all the apps Wrike works with.

Start free with Wrike, no matter how big your team is. Or, try a free 14-day trial of Wrike’s more advanced features and customization. Paid plans start at $9.80/user/month.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 2544

Freemium version available

From $9.80/user/month

4

Coordinate

Best for its client-centric workflows

Coordinate is a collaborative project management software purpose-built for running client projects. It helps you seamlessly execute client-facing projects collaboratively with your clients. How?

Externally, clients can access a white-labeled portal without needing to create an account or learn any software. In this portal, they can see the tasks that are assigned to them, and have the option to view the entire plan.

Internally, customizable and reusable templates help you operationalize your best practices, and deploy new projects with a click. Structured tasks, role-based assignments, relative dates, and automated notifications keep everyone aligned, maintain project velocity, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Threaded chats and secure file sharing maintain organization without effort and eliminate the need for emails and Slack.

Finally, dashboards with custom fields can match internal workflows to track key metrics across your entire project portfolio, letting you easily monitor the status of each project, measure expenditures or ROI, and achieve scale.

Coordinate integrates into all the other systems you use — such as for CRM or development tracking — via Zapier and a Webhook+REST API, in order to streamline your workflows and prevent double data entry.

Coordinate offers a free forever plan to get you started. Advanced plans start at $35 per user per month.

Freemium version available

From $35/user/month

5

ClickUp

Flexible workflow platform that allows clients to submit new task requests by email

ClickUp is a cloud-based project management and collaboration software with the ability to set up a client portal to share information and communicate directly with your clients. It's a flexible system for organizations of all sizes and industries, capable of facilitating task management and allocation, communications, project status monitoring, and team collaboration. It is an all-in-one platform that effectively combines all the functionalities of multiple workflow and organizational management systems into a unified solution.

Using ClickUp, you can communicate deadlines, progress update and more easily. You can create a client space in your system, with individual folders for each client you have. From there, you can use lists to track the different services you provide to each client. ClickUp includes tools to make folders or lists private, or viewable by certain users only. To share items with your clients, invite them to your folder as a Guest, or allow them to use the email task creation feature, which lets them email tasks that get added directly to your 'to do' list, including due dates, as needed.

Another helpful feature if you're managing lots of clients is the ability to create a client folder as a template. You can then re-use this folder quickly, whenever you have a new client sign up. This will save your teams a lot of time, rather than having to re-create your folder structure from scratch again and again.

ClickUp also integrates natively with many platforms, including Dropbox, GitHub, GitLab, HubSpot, Intercom, Loom, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and many others.

ClickUp is completely free for personal use. For small teams, pricing starts at $9/user/month with the Unlimited plan. An Enterprise option is also available for larger teams, with quote-based pricing. Interested parties can visit the vendor’s website for more details about the subscription plans and pricing.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7 4135

Freemium plan available

From $9/user/month

6

Freshdesk

For teams with large customer bases who deal with lots of support tickets

It’s set up so clients can try and solve problems themselves before submitting a ticket. The search bar scours the knowledge base and forums, and answers are automatically suggested using the inbuilt algorithm.

The portal has a tool to build out the knowledge base yourself that's simple to use—add a title, your text, and some tags, and hit publish. You can also add metadata to articles, giving them a chance to show up in search engine results. Once the article is up, Freshdesk tracks it to see if customers are reading it and its performance.

Screenshot Of Freshdesk Knowledge Base Builder
Freshdesk’s knowledge base builder

If your client still doesn't get the answer they're looking for, they can submit a ticket. If they do, each ticket is kept in a database where clients can check its status, and they'll get a notification if you act on it.

What’s really cool about Freshdesk’s portal is its branding options. You can add a custom domain (like support.yourcompany.com), change the color palette, and even add multiple languages to make it easier for clients to communicate with you.

It has inbuilt integrations like Freshdesk for Slack, Freshdesk Kanban, and Freshsuccess and other integrations with tools like MailChimp, Salesforce, Hubspot, Xero, and PayPal. It even has its own mobile app (iOS and Android), so you can stay on top of your messaging from anywhere.

Freshdesk’s Blossom Plan starts at $15/agent/month and includes ticketing and knowledge base.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4 2655

21-day free trial

From $18/agent/month

7

Accelo

An easy-to-use self-service portal that also keeps your client’s billing history

Clients can log on through the portal and look at any files, documents or emails you upload for them. You can also ask them to approve files or give feedback on a document and, when they do, you’ll get an email notification.

One of Accello's client portal's handy features is that it links up with billing, invoicing, and payments. When clients pay an invoice or fulfill a subscription payment, everything is tracked, and billing history is kept. If your client ever wants to retrieve any of this information (like what credit card they have on file), all they have to do is log in.

Accello’s client portal should also fit easily into your existing tech stack as it integrates with over 20 tools, including Gsuite, Xero, Quickbooks, Slack, Typeform, Hubspot, and Airtable.

Accello’s Projects Plan starts at $39/user/month and gives you client portal access.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.4 405

14-day free trial.

From $30/user/month

8

OneHub

A simple client portal software that puts security and storage first

The year 2000 called, and it wants its interface design back.

But what it lacks in a clean, modern interface, it more than makes up for in its security chops. The tool's 'data rooms' are set up with security measures like role-based permissions, session timeouts, audit trails, and two-factor authentication.

Long story short—you don't have to worry about prying eyes in your client files because it's a very secure portal.

When you add files to the portal, you can share them with a client and set permissions (like viewer, collaborator, or administrator), which is perfect for feedback, approval, and task management. The inbuilt watermark tool can automatically mark any documents and protect them with your logo, and you can change up the portal's colors and branding to suit your own.

Here’s the only sticking point about OneHub—its integration list is short. Very short. It only mentions that Microsoft Office and Gsuite tools are on the list, so keep that in mind when deciding if this is the right portal for you and your team.

OneHub’s Standard Plan starts at $15/user/month, but doesn’t include white-labelling or two-factor authentication.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.2 46

14-day free trial

From $20/user/month

9

Easy Projects

With a great minimalist design, EasyProjects keeps it simple with project tagging and tracking

You can tag projects to make them instantly recognizable, label tasks for internal use only, and add timelines to everything your team is working on.

What’s cool about the EasyProject client portal is it doubles as a project management tool. You can add an estimated timeframe to see how long you are spending on each task and even set deadlines for deliverables. It even has a time tracking feature, so you can track everything in real-time.

This is particularly useful when you are charging clients per hour or have them on a retainer, as they can log into the portal and see how your team is using their time and makes it easier to justify billing when invoice time comes around.

You can also assign feedback and approval tasks to clients to make sure they sign off on anything before you move forward.

Screenshot Of EasyProjects Feedback and Approval Of Task
An example of a draft waiting for approval from a client in EasyProjects.

If you want feedback on a draft, just tag the client and ask them to add their thoughts. When they’re done, EasyProjects will automatically notify you so you can jump in and see what the client has added to the document. The whole process makes client projects more collaborative.

The plus side is that all of your client files are kept securely in one place. They can be accessed by everyone on your team instead of getting lost in an email thread.

EasyProjects also integrates with a bunch of tools, including Salesforce, Adobe, Office 365 Outlook, MS Project, Zendesk, JIRA, and InvoiceBerry. If you need more, EasyProjects has a RESTful API to hook up any other apps in your tech stack.

EasyProjects' Team plan starts at $24/user/month, but you must contact them directly to get Enterprise pricing.

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.1 289

From $24/user/month

10

Client Portal For WordPress

Ideal for freelancers and contractors who need a portal to manage contracts and expectations

I'm (kind of) cheating by putting this tool on the list, but the truth is Client Portal for WordPress isn't really a Project Management Software at all.

The portal itself is a web-based tool that lives inside your WordPress site but acts like a wiki. Instead of sending clients to a separate portal, you embed the client portal onto your website and add/remove “modules” when you need to, and clients can access them at any time.

If they want to submit a ticket, view an invoice, or download a file you’ve just uploaded for them—they just log in.

Screenshot Of Client Portal For WordPress Dashboard

It’s also perfect for switching your business hours off. Inside the portal, you can adjust your availability hours, so all your clients know when you'll be responsive. Perfect for stopping those weekend calls or out-of-hours texts.

A single-site license costs $199/year.

From $199/year

Need expert help selecting the right Project Management Software?

We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!

The Best Project Management Software With Client Portals Software Comparison Chart

Tool Free Option Price
1
monday.com

Manage client relationships, showcase project plans, tag clients to get feedback easily

14-day free trial + freemium plan available

From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) Visit Website
2
Celoxis

Best affordable client portals with optimized mobile interface

30-day free trial

From $25/user/month Visit Website
3
Wrike

Powerful collaboration tool for teams of all sizes

Freemium version available

From $9.80/user/month Visit Website
4
Coordinate

Best for its client-centric workflows

Freemium version available

From $35/user/month Visit Website
5
ClickUp

Flexible workflow platform that allows clients to submit new task requests by email

Freemium plan available

From $9/user/month Visit Website
6
Freshdesk

For teams with large customer bases who deal with lots of support tickets

21-day free trial

From $18/agent/month Visit Website
7
Accelo

An easy-to-use self-service portal that also keeps your client’s billing history

14-day free trial.

From $30/user/month Visit Website
8
OneHub

A simple client portal software that puts security and storage first

14-day free trial

From $20/user/month Visit Website
9
Easy Projects

With a great minimalist design, EasyProjects keeps it simple with project tagging and tracking

Not available

From $24/user/month Visit Website
10
Client Portal For WordPress

Ideal for freelancers and contractors who need a portal to manage contracts and expectations

Not available

From $199/year Visit Website

Other Project Management Software with Client Portal Options

Here are a few more tools that didn’t make the top list.

  • Moxtra – Best suited for industries like finance, real estate, and law
  • Archarina –  A mid-market software with a client portal that’s best suited for professional service firms
  • SuiteDash –  Perfect for companies who need a completely customized, white-label portal to fit in with their workflow
  • Houzz Pro – Best for the renovation and home remodeling industry
  • Nimbus Portal Solutions – Well suited to businesses who sign a lot of documents and want to start managing their paperwork in the cloud
  • Client Hub – For accounts who are searching for a platform that combines secure file sharing and storage
  • FileInvite –  A portal for mortgage and financial advisers to send and receive important documents securely
  • ProProfs Project – With Gantt and Kanban charts, this one is perfect for creative and IT agencies
  • DataPlay – A tool built around data visualization, this one is geared towards Government organizations, market research firms, and NGOs
  • Agiled  – The hint is in the name: perfect for agile teams who want a portal they can use to be more collaborative, sign contracts, and handle billing

What Do You Think About These Project Management Software Tools with Client Portals?

Finding the right client portal can take time.

I want to know, have you tried out any of the 20 client portals I’ve mentioned? If you have, what did you think? And did I miss any out?

If you’re already using a portal on the list but thinking of switching up, what’s pushing you to make the change? Is the tool you are using a freemium product or a paid subscription? Did it have all the features you were expecting from a client portal? If you need other features from your PM software, start with this list here.

We want to hear your thoughts in the comments below and if you want updates when we publish new articles and podcasts from our project manager community, sign up The Digital Project Manager newsletter here.

By Ben Aston

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 15 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]