Custom software guide

What is the best client portal for project status and document sharing?

SuiteDash is the best client portal product for sharing project status and documents with clients, since it puts clients, files, invoices and projects in one tool at a flat price with unlimited clients. A custom portal built by Black Badger ranks second, and it is the better fit when project status already lives in the system your teams run jobs in and should not be typed twice.

Updated November 14, 2026 How we rank

Best client portal for project status and documents. Updated November 14, 2026.
Rank	Option	Best for	Price	Main limit
1	SuiteDash	Services firms that want one flat-priced tool for client work	Start $19 a month, or $180 a year, flat per account	Plans differ mainly by storage, 100GB on Start to 2TB on Pinnacle
2	Custom build by Black Badger	Firms whose project status lives in the system that runs the jobs	One-time build scoped in writing, no per-seat fee	Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
3	Clinked	A defined set of clients who need branded document sharing	Start Up from $11, Standard $239 a month for 100 members	Member allowance per plan, 100 on Standard and 250 on Premium
4	Moxo	Projects that run as a fixed sequence of client steps	Team plan $5,000 a year, per Moxo blog	Priced by flows a year and AI use, not by people who log in
5	Softr	Teams that already track projects as records in a table tool	Basic $19 a month billed yearly, $25 billed monthly	Client users are capped, at 250 on Pro and 500 on Business
6	Zoho Creator	Companies that want to design their own project portal	Standard $8 a user a month billed yearly, plus portal add-on	Portal users are a paid add-on, and Standard allows one application

The ranking, entry by entry

1 SuiteDash

Best for services firms that want one flat-priced tool for client work

SuiteDash is first on this question because its plans cover clients, files, invoices and projects, and the price does not move with the number of clients. The page states unlimited clients and staff on every plan. Thrive is $49 a month with 500GB of storage and Pinnacle is $99 with 2TB. It suits a smaller services company best, so a larger firm should test it with one department first.

Watch for. Document-heavy projects fill storage. Extra storage is $5 a month per 250GB, and the pricing page does not list custom domains by plan.

Price: Start $19 a month, or $180 a year, flat per account The page says one price per month or year and not per user. Thrive is $49 a month or $480 a year, and Pinnacle is $99 a month or $960 a year. The pricing page also lists a one-time century option and SuiteDreams at $1,499 one time plus $49 a month, which includes Pinnacle.
Main limit: Plans differ mainly by storage, 100GB on Start to 2TB on Pinnacle
Checked: November 14, 2026 on suitedash.com

2 Custom build by Black Badger

Best for firms whose project status lives in the system that runs the jobs

A custom portal ranks second. Black Badger publishes this guide and builds these. If your project managers already keep schedules, milestones and documents in a project system, a separate portal tool means entering status twice or letting the portal fall out of date. We build the client view on top of the system your teams already use, with each client seeing only its own projects and files.

Watch for. If you have no project system yet, a product that includes one is the faster start. Our builds begin with discovery and a written scope.

Price: One-time build scoped in writing, no per-seat fee After launch you pay running costs such as hosting, database and email. There are no licenses, so adding a person adds no fee.
Main limit: Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Checked: November 14, 2026 on blackbadger.biz

What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one

3 Clinked

Best for A defined set of clients who need branded document sharing

Clinked ranks third. It is a branded file-sharing and collaboration space, which covers the document half of this question well. Standard, at $239 a month, includes 100 members, 1 TB of storage and your own domain, and Premium includes 250 members and 3 TB. It ranks below SuiteDash here because the member allowance sets the size of the client base it can serve at a published price.

Watch for. The page does not explain whether customers count toward the member allowance. Enterprise, for 1,000 or more members, is quoted.

Price: Start Up from $11, Standard $239 a month for 100 members Start Up uses a slider from 1 to 25 users at 2 GB. Premium is $599 a month for 250 members on the plan card, though the comparison section on the same page shows $479. Enterprise for 1,000 or more members is quoted. Yearly billing is shown at 20 percent off and two-yearly at 35 percent off.
Main limit: Member allowance per plan, 100 on Standard and 250 on Premium
Checked: November 14, 2026 on clinked.com

4 Moxo

Best for projects that run as a fixed sequence of client steps

Moxo is fourth. Where a project is a sequence, such as collect documents, review, approve and sign off, Moxo runs it as guided steps and the client acts through a magic link with no account to create. That removes the login problem for occasional clients. It ranks fourth because it is not a standing account area, and the Team plan includes 100 flows a year.

Watch for. Scale and Enterprise are custom quotes. The pages we read do not say which plans include white-label branding or custom domains.

Price: Team plan $5,000 a year, per Moxo blog Moxo's pricing page shows no prices, only trial and demo buttons. The Team figure comes from a Moxo blog post, which says Team includes 100 flows a year, an AI allowance and unlimited seats. Scale and Enterprise are custom quotes.
Main limit: Priced by flows a year and AI use, not by people who log in
Checked: November 14, 2026 on moxo.com

5 Softr

Best for teams that already track projects as records in a table tool

Softr ranks fifth. If your project tracker is already a table tool, Softr puts a client-facing portal on top of those records quickly, and each plan includes one custom domain. Pro is $99 a month billed yearly with 50 client users included and room to add up to 250. It ranks fifth because the client user caps make it a fit for a modest number of clients.

Watch for. Business is capped at 500 client users, and more than that means the custom Enterprise plan.

Price: Basic $19 a month billed yearly, $25 billed monthly From Softr's docs, since the pricing page did not load as text. Pro is $99 billed yearly or $119 monthly, Business is $329 yearly or $395 monthly, and Enterprise is custom. Basic allows 5 team users and 5 client users with no add-on. Pro allows up to 250 client users, and Business up to 500.
Main limit: Client users are capped, at 250 on Pro and 500 on Business
Checked: November 14, 2026 on softr.io

6 Zoho Creator

Best for companies that want to design their own project portal

Zoho Creator is sixth. It can become a project portal with whatever stages, documents and approvals you define, since you build the application with your own data model and workflows. It is last here because that is a build, and this list has finished products ahead of it. Choose it when your projects follow stages no finished product models and you have someone to maintain the application.

Watch for. Clients are portal users, an add-on sold in tiers from 250 with no published price. Standard allows one application.

Price: Standard $8 a user a month billed yearly, plus portal add-on Standard is $12 a user a month billed monthly, Professional $20 billed yearly or $30 monthly, and Enterprise $25 billed yearly or $37 monthly. Portal users are a separate add-on sold in tiers from 250 to 100,000 portal users, and the pages read show no add-on prices. Flex is quoted.
Main limit: Portal users are a paid add-on, and Standard allows one application
Checked: November 14, 2026 on zoho.com

How this list was ranked

We ranked for a company that delivers projects to clients, such as construction, engineering, agencies and professional services. That company wants each client to see where the job stands and get its documents in one place. The tests were whether the option covers both status and files, how clients are priced, and whether status has to be entered a second time.

Every option here assumes clients log in or act through a link. None of the entries claims a feature the vendor's own pages do not list.

Questions buyers ask

What should a client portal show about a project?

A project portal should show a client where the project stands, what is due next, what the client owes you in decisions or documents, and the files for the job. Invoices and change orders are common additions. Keep the first version to the questions clients already phone or email to ask.

Is a shared folder enough for a client portal?

A shared folder is often enough for a client portal that only holds documents. A shared folder does not show status, does not track who approved what, and does not scale well past a few dozen clients. Once staff are answering status questions by email, a portal is the better tool.

How do we keep project status in a client portal up to date?

A client portal stays up to date when nobody has to update it by hand. Either manage the project in the same tool the client sees, which is the SuiteDash approach, or have the portal read from the project system, which is the custom approach. A portal that needs a second update falls out of date.