5 amazing client portal templates for any type of service

There's been one thing I've done in my agency that has been a complete game-changer for me. And that's using a client portal to set up my entire workspace for me and my clients.

Before I had a client portal, my agency felt like it lived in my Gmail inbox and Google Drive. I had invoices in Stripe, contracts in DocuSign, project updates in Slack, and files scattered across Google Drive and Dropbox. My clients would email me asking for the same things over and over. "Where's that contract?" "Did you get my feedback?" "What's the status of that project?"

I was spending hours every week just playing traffic controller, pointing people to the right places. It was exhausting, and honestly, it made me look disorganized even though I knew where everything was.

Then I discovered client portal templates. Instead of building something from scratch or hiring a developer, I could grab a pre-built template, customize it with my branding, and have a professional client hub running in literally an afternoon.

Now every client gets their own space where they can find everything. Contracts, invoices, project timelines, files, messages, etc. They log in, see exactly what they need, and I look like I have my stuff together. Which, thanks to these templates, I actually do now.

So today, I'm going to show you five client portal templates that can transform how you work with clients. Some are free, some are paid, but all of them are better than the chaos of managing everything through email.

How do you create a client portal?

The first step to creating a client portal is to look through different client portal platforms and decide which one best fits your use case. There are tons of tools out there that can help you craft your client portal. And they make it super easy to create amazing client experiences and integrate with any existing tools you already have.

This part depends heavily on the types of clients you serve and how you structure your pricing model. My personal favorite is Copilot (now Assembly), which I use for my content marketing agency. But there are other great tools too, like Moxo if you're more enterprise-focused or Bonsai if you're a freelancer.

I'm not going to go in-depth on how to create your portal step by step. If you want that, I wrote a blog post about it that you can check out here. The main idea is that you can use client portal software to create your portal and then integrate it with your website if you want.

Now that we know how to generally create a client portal, let's talk about templates. But before I get into my five favorite templates, I want to show you how to think about client portal templates.

Elements of a good client portal template

When I first started my agency, I didn't even know I needed a client portal. Intuitively, I knew that I needed a "home base" where all of my client interactions could live. And I wanted to create an environment for each client that made them feel special and fully tailored to their branding.

Once I realized that this was a client portal platform, the next step was to know how to actually design my portal.

So if you're looking for a client portal template, here are some things that you should pay attention to:

• Clear navigation: When you onboard a client, it should feel super easy for them to understand what they're looking at and how to navigate around. Everything from communications, reports, deliverable statuses, and payments should all be clearly labeled and easily accessible.
• A dashboard: This goes into the clear navigation part, but you want to have a clear reporting dashboard that someone can log into and it welcomes and greets them and gives them any notifications or important things that they should know about their project with you.
• Customization: You should be able to customize your client portals to fit either your branding or your client's branding. And bonus points if you can add a custom domain for your own agency so your client portal looks like it was created specifically for your business.
• Integrations: Chances are you and your client are using different tools like QuickBooks for managing expenses or Zapier for creating integrations between your tech stack. Either way, your client portal template should be able to integrate with any of your existing tools so it can create a mission control center for everything on the admin side of your business.

There's a lot more that I can go into, but I think these are a good basis for things to look out for. Some of the templates below have all of these while some of them have only a few. But the first one is my favorite one that has them all.

Alright, let's get into it.

5 client portal templates you can use (free + paid)

Here are the best client portal templates you can use:

1. Copilot templates
2. Notion templates
3. Bonsai templates
4. Softr templates
5. Budibase templates

Let’s take a look at what each one is good for.

1. Copilot templates

• Best for: Tech-enabled service businesses like accounting firms, marketing agencies, freelancers, or consultants
• Pricing: Starts at $39 per month

Copilot has some of the best client portal templates I've found, and I'm not just saying that because I use them. They have pre-built templates for different workflows that come with everything already designed.

Their most popular templates include ones for modern accounting firms, marketing agencies, and even a special template from Jason On Firms if you're in the accounting space. What I love about these templates is that they're not just pretty designs. They come with actual workflows built in.

For example, the marketing agency template comes with productized services already set up, client onboarding workflows, and automations ready to go with Zapier and Make. The accounting firm template has streamlined onboarding, unified client home, data collection forms, and secure backup features all pre-configured.

You don't have to start from scratch. You pick a template, customize it with your branding, and you're basically ready to invite clients. Each template includes the apps you'll actually need like messaging, invoicing, file sharing, contracts, and forms.

2. Notion templates

• Best for: Solopreneurs and small teams who already use Notion internally
• Pricing: Free for personal use, then $12 per month per user

If you've ever used a project management tool, you probably already know about Notion. Notion has a bunch of different templates that you can use, and one of those is in the category of client portals.

This is actually a platform that I recommend any beginner start with that doesn't need extra stuff like invoicing or client communications. If you just need a place to showcase project timelines and tasks, and you want your clients to see all that, along with a help desk, then Notion is a great option.

They have templates for freelancers, agencies, and consultants. The templates are pretty straightforward and focus mainly on project management and documentation.

The thing about Notion is that it's really flexible. You can build almost anything with it. But that flexibility also means you'll spend more time setting things up compared to a dedicated client portal platform. And you'll need to handle payments, contracts, and messaging through other tools.

3. Bonsai templates

• Best for: Beginner freelancers or consultants
• Pricing: Starts at $15 per user per month

Bonsai is a platform I first started my freelance business with, and it's great for handling things like invoices and a CRM. But beyond just that, they also have different templates to set up client portals across different services.

What makes Bonsai useful is its template library that's specifically designed for freelancers and small agencies, with everything from contracts to proposals to client portals.

What makes Bonsai templates useful is that they're built around the freelancer workflow. The platform has everything from proposals, contracts, projects, and client portals. It streamlines everything, making it a great platform for freelance beginners or those running a small team.

The only downside is that Bonsai feels more like a freelancer tool that added client portals later, rather than a client portal platform from the ground up. So while it works, it's not as robust as some other options if the portal experience is your main priority.

4. Softr templates

• Best for: Teams already using Airtable, Google Sheets, or other databases
• Pricing: Includes free plan, then $59 per month

Softr is interesting because it's basically a no-code platform that lets you build a client portal on top of your existing data. So if you're already using Airtable, Google Sheets, or Notion to manage your business, you can turn that into a client portal without starting over.

Similar to Copilot, their client portal template comes with role-based access, project management, invoicing, file sharing, and commenting. What's cool is that it works with 14+ different data sources, so you're not locked into their ecosystem.

I've played around with Softr, and it's powerful if you're comfortable with no-code tools. You can customize pretty much everything and white-label it with your own domain. The downside is that there's definitely a learning curve. You're essentially building an app (and not just designing a template).

The template includes sample data so you can see how to structure everything. But you'll still need to spend time setting up your data source, connecting everything, and customizing the interface. It's a bit more work up front than something like Copilot or Bonsai.

5. Budibase templates

• Best for: Teams looking to build internal tools
• Pricing: Free, then $60 per month

Budibase is another no-code platform, but it's more developer-friendly than Softr. They have a collection of portal templates, with specific ones for agencies, accountants, and general customer portals.

What’s different about Budibase is that it's open-source, and you can also self-host it if you want. This means you have complete control over your data and where it lives. This is great if you’re paranoid about data security or have strict compliance requirements.

Their templates are pretty basic, but they work. You get the standard stuff like client management, file sharing, and project tracking. The agency client portal template, for example, lets you manage clients, share project files, and handle communications.

The catch with Budibase is that it's definitely more technical than the other options. Even though it's "no-code," you'll need to understand databases and have some technical knowledge to get everything set up properly. If you're not comfortable with that stuff, you'll probably get a bit frustrated.

Build a modern client portal

After testing all these templates, here's what I've learned. The best client portal is the one that actually fits your business needs and is the easiest to set up.

You can start with a free template from Notion if you're just getting your feet wet and want something user-friendly. But if you're serious about building client relationships and want an all-in-one solution, platforms like Copilot (Assembly) give you everything in one place, from tracking project progress to handling docs and FAQs.

The functionality you need really depends on where you are in your business. When I first started, I just needed a place to share client information and track client projects. Now I need permissions, self-service options, and real-time updates because my agency has grown.

Whatever template you choose, just make sure it can grow with you. Your clients don't care about the platform you use. They care about being able to access their stuff easily, see project progress without asking you, and feel like they're getting a professional experience.

If you want more tutorials on setting up your customer portal template, most of these platforms have pretty solid documentation. But honestly, the best way to figure out what works is to just pick one and start using it. You can always switch later if you need to.

The goal is simple. Give your clients a home base where everything lives. Once you have that, everything else in your business gets easier.