21+ Must-Have Client Portal Features To Check in 2025

12 Must-Have Client Portal Features
Client portal features — which are an absolute must-have? We’ve compiled a list of 12 most essential, in our opinion, functionalities, and discussed them using real-life examples.
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A client portal is a client-facing space for sharing files, information, project details, services & orders, communication, and more, in one place.

It may be a part of a Software as a Service—SaaS solution, such as a project management platform or a dedicated client portal software, be created from scratch or using no-code tools, or improvised using tools that are not dedicated to be used as a customer portal software, like combining Asana with Notion.

Client portals are used to help nurture customer relationships, enhance customer satisfaction, and make sure your clients stay on the same page with all the essential details being easily reachable. If you’re curious to know all the details on the client portal benefits, make sure to read our latest article. 👀

Such a solution may come in all shapes and sizes, from the most basic read-only options that simply allow clients to view their documents where clients occasionally pop in, to complete collaborative spaces, with payments, communication, and even e-signatures included.

In this article, we’ll go over 21+ must-have client portal features, describing their purpose, so that you can figure out what your choice of a client portal should look like.

Perhaps an ideal tool is already out there?

A Word About Our Entitlement

First of all, why should you trust us on deciding which features are essential for client portal software and which aren’t?

Well, for one, we’ve built a client portal software ourselves, you can check out Zendo here. ⬅️

For two, we’ve tested numerous solutions available on the market, from Dubsado, HoneyBook, 17Hats, to Tave and SuiteDash.

Moreover, we constantly keep in touch with our clients and their needs, keep revamping our solution, observing which things seem to be essential, and which ones are optional.

21+ Must-Have Client Portal Features

Without further ado, here is the list of the 21+ client portal features we deem as must-have. We encourage you to go through the below list, and check the things you find essential in your business.

And if you’re in a rush, here’s a quick tl;dr table with all the client portal features and why they matter.

#Feature NameShort DescriptionCategory
1File Sharing & Documents OverviewEnables two-way secure sharing, viewing, and downloading of files between you and your clients.Collaboration
2Password Protection & SecurityProtects sensitive data through password-protected client accounts and secure logins.Security
3Internal CommunicationAllows real-time chat and internal team notes to replace scattered external communication tools.Collaboration
4White LabelingLets you customize branding, domain, layout, and emails to make the portal fully your own.Customization
5Custom OnboardingsEnables personalized welcome experiences, controlled user behavior, walkthroughs, and tailored messages for new clients.Customization
6External App EmbeddingLets you embed external apps (e.g., Figma, Google Sheets, Calendly) directly inside the portal.Integration
7Custom Client Portal LayoutAllows rearranging sidebar elements, renaming sections, and adjusting layout for better UX.Customization
8Customer ImpersonationLets admins view and test the client portal from a specific client’s perspective.Administration
9Dedicated Testing Environment (Sandbox)Provides a safe, separate space to experiment and test new portal setups without affecting live data.Administration
10IntegrationsConnects with external systems like Zapier, Stripe, and affiliate tools for seamless workflows.Integration
11Multilingual SupportOffers multi-language options for global clients, allowing each user to set their preferred language.Accessibility
12Services & OrdersLets clients browse, order, and manage services directly within their portal.Sales & Ordering
13PaymentsSupports automated and manual payments via Stripe, subscriptions, or one-off invoices.Finance
14Task ManagementHelps track project tasks and checklists directly within client requests or orders.Project Management
15DashboardGives clients a clear overview of their projects, files, subscriptions, and key actions.User Experience
16Intake Forms & RequestsCustomizable forms for collecting necessary client information before starting work.Data Collection
17Ticket ManagementAllows clients to submit requests or support tickets and track progress within the portal.Support & Service
18StatusesDisplays project or request progress with customizable status labels and automation triggers.Transparency
19NotificationsKeeps clients informed via in-app, browser, or email notifications for key actions and updates.Communication
20Roles & PermissionsDefines different access levels for team collaboration.Administration
21Automation (Workflows)Automates repetitive actions like status updates, assignments, and follow-up messages.Efficiency
22Unlimited ClientsRemoves limits on how many clients can be invited to and managed through the portal.Scalability
23Free Trial & Free PlanOffers no-cost options to test or use the client portal before committing to paid plans.Pricing & Accessibility

#1 File Sharing & Documents Overview

Starting from the basics, a proper client portal solution should definitely allow for file sharing & documents overview.

And this feature goes both ways. Not only you, but also your clients should be able to easily share, overview, and download files. Whether that’ll be delivering the project you’ve completed or your client sharing inspiration docs.

Something to look out for is that certain software solutions that include a client portal, offer a Files tab in their client portal feature, but make it read-only. 🚨

All in all, with the possibility to easily share files through the client portal, you could ditch a few collaborative tools for starters, which is what we ultimately want from our software—to substitute different tools.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo is a dedicated client portal solution that offers password-protected space for clients to communicate with you & your team, complete payments, order new services, share and download files, and so much more.

And it offers both secure document sharing and file overview.

File sharing in Zendo happens through the Files tab.

From there, you can drag and drop or browse your computer for files you want to upload and you can choose which clients you want to upload files for or go directly into each client’s folder to upload from there.

Of course, customers can also upload files the same way.

But besides just overviewing shared files and uploading new ones, Zendo makes it easy for clients to check on their quotes & invoices, along with their status in a separate Quotes and Invoices tab.

#2 Password Protection & Security

But how could you be brave enough to share important files & documents along with often sensitive client data without proper protection?

That’s why, password protection is an absolute must when looking to create a secure environment for your clients.

What’s even greater is if you can customize the client access with a custom login and sign-up page, to ensure a more white-label experience.

But more on the importance of white labeling and customization in a minute. 👀

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo allows your clients to create their own accounts with their own passwords to get portal access easily.

But besides the password protection to share sensitive client information securely, this software platform also allows you to customize the sign-up and login page for your clients.

Add your own logo, a custom image, or go for a classic centered page with no images.

Guarding the proper data security is built-in API protection for enhanced safety.

#3 Internal Communication

Given you’ve found a software platform that includes the 2 aforementioned features, your clients will now be able to log in to their client portal and check on the essential files and information.

But what if they have any questions, comments, or a simple need for a chat?

Internal communication for a proper client collaboration is the answer to all these issues, that also happily substitutes external communication tools (forget about the never-ending external Slack channels). However, it’s also that one feature that seems to be the hardest to execute.

Some go for project-based comments to cover client interactions, however, they’re not always working as expected. Others introduce email-like messages, which we either can’t delete or can’t use in threads.

Some also just skip the internal communication thing completely, only allowing your clients to view past conversations—probably to scroll through to look for important details, or beat themselves up about their word choice if they’re the overthinking type.

We can’t say we particularly enjoyed any of these solutions when testing other client portal platforms.

In our opinion, the best way to include internal communication within a client portal is through a real-time chat.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

A real-time chat, like the one available in Zendo, comes with many benefits. For one, it’s real-time, so both parties involved can actually exchange messages and information without having to reload the page constantly to see what’s new

For two, it’s very familiar. We use real-time chats all the time. If not on Facebook’s Messenger or WhatsApp, we use it on Slack or even that multiplayer game we play after working hours.

In Zendo, your customers as well as you and your team will find an easy way to chat through the Messages tab. From there, you can send dedicated messages to individual clients or send announcements for secure messaging to selected or all customers. Like an information about a new sale or a change in business hours when clients can contact support.

What’s more, besides regular chats with customers, both sides also get the opportunity to chat on specific project or request details in a dedicated chatbox within each request submitted by the customer.

That way, all connected files and every important detail (including statuses and task checklists) is available right next to the whole project conversation. A quick scope change request in the chat? Sure, you’ll be able to issue a new quote right next to it.

A thoughtful bonus is the fact that we can not only communicate with our clients using this feature, but also get in touch with our team in a private manner, using internal team notes available in each conversation. 🕵️

selling services tools for quotes, invoices and payments

#4 White Labeling

Coming back to customization and white labeling (a must for agencies and recognized companies).

We believe that it’s ever so important to be able to make the client portal you’ll be using your own.

Why?

To not confuse your clients by introducing intermediary points in their journey. A complete white label and customizable client portal solution enhances your professionalism as a business owner, making the experience for your clients cohesive with everything else you offer.

We can distinguish between two main levels of customization client portals usually offer, from basic to some more advanced options.

Basic Customization

The basic customization options most client portal software solutions offer are:

  • adding your own logo,
  • changing the aesthetics of your client portal, like button colors,
  • adding a favicon,
  • adding a logo for your documents, like invoices.

Advanced Customization

The more advanced options are:

  • connecting a custom domain to get rid of the intermediary solution’s name in your client portal’s URL,
  • connecting a custom email domain to make sure the emails you sent out from the client portal reach your clients without a trace of an intermediary,
  • connecting your own email address directly to the platform via a Google/Microsoft account or using an SMTP connection,
  • removing completely any ‘Powered by’ badges pointing to the intermediary client portal provider,
  • linking to your own Terms of Service on the sign-up page,
  • linking to or creating your own Help Center or knowledge base articles within the client portal,
  • customizing the whole layout of the client portal, including changing the UX copy and adding your own elements, even external applications, like Figma,
  • creating customized onboarding experiences for individual customers or customer groups.

We’ve tested client portal solutions that stop at the aesthetics, basic customization settings, or ones that make it expensive to reach all of the white labeling options.

Some, like Zendo, not only offer white labeling at an affordable level, but also introduce all of the advanced customization options you can think of.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

We could show you adding a logo or a favicon, but where’s the fun in that?

Instead, we’ll share one of the more unobvious customization features available in Zendo—its Chatbot.

Zendo’s Chatbot is basically responsible for delivering automatic messages to your clients. An example automatic message is a follow-up message.

The follow-up message makes it easy to respond to your clients immediately after they reach out, for example, to help them get informed of the next steps, even if you’re busy doing something else or to simply say hi and fulfill the need for immediate contact.

The Chatbot delivers that message automatically after your client submits a request.

Moreover, it can be customized by adding a custom avatar and changing its name, so that it fits your branding fully.

Of course, besides those more niche customization options, Zendo offers every basic and advanced customization feature you can think of, from custom domains to fully re-arranging the client portal per each client or internal access needs.

#5 Custom Onboardings

And because those customization features play a bit part in the role of a good client portal, we’re going to go over a few more, in detail.

Now jumping into custom client onboarding.

To make the transition to a client portal easier, some platforms allow you to create custom welcoming sequences with welcome messages, images, links, and more.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

In Zendo, you can easily set up dedicated onboarding experiences for every customer separately or for all your customers. You can differentiate by the service a given customer has purchased.

So, for example, offer a more VIP welcome with a Customer Success Manager on board for customers who purchase more high-end options and a more self-service onboarding for regular customers.

To do that, go to Client portal > onboarding on the left-hand side panel under Settings and create your onboarding experience either to show up in full or half-size on the customer’s Dashboard.

You can add formatted text, links, images, and of course, preview each onboarding you add to the platform.

#6 External App Embedding

Another way of customizing your new client portal is adding external applications into the platform. What for? Well, there are as many reasons as they are apps you can think of.

Sharing design projects? Figma.

Submitting a new SEO content plan? Google Sheets.

Making sure your customers have an easy way to book time with your team? Calendly.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

That’s why, when building out your customer portal in Zendo, you can easily embed multiple external applications, from AirTable to Figma to how to guides on YouTube or any app that allows sharing it externally with an iFrame code.

#7 Custom Client Portal Layout

Speaking of adding elements into your client portal, some solutions allow you to re-organize the whole platform, not just by adding apps, but re-arranging any and all elements on the sidebar.

Why?

Because maybe in the case of your business, the Files tab is the most important one and should be easily accessible, while Subscriptions are entirely not needed and could be deleted to ease the intuitiveness. Maybe your clients could use video tutorials on YouTube or actually want the chat to be available at the top.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Working on your client portal’s sidebar in Zendo, besides adding new elements (including external apps), adding dividers, and re-naming elements and sections, you can also re-organize the whole sidebar and its layout so that it fits exactly your clients’ needs and wants.

#8 Customer Impersonation

Now what would all the customization and setting up do for us if we couldn’t properly test the client view?

One the biggest problems we’ve noticed when testing client portal solutions was the fact that our view of the platform was completely different from the end-client view, not only user-interface-wise, but also the way things worked.

The client view often followed with bugs and unwanted app behavior instead of the smooth client experience we’ve set up (or so we thought).

That’s why another essential client portal feature is the possibility to test it from the client’s POV to make sure everything looks and works as expected.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

In Zendo, that possibility is well taken care of through a feature called “Impersonation”.

Going to the Clients log where you get an overview of the clients whom you’ve given access to your client portal, you also get the option to impersonate any of your clients and see how the platform looks and behaves from their perspective.

That’s especially useful since Zendo allows you to create dedicated client portal per each of your customer.

Now, besides just viewing the client portal from your client’s POV, you can also complete certain actions on your client’s behalf. Let’s say they have trouble submitting a new request within their unlimited design subscription. In that case, you simply impersonate and submit the request for them.

Obviously, you won’t be able to work on sensitive actions, such as completing payments.

PS, in Zendo, internal team members can also be impersonated (just as with the customer impersonation), but this time from the Internal team tab in the Settings of your client portal.

#9 Dedicated Testing Environment

Now how about those moments where you want to test out a completely new idea for a client portal section or want to see how that custom top-bar information about a new sale is actually going to look like?

Publish and hope for the best?

Well, you can, but with some platforms you can also test out new ideas in a dedicated environment to stay on the safe side with any and all experiments.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

In Zendo, such testing environment is called the Sandbox.

That’s where you can build any client portal you want, test out any premium features, play around with custom UX copy, buttons, sidebars, app embeds, and more, completely safe from actual customers’ eyes.

#10 Integrations

Another client portal feature we must mention is also sort of about external applications, but this time, we’re not talking about embedding them, but rather integrating with them to meet your existing tech stack.

Think Zapier for example.

Connecting your client portal with tools like Zapier just makes life easier, allowing you to combine the client portal with your existing systems. It keeps everything talking to each other, requests, updates, messages, files, all come in sync. Things just flow, and you get to spend more time actually working on great projects instead of managing them.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo specifically integrates with:

  1. Stripe as the main payment processing provider,
  2. Zapier as the all-in-one integration partner,
  3. Affiliates system providers:
  1. You can also integrate Zendo into your website by using iFrame.

#11 Multilingual Support

Hola, Bonjour, Cześć!

Your customers or team members come from all around the world?

The right client portal solution will not view this as a problem at all, offering multilingual support.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

In Zendo, go to the General section under Client portal and stay in the Essentials tab. Scroll down and find the Time and location window.

From there, you can choose the default language of your client portal from 12 different options, from English to Italian, Polish, French, Dutch, and more.

Now, each of your customer can also easily change the customer portal language to their preferred option in their own settings.

#12 Services & Orders

Now, what would a client portal be if your clients were only able to tend to the already established business, like that one project they already booked?

We’ll tell you, it’d be boring and wouldn’t push your sales any further.

If you’d rather your clients take action on making new service requests on their own, some client portals actually do offer such an option.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo, besides being a client portal solution, is also there to assist you in selling different types of services.

That’s how you can set up your offer with various selling features, like add-ons, subscription packages, upfront payments, and more.

But, you can also set up and customize your very own Storefront, which your clients can use in their client portal to order new services.

Your clients’ very own spot for self-serving in ordering your services, whether they’re productized one-offs, whole subscriptions, or custom projects requiring quotes.

#13 Payments

Complimentary to services and orders are of course payments.

And when it comes to payments, it’s actually offered by most client portals. The question is how many payment providers and options we get.

Stripe will be the most common one, but many client portals also go with Square and PayPal.

Another popular option is to be able to provide our clients with bank transfer details or details of any other manual payment, to then manually mark an invoice or service as paid.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

To see how that looks in practice, let’s again take a look at Zendo.

In Zendo, your clients have a few ways to complete payments.

Automated Payments In Subscriptions

Definitely, the fastest way to complete payments in Zendo is when going for subscription-based services. The first order happens upfront via Stripe, while the following payments happen automatically.

You can choose different billing cycle options for your clients to choose when purchasing your subscriptions, from weekly to yearly, and the payment will be completed without them having to think about it. Just like your Netflix subscription being charged from your account each month.

Subscription service in Zendo
Upfront Payments In Productized One-Off Services

Productized one-offs let you add different items of your service, along with add-ons and quantity changes. Once you set the prices of everything you want to include in your service, your clients can use the self service options and choose the options they want to purchase, and complete the payment upfront with Stripe. Simple as that.

In-Chat Payments For Custom Services

But don’t think you have to say goodbye to complex projects or sudden out-of-scope orders.

Zendo also allows you to easily issue quotes and complete payments for them in its real-time chat.

Yes, you’ve heard that right.

A simple “Pay now” button shows up for your clients, so that they can easily complete the payment via Stripe.

Manual Payments

And just like the in-chat Stripe payment, you can also make it easy for your clients to receive the needed information to complete a bank transfer payment for the issued quote, which you can then mark as paid.

#14 Task Management

Now, going back to managing existing requests, projects, and orders, a must-have feature to make sure that process goes smoothly is task management.

Think checklists or even Kanban boards to help you organize everything that needs to get done for a service or project to be delivered.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

In Zendo, task management happens right next to each order you get. Each order or request takes the form of a chatbox with a sidepanel.

And the sidepanel is all you need to take care of the request, from monitoring and updating the request’s status to issuing a quote, checking on invoices, reviewing the intake form, and creating and updating a checklist to manage tasks.

So you basically complete tasks right where the work and all the communication happens, taking project tracking to a whole new level.

#15 Dashboard

After a while, all that information and data can get confusing for your clients. That is why, it’s great if your chosen client portal will have a dedicated dashboard.

Depending on the software platform, the dashboard will differ.

Some solutions offer a very extensive dashboard, with even weather displayed for your clients, while others stick to a minimalist approach.

We can’t say if either is better. That depends solely on your and your clients’ needs.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo’s client portal dashboard gives your clients quick access to their latest requests, subscriptions (if they have any), files shared, as well as quotes & invoices.

But it’s also there for them to take action, choosing to either submit new requests or orders or complete the custom onboarding checklist that will appear right there on the Dashboard.

A nice touch from Zendo is the fact that it allows you to highlight the button for ordering new services, if that’s something you want to draw your clients’ attention to. 

#16 Intake Forms & Requests

In this day and age, information is power.

Unsurprisingly, this phenomenon doesn’t apply only to the social media platforms that sell your information to advertisers. 

Information is also the key to a clear, transparent, and non-million-questions-inducing collaboration with clients.

And the best way to have as much information as possible before you even start working on a new project or service delivery, is through intake forms.

Best if the intake forms included can be customized, and easily buildable. Popular options include a drag & drop builder, with customizable fields, from adding descriptions to file upload fields.

Unfortunately, not every software platform lets you create intake forms from within the client portal. We’re usually getting lead capture or contact forms we can simply embed on our websites or share with clients via email.

Some, however, give us intake forms and the possibility for our clients to submit requests using those intake forms.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

In Zendo, each service you create, no matter its type, gives you an order form to create. You can build it with an intuitive drag & drop builder and 9 different field types to play around with.

#17 Ticket Management

But, besides just the forms for ordering new services, you should also get to create custom intake forms for submitting free-of-charge requests, like general inquiries or requests for ticket management for success and support teams to manage.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Right from within the client portal, your clients will be able to simply select the “Submit request” button to prompt your customized intake form to show up. The submitted request pops in your workspace as a new conversation thread, from within which you can tend to your clients’ questions and needs.

Bonus Option: Subscription Requests

Selling subscriptions through Zendo gives you an additional intake form to create, specifically for collecting requests within the subscription you sell.

This request type comes with additional features, such as limits for how many requests our clients can submit within a given billing cycle or how many can be completed within a specified time frame.

Subscription requests will help you manage the work you deliver within your services, and for collecting the necessary information for every inquiry.

#18 Statuses

Speaking of requests, it’s important not only to let your clients submit them, but also easily track their progress.

Asking the “Are we there yet” Donkey-style question every 5 minutes, even if using proper internal communication within the client portal, will sooner than later become annoying.

So give your clients the option to track the progress of their orders and requests with statuses.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

How would that work, though?

In Zendo, it’s simple. All you have to do is add your statuses to your workspace, either choosing from the basic ones provided by Zendo, or create your very own, with custom names, icons, & colors.

Then, you can connect as many statuses as you need with the services you offer, and either change the status of your client’s request or order manually, or take advantage of automatic status change thanks to a few event-based triggers.

#19 Notifications

In the realm of transparency, we have to talk about a feature that’s super important, yet so often missing from client portals. And that is the option to let your clients hit that bell button, aka, receive notifications about important actions. 🔔

Real-Life Example From Zendo

We know that our email inboxes get more clogged, day by day. We’re all engaging in unnecessary back-and-forth emails, drowning in notifications, alerts, newsletters, clients inquiries, and our colleagues CCs.

Therefore, leaving notifications solely as emails is something we couldn’t possibly do.

In Zendo, your clients also get in-app notifications when using the client portal and get to turn on browser notifications, to stay up-to-date.

Moreover, they get to choose which actions should spark notifications in their own notification settings. Talk about autonomy!

#20 Roles & Permissions

The next feature may seem confusing at first. What do different roles & permissions and role based access get to do with a client portal?

Well, role based permissions are another crucial option if you want to stay at the top of your game serving your clients.

Looking from the workspace side of a client portal software, with different roles & permissions, we’ll get to easily introduce our team to working & collaborating with clients, with each team member coming with the right authority.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo gives you 5 roles with different permission levels to distribute among your team.

There’s:

  • the workspace Owner who gets to manage absolutely everything, including global workspace settings,
  • Admin who gets to support the workspace Owner, having access to everything except the global workspace settings,
  • Manager who’s there to manage the work, assign requests to Agents, and access every request and order that pops into Zendo,
  • Agent who’s directly responsible for completing client requests they’ve been assigned to, messaging clients, and delivering the work,
  • and Watcher whose role is more passive—they basically get to peek into the requests they’ve been assigned to, to watch over them.

#21 Automation

Automation comes in to help tie all of the mentioned features together and ensure maximum operational efficiency.

Most often available under “Workflows”, automation is a vital part of any software platform, no matter if we’re talking project management or a client portal software specifically.

Some platforms go for full-blown, dozens of triggers, complex automations, like Dubsado, while others keep it a bit more simple, yet still effective.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo is known for keeping things intuitive and effective at the same time. And its workflows feature very much reflects that.

You won’t find complex automations visible in software solutions like 17Hats, HoneyBook, or the already-mentioned Dubsado, but instead a simple automation focusing on status change, automatic follow-up messages, triggers,and custom fields.

With which you can recreate your processes, applicable to each type of client service or project you deliver.

For example, let’s say you want to create a workflow for delivering a simple article as a one-off service.

You start by adding your custom fields, which help you easily collect and keep essential information on display, right next to each request. The custom field can come in the form of a link, text, single-select, and multi-select options.

Next, you get to work on a dedicated task checklist per each service you’re offering to cover the routine tasks and set the blueprint to make things check off faster.

Then you’ll add your custom statuses to help track progress of each delivery and keep project timelines in check, for example, in writing, SEO optimization, or article delivered.

Next, you’ll take care of setting up your , that is, decide when a certain status should automatically appear to your clients in chat. For example, choosing a preferred status for when a request has been created or upon sharing a payment request.

You can also choose which team members should be assigned by default to new requests and orders of selected type.

Lastly, you can go ahead and set up automatic follow-up messages showing after a request has been created and once it’s been marked as completed, as well as tick a few personal choices when it comes to your Agents, Watchers, or status notifications.

And the best part about Zendo’s workflows is the fact that you can create as many distinct processes as you want to help fit any of your flows.

#22 Unlimited Clients

Moving towards the end of our must-have client portal features list, let’s talk about something a little more overlooked: the way to invite clients.

Many client portal software solutions impose limits on how many clients you can take on and give access to the platform.

Which is why doing the opposite of that, not imposing those limits, especially from the first-tier subscription plans is an essential feature to check off.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo is one rare client portal platforms that allow you to invite an unlimited number of clients into your portal, right from the Starter plan.

That way, you won’t have to worry about new customers coming in and instead give them the safest client portal space they deserve.

#23 Free Trial & Free Plan

Lastly, let’s talk freebies and cost savings.

Another essential feature a good client portal solution should offer and one that is a major benefit is a free trial to test out the platform properly, and even better, a free subscription plan.

Real-Life Example From Zendo

Zendo is one of the client portal platforms that offers a free trial to its paid plans, as well as, a fully-functional free forever subscription plan that gives you:

  • Unlimited Clients & Requests
  • Productized & Custom Services
  • Recurring Billing Cycles & One-offs
  • Basic White-label Features
  • Custom Statuses & Workflows
  • Quotes & Invoices
  • Custom Fields
  • No Transaction Fees
  • Custom Views

That way, you can not only test out Zendo without any time limits breathing down your neck, but also, even use Zendo’s client portal completely for free until you’re ready to invest into more advanced features available on the paid plans. Taking client portal implementation to a whole new level of easy.

And if you’re curious, you can check out Zendo’s full pricing and plans here.

Client Portal Features: Embrace The Differences

What’s an absolute must-have feature for your business, might stay completely subsidiary to another. Hence, it’s difficult to define your customer portal best practices.

Some may say an ideal client portal offers a ticketing system, administrative tasks checklists, or quotes, others will chant e-signatures or client communication. Some want more features and a robust solutions while others opt for fewer features and more simplicity.

Remember that the above list of client portal features we’ve provided is certainly not engraved in stone as the ultimate ideal, rather, it’s based on our experience testing different software platforms and creating our own.

It’ll be different for law firms, creative agencies, video editing companies, marketing companies, accounting businesses, you get it.

At the end of the day, the client portal you choose should best fit your specific workflow while being a secure platform with secure logins and passwords.

So our best tip is for you to make a list of the features that you find necessary, and then try to find a client portal that matches that.

Good luck!

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Frequently Asked Questions: Client Portal Features

What Are The Must-Have Client Portal Features?

The must-have client portal features will differ depending on your business and your clients’ needs. Some client portal software come with read-only features for viewing customer information, while others created completely actionable, self service capabilities.

What Are The Must-Haves For Secure Client Portals?

Secure client portals should come with the possibility for our clients to create their own account and secure it with a password, or let us create a password for our clients to enter the self-service portal. These basic security measures are a must.

What Are The Best Client Portal Features For Improving Customer Experience?

The key features for improving customer experience are: a personal dashboard with all the essential details laid out, internal communication to streamline interactions, notifications to keep things on track, file sharing, documents overview, and the possibility to purchase new services, within the client portal.

Which Client Portal Features Does Zendo Have?

Zendo is a client portal software that focuses on productization & service selling. It comes with all the essential client portal features, including complete control over client management, personal dashboards for clients, a real-time chat for communication, custom onboardings, an order tab, payments, quotes, invoices, and even more, all on a user friendly interface.

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Aleksandra Dworak
Content Writer

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