Project software for client work: access and seat rules

Choose project software for client work by checking what clients can do, what material they can see and how their access is counted. Teamwork.com sets out a free client-user licence and project limit; monday.com distinguishes Guests from free read-only Viewers; ClickUp gives paid plans a set number of guest seats plus unlimited read-only guests.

List what clients must do, what progress they need to see and how they can be invited. Compare those needs using the same sample project in each product.

Keep client-facing access to prepared material. An internal board may contain private working notes that are not suitable to share.

Map the client’s part of the project

List when the client must supply information, review a version, answer a question or decide on a proposed change. For each action, identify the item they need, the person authorised to respond and where the decision will be recorded. Keep internal estimates, staffing discussions and draft notes separate.

Set access before inviting clients

Put only prepared material in a client workspace. A restricted role does not protect an internal comment placed on an item the client can see.

Check the live view, notifications, dashboards and exports separately because each can reveal different information. Use a client account to confirm exactly what is visible.

Decide whether each client needs viewing, commenting, editing or approving rights. For approvals, confirm both that the client can act and where the sign-off is recorded.

Setting Up Secure Client Access in Project Software

Compare client access models

Compare what clients can do, what client-facing progress they can see and the seat rules for their access. Use the same client actions and prepared project material to check each product.

Teamwork.com offers a free client-user licence on Deliver, Grow and Scale. Client users do not count towards subscription cost and can join up to five active projects associated with their client company. They cannot have site administrator privileges or belong to the owner company.

Client users can create and edit project items, complete tasks and milestones, view and upload files, add and reply to messages, and comment on items. They cannot create or manage forms, manage a project’s members or view project profitability.

This licence is intended for external clients who contribute through project conversations or task comments, not internal team members. Site admins can add and manage users; standard users can invite them only if they have the profile permission to manage people and companies.

Teamwork.com can create trackable approval tasks for clients to sign off on work, so the sign-off sits on the task itself; clients who only need to review and approve proofs can do so without a client-user licence.

monday.com Guests can access only boards they are invited to, and their access is board-wide across every group and column. Guest access is for active collaboration; commenting counts as an edit-level interaction.

Viewers are the read-only option: monday.com offers unlimited free Viewers, who have read-only access to account data with no editing rights. Use Viewers for clients who only follow progress, and Guests for clients who must update items or comment.

Viewers are free; Guests are not described as free, so confirm with monday.com whether each Guest uses a paid seat on the intended plan before inviting clients.

ClickUp Free Forever Workspaces can have unlimited members and guests at no charge, but on that plan guests have full create and edit permissions that cannot be modified. That suits only clients who may edit everything they are shown.

Paid ClickUp plans start with a limited number of external guest seats plus unlimited read-only guests. The Unlimited plan gives 5 guest seats for a one-paid-user Workspace and 2 more for each additional paid user. The Business plan gives 10 guest seats, then 5 per additional paid user; Enterprise matches Business with advanced permission options.

ClickUp guests are intended for people outside the organisation; anyone from inside the organisation added to the Workspace is billed as a paid user. Use read-only guests for clients who only follow progress, and keep guest seats for clients who must comment, edit or approve.

Choose Teamwork.com when clients need to contribute through project conversations or task comments and its free client-user licence and five-project limit fit the work.

Choose monday.com when board-wide guest visibility is acceptable for the material being shared, or when read-only Viewer access is enough.

Choose ClickUp when the paid plan’s guest seats cover the clients who must act and read-only guests cover the rest. For all three products, check dashboards, reports and exports with a client account before sharing progress information, including what an export contains.

Key Client Access Metrics Across Platforms

Keep requests and reports tied to the agreement

Record a proposed change and its authorised decision against the agreement before treating it as committed work. Keep the request distinct from approved scope.

Report delivered work against the current agreement. Explain material risks and name the next decision the client must make.

Set up the same project in Teamwork.com, monday.com and ClickUp with a deliverable for review, an internal concern, a proposed change and a progress update. Inspect each client account to see what it can view, change and export.

Compare the results with the client’s required actions, visibility and seat rules.