Where did they sign off?
Eighteen months in, the client asks why the kitchen moved. The approval is buried in an email reply nobody can find.
Client portal for architects
From the first brief to the final stage invoice
Portalstack gives architecture practices one branded place to gather the brief, share consultant reports, record design approvals and bill each stage, so every decision on the project is easy to find later.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Clients are always free
Projects run for years.Your client correspondence shouldn’t live in a single inbox.
Site information in pieces
Site photos on someone’s phone, the survey in a link that expired, the planning history in a scanned PDF.
Consultant reports gone astray
The structural engineer’s report, the arborist’s report and the geotech report each arrive in a different email chain.
Your project stages
Each stage of the project has a place
Map your practice’s process onto the portal, from the first meeting to completion.
A design brief clients enjoy filling in
Send a questionnaire about how they live or work, the rooms they need, their budget and their must-haves. Conditional logic tailors it to a new build, an extension or a fit-out.
- Image upload fields for inspiration and references
- Tables for room-by-room requirements
- Comment on answers to dig deeper
Fee proposals set out stage by stage
Build a proposal with a pricing table for each work stage, from concept design to construction administration. Add images of past projects and let the client approve online.
- Pricing tables with tax and discounts
- Approval stamped with time and IP address
- Export the approved proposal to PDF
Site photos and surveys, collected
Send an upload request listing what you need: site photos, existing drawings, the boundary survey, title documents. Clients upload without logging in, and reminders do the chasing.
- Upload links that list each required file
- Files up to 50 MB each
- Notified the moment something arrives
Approvals and milestones the client can see
Publish concept and developed design packages for approval, and keep a milestone board of where the project is: permit submitted, consultants engaged, tender out.
- Edit after approval and the approval resets
- Milestones with due dates and attachments
- Share consultant reports in the client’s folder
Invoice each stage as you finish it
Raise an invoice when a stage completes, through your own Stripe account. Clients pay by card in their portal and see every past invoice.
- Saved services for each work stage
- Line items, tax and your business details
- Automatic payment reminders
Made for practice life
What makes it work for architects
Consultant reports in one place
Keep structural, planning and heritage reports in labeled folders, and decide which ones the client can see.
Client agreements signed
Send your client–architect agreement as a PDF for e-signature, with a certificate of when it was sent, viewed and signed.
Both owners, one project
Invite both homeowners, or the developer and their project manager, to the same client account.
Your tools, embedded
Embed a Miro board of precedent images, a Google Sheet of finishes or a Calendly link for site meetings.
Variations as requests
Clients raise change requests in the portal, so every variation has a record, an owner and a status.
Guides for first-time clients
Explain the stages of a project, the planning process and how fees work in a knowledge hub.
A record that lasts
Every design decision, findable years later
When a client approves a design package, Portalstack records who approved it, when and from which IP address. Comment threads sit alongside, so the reasoning travels with the decision.
- Activity feed of opens, previews and downloads
- Input history on forms shows who changed what
- Export approved documents and submissions to PDF
Beyond architecture
Portalstack for other professions
FAQ
Questions architects ask
Can I share CAD and BIM files through Portalstack?
Files can be up to 50 MB each, which covers PDFs of drawing sets, site photos, reports and most exported drawings. Large native CAD or BIM models are better shared through the tools you already use for them.
Can I invoice by work stage?
Yes. Save each work stage as a service, then raise an invoice when a stage is complete. Clients pay by card through your own Stripe account. Invoicing is on the Premium plan.
How do clients approve a design?
Publish the design package as a document, with images and notes, and configure approval. The client approves in the portal and the approval is logged with time and IP address.
Can consultants use the portal too?
Portalstack is built for your team and your clients. For sharing a set of documents with outside parties under NDA, Premium plans include data rooms with user groups and folder access.
What does it cost?
Pro is US$29 per internal user per month and Premium, which adds fee proposals and invoicing, is US$39. Clients are always free, and there’s a 14-day trial of everything.
Get started
Start your next project with a better brief
Build your design brief questionnaire, add your practice’s branding and invite your next client.
Start free trial14-day free trial · No credit card · Clients are always free