How much to charge for a client portal
How much to charge for a client portal comes down to one question: how much time does the business spend today answering "where is my thing" and sending files back and forth, and what is that time worth? A portal for a small firm with a handful of clients and a portal for a business with hundreds of customers checking orders, documents and invoices are not the same job, even if the login screen looks the same. Price the build on a share of the value it creates, add lines for logins, documents, payments and integrations, and quote a monthly plan. Do not price on screens or hours.
Claude Code makes the screens fast to build. A dashboard that lists a customer's projects and files comes together quickly. That speed is why the screens are the wrong thing to charge for. The slow, risky parts are who can see what, where the data comes from, how files are stored, and who fixes it when a customer cannot log in the day before a deadline.
Who buys client portals, and what they are really paying for
The buyer tells you where the value is. Ask how their customers get updates today before you talk about features.
Common client portal buyers and what the portal is worth to them
| Buyer | What they need | What it is really worth |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting, legal and other professional firms | Secure document exchange, requests, signatures | Hours not spent chasing documents by email, and files not sitting in inboxes |
| Agencies and service businesses | Project status, approvals, deliverables in one place | Fewer status calls, and approvals that do not get lost in threads |
| Contractors and field services | Job status, photos, quotes and invoices | Customers who stop calling to ask when the crew arrives |
| Coaches and course sellers | Member area, resources, bookings | A place to deliver the work they already sell |
The best client is usually the business already drowning in email. They can tell you how many hours a week go into updates and file chasing, and that number is the start of your price.
The CCC Portal Quote
Seven parts of a client portal quote
| Part | What it prices | Question to ask the client |
|---|---|---|
| Base build | The portal and the job it does for the business | How do customers get updates today, and how much time does that take? |
| Logins and permissions | Accounts, roles, who sees what, invites, password resets | Who logs in, and should anyone see more than their own data? |
| Documents and files | Uploads, downloads, storage, file requests | What files move back and forth, and how sensitive are they? |
| Payments | Invoices, payment links, payment history | Should customers pay inside the portal? |
| Integrations | The CRM, project tool, accounting or booking system the data lives in | Where does the data the portal shows live today? |
| Launch | Inviting existing customers, moving old files, a test run with real users | How many customers need accounts on day one? |
| Keep plan | Monthly monitoring, fixes, updates and small changes | Who do customers contact when they cannot log in? |
Base build. Start with the time it saves. Ask how many hours a week the team spends on status updates, file chasing and answering the same questions. Price the build at a fraction of one year of that value so the client can see it pay for itself.
Logins and permissions. This is the line that matters most. Every page has to show each customer only their own data, and if the business has staff roles too, each role needs its own rules. Price it as its own line, and include testing where you log in as different customers and try to see what you should not. Adding authentication with Claude Code covers the build side.
Documents and files. File storage looks simple until someone uploads tax records or contracts. Ask what kind of files move through the portal and price secure storage and access as real work, not a checkbox.
Payments and integrations. If customers pay inside the portal, that is a separate line. So is every outside system the portal reads from or writes to. A portal that pulls projects from one tool, invoices from another and bookings from a third is three connections, each with its own way to fail. How much to charge for an API integration covers pricing those one at a time.
Launch. Getting customers to actually log in is part of the job. Invites, a short guide, moving old files over and a test run with a few real customers are not optional. Price launch on its own so the client sees it is real work.
Ask these before you quote
- Who owns the accounts? The domain, hosting, database and file storage should be in the client's name, with you given access. Their customers' data should never live in an account you control.
- Is there an off-the-shelf portal that fits? If a ready-made tool does what they need, building custom may cost them more to run. Say so. Recommending the cheaper path builds more trust than any portfolio piece.
- How sensitive is the data? Financial, legal or health records change how carefully you build and test, and that should change the price.
- Who updates the content? If the team posts updates and uploads files, they need an admin side they can use without you, and that is part of the build.
- What happens to the current process? If updates go out by email today, decide with the client when that stops, or the portal becomes one more place to check.
More questions that prevent a bad quote are in client discovery questions before you quote.
Always quote the Keep plan
A portal is never finished. Customers forget passwords, a connected tool changes its API, libraries need security updates, and the client wants a new section every few months. If nobody owns that, logins break quietly and the client finds out from an annoyed customer.
Quote a monthly plan in the original proposal. Say what it covers: checking logins and integrations work, updates and security fixes, hosting if you manage it, and a set amount of small changes. Say what it does not cover: new features and new integrations, which are quoted separately. How to price a maintenance retainer covers the structure.
How to present the client portal quote
- Lead with the outcome in their words. One line on the hours and the back-and-forth the portal removes, then the price.
- Itemize it. Base build, logins and permissions, documents, payments, integrations, launch, then the Keep plan. Itemized quotes get trimmed, not rejected.
- Gate payments on proof. A deposit to start, a payment when a test customer can log in and see only their own data, and the final payment once real customers are using it. How to structure milestone payments for an AI project covers the schedule.
- Write the scope down. Who logs in, what each role sees, the integrations and who owns what. How to write a statement of work for an AI project has the template.
And skip hourly. Claude Code makes the build fast, so hourly pricing turns that speed into a pay cut. I covered why in why I stopped charging hourly for AI builds. If the client also wants a CRM or a booking system behind the portal, how much to charge for a CRM and how much to charge for a booking system cover those lines.
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Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for a client portal?
Price it on the time and back-and-forth it removes for the business. Charge a fraction of one year of that value for the build, add lines for logins, documents, payments, integrations and launch, and quote a monthly plan.
What is the hardest part of building a client portal?
Access control. Every customer must see only their own data, and staff roles need their own rules. Price it as its own line and test it by logging in as different customers.
Should I charge a monthly fee for a client portal?
Yes. Portals need login support, security updates, fixes when connected tools change, and small changes over time. A monthly plan covers that work so the portal keeps running.
Should I build a custom portal or use an off-the-shelf tool?
Use whatever is cheapest to run for what the client actually needs. If a ready-made portal covers it, say so. Build custom when they need something it cannot do, and price that difference.
Should I charge hourly for a client portal?
No. Claude Code makes the build fast, so hourly pricing punishes you for that speed. Price on the value of what the portal removes, with each part itemized.
Last reviewed by Duncan Rogoff on October 17, 2026
