Most Softr reviews land in the same place, and so does this one: Softr is the quickest way for a non-developer to give clients a secure portal where each person signs in and sees only their own records. It is a no-code builder that sits on top of your data, either Softr's own database or a tool you already use such as Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion, HubSpot or an SQL database. Where it gets harder is custom logic that its blocks cannot express, and a bill that rises with every person who logs in.
Rather than list features, this review follows one realistic project through Softr: a portal for a six-person design agency with about 20 clients. Prices and limits come from softr.io/pricing, checked Oct 2026. There is no timed build here, and no invented test numbers. Where a step depends on your own data, that is said plainly.
Step one is deciding where the client data lives
The agency needs three tables: Clients, Projects and Files, with each project linked to one client. Softr gives you two routes. You can create the tables in Softr's own database, which holds 5,000 records on Free, 50,000 on Basic, 500,000 on Pro and 1 million on Business. Or you can connect an existing base. If the agency already tracks projects in Airtable, connecting it is the obvious move, because nobody has to change how they work.
That choice matters later. A connected Airtable base brings Airtable's own plan limits and price with it, and two tools now have to stay in sync. Softr's database keeps everything in one bill. For a new portal with no existing system, start in Softr's database. For a team already living in Airtable or Sheets, connect it and accept the second subscription.
Building the pages takes an afternoon, not a week
Softr now has an AI co-builder: you describe the portal and it drafts the app, then you adjust it in the block editor. Even without the AI, the block approach is fast. A portal like this needs a sign-in page, a project list, a project detail page with files and status, and a request form. Each is a page assembled from list, table, detail and form blocks pointed at your tables.
A useful detail from Softr's FAQ: when the monthly AI credits run out you can keep building by hand in the editor. Free includes 5 AI credits a month, Basic 10, Pro 50 and Business 100, and plan credits do not roll over. Add-on credits roll over for one month. That makes Softr less stressful than prompt-only builders that stop when the balance hits zero.
Permissions are where Softr earns its price
The hard part of any portal is making sure client A never sees client B's invoices. In Softr you set this with user groups and visibility rules: show this list only to signed-in users, and filter records to the ones linked to the current user. Granular permissions and visibility are listed from Pro upward, alongside one-time passcode and Google sign-in for app users. A portal for paying clients really wants all three, which quietly makes Pro the realistic floor.
- Clients signing in with a passcode or Google: Pro.
- Each client seeing only their own projects (granular permissions): Pro.
- The portal on portal.agency.com: Basic and up. Extra custom domains are $15 a month, or $13 billed yearly.
- No Softr branding in front of clients: Pro.
- Two-factor sign-in or sign-up limited to one email domain: Business.
- An installable app icon (PWA) and push notifications: Business.
Counting users decides the plan
Softr splits the people who log in into team users, who share an email domain with a builder in your workspace, and client users, who do not. Anyone on a Gmail address counts as a client. Each plan includes a fixed number of each: Free 5 app users, Basic 5 team plus 5 client, Pro 10 team plus 50 client, Business 30 team plus 100 client. A user who appears in several of your Softr apps is counted once.
For the agency, six staff and twenty clients rule out Basic straight away. Pro fits with room to spare: $119 a month, or $99 a month billed yearly, which is $1,188 a year. Pro includes 2 builders, and more cost $10 a month on yearly billing. If the agency passes 50 clients, Pro can add app users from $1 a month each, up to Softr's limits, before Business at $395 a month ($329 billed yearly) becomes the better deal. The full maths is in our Softr pricing guide.
Publishing, then living with it
Publishing is a button, and the portal goes live on a Softr address or your own domain. Day-to-day upkeep is light, because changing a status in the table changes it in the portal. Automations run on workflow actions: 500 a month on Free, 2,500 on Basic, 10,000 on Pro and 25,000 on Business. A rule like emailing the client when a project moves to Review uses actions every time it fires, so a busy portal should check that number before launch. When the limit is reached, workflows pause until it renews.
The weak spot shows up when the agency asks for something blocks were not designed for. A quote calculator that combines rates from three tables, a multi-step onboarding flow with branching, or a custom report layout means custom code blocks and API connectors, which start on Pro and need someone comfortable writing code. Softr also does not publish native store apps. The Business PWA is as close as it gets.
When a custom-built portal is the better trade
Softr is the right answer for most standard portals, and it beats VibeDream on the thing portals need most today: client sign-in and permissions that work with no setup. VibeDream's built-in login now sets up client sign-in with one tap, but permissions are something you ask the AI to build. Be honest with yourself about that before switching.
Where VibeDream is the stronger trade is custom logic and growth. You describe the portal in plain words, and it builds a React front end with a FastAPI backend in Python, so a rule like totalling every open job across clients is ordinary code you can read in the code editor. Plans are per month, not per person who logs in: All Access Mini is $49 a month with 60 credits, and All Access is $97 with 150 credits. File uploads use built-in storage, 25GB on Mini and 1TB on All Access. You can download the code as a ZIP or sync it to GitHub. There is no free plan.
- Pick Softr if your portal is lists, details, forms and permissions on data you already keep, and you have under 50 outside users.
- Pick Softr if nobody on the team writes code and nobody wants to.
- Pick a custom app if the portal's value is a calculation or workflow blocks cannot express.
- Pick a custom app if you expect hundreds of client logins and want a bill that does not grow with each one.
- Pick Glide instead if the people using it are your own staff on phones. See the Glide review.
A client portal for a design agency. Clients sign in and see only their own projects. Each project has a status (Brief, In progress, Review, Done), a due date, files the client can download, and a comments thread. Clients can submit a new request with a form. Staff see every project and can change status. Show a small summary at the top: open projects, items waiting for the client, and the next due date.Paste that brief into Softr's AI co-builder and into any alternative you are weighing. The interesting part is the summary at the top: it needs numbers combined across records, which is where block builders and code-based builders differ most.