ClientShare
These are the questions small firms ask when they want a secure client portal without buying something heavy, confusing, or locked into one deployment model forever.
What the answers come back to
Hosted for speed
Most small firms want the workflow without taking on infrastructure work.
Accounts only when you need them
Secure links keep the client experience light when persistent logins are unnecessary.
A self-hosted escape hatch
The open-source path exists for control-sensitive teams that do not want a hosted-only bet.
Getting started
Questions small firms ask when they are deciding whether to move off email.
Not necessarily. ClientShare is focused on the client-facing document exchange workflow: sharing files, requesting uploads, and keeping the back-and-forth organized. Many teams will still keep internal systems for their own records or broader document management.
The product is intentionally narrow. Most small firms do not need a long implementation plan to see whether the workflow helps. Start with one team, one group of clients, or one recurring document process and expand from there.
Yes. The current launch direction includes a permanently free hosted tier so you can test whether the portal fits your workflow before making it part of your day-to-day process.
Client experience
Questions about what clients see and how much friction the portal adds.
No. Client accounts are optional. You can use secure links when you want the lightest possible client experience, then add accounts when a client needs ongoing access to a workspace.
Clients see a clear portal or secure link for the files and actions you want them to handle. The goal is to make the interaction feel more like a document portal they already know, not another complicated business app.
Yes. A branded experience is part of the value proposition. ClientShare is meant to help your firm look more organized and professional than sending attachments from a busy inbox thread.
Security and control
Questions from teams that need a cleaner security story than email attachments.
ClientShare is built around clear read and write access, optional client accounts, and role-based staff access. The aim is to make permissions explicit enough that a small team can use them consistently without a security specialist in the middle of every task.
Yes. Expiring secure links are part of the workflow so you can share uploads or document access without leaving links open forever.
That is exactly why the self-hosted open-source path exists. You can choose hosted for speed now and still keep a future path to self-hosting if your privacy or control requirements change.
Hosted vs self-hosted
Questions about which path to choose and whether either path is a dead end.
Because most small firms want the workflow, not the operational work. Hosted ClientShare is the fastest way to stop emailing sensitive files if you do not want to run infrastructure yourself.
The product direction is feature parity between hosted ClientShare and the open-source self-hosted project. The difference is the deployment and operational model, not the reason the product exists.
That is one of the main strategic advantages of ClientShare. The hosted version is not meant to trap teams in a hosted-only path. It is meant to give them a faster way to start.
Still deciding?
That is the simplest way to evaluate ClientShare: prove the client portal fits your process, then decide whether convenience or infrastructure control matters more.