A no-login client portal built for freelancers.
Clients don’t log in to your Calendly link before booking a meeting. They shouldn’t need to log in to check their retainer hours either. HourTab gives every retainer a unique public URL — send it once, your client bookmarks it, done. Hours used, hours remaining, work log. Always live. Zero accounts for anyone.
Free forever for your first retainer · no credit card.
Why traditional client portals fail freelancers
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The onboarding overhead is borne by the freelancer.
Every portal that requires a client account creates a to-do list for the freelancer: send the invite, chase the confirmation email, reset the password the client forgot, re-send the link they lost. For five retainer clients this is a part-time job. The product that was supposed to save you admin creates a new class of admin instead.
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Clients adopt frictionless tools. They abandon everything else.
Your client’s retainer-hours page competes with their email inbox, their Slack, and a thousand other things for their attention. The moment they hit a login prompt they close the tab and send you an email instead. A URL they can open directly wins every time.
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You don’t need RBAC. You need a link.
Agency-tier client portals come loaded with role-based access control, permission levels, and team management because agencies have ops teams whose job is configuring that stuff. Solo freelancers and two-person studios don’t. The right tool for your situation is a URL, not a user management system.
How HourTab’s no-login portal works
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1
Create the retainer. Enter hours per cycle, client name, and reset date. HourTab generates a unique unguessable URL immediately.
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2
Import your hours. Export a CSV from Toggl, Harvest, Clockify, FreshBooks, or Hubstaff and paste it in — or log hours manually. Entries appear on the client page instantly.
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3
Send the URL once. Drop it into your onboarding email or first invoice. Your client bookmarks it. Every future CSV import updates the live page — no action required from them.
No client account. No invitation email. No password reset. Just a URL.
“It is frustrating to be contacted by clients looking to find out how many hours they have left, or why something took more hours than usual.”
— Bonsai’s guide to freelance retainers
A no-login portal removes the friction that keeps clients from checking themselves.
Common questions
How does a no-login client portal work for freelancers?
Instead of creating a client account and sending an invitation email, you generate a unique public URL for each retainer. Your client bookmarks it and opens it any time — no login required. HourTab uses the same unguessable-link model as Calendly and Loom.
Is it safe to share a retainer URL without a password?
Yes. Each retainer link is a randomised slug — practically impossible to guess. Only someone with the URL can view the page. You can revoke and regenerate the link from your HourTab dashboard if needed.
What does the client see on the no-login portal?
A live progress bar showing hours used vs. total retainer hours, the cycle reset date, and a timestamped work log. No invoices, no billing info, no other clients’ data — just their retainer.
Can I white-label or brand the client portal URL?
The Solo plan ($9/mo) lets you set a custom URL slug. The Studio plan ($19/mo) adds a fully branded subdomain so the link looks like it comes from your own domain.