A public retainer status page your client can bookmark.
Retainer clients want to know one thing: how many hours do I have left? HourTab answers that question permanently — with a live status page that shows hours used, hours remaining, the reset date, and a timestamped work log. No login. No client portal. No recurring email. Just a URL they open when they want to know.
Free forever for your first retainer · no credit card.
Why a public status page beats every alternative
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A monthly email summary answers last month’s question.
Clients ask about remaining hours mid-cycle — before they want to request something big, before they’re about to travel, before their own reporting deadline. A monthly PDF they got two weeks ago doesn’t answer that question. A URL that’s always current does.
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A shared spreadsheet is never actually shared.
You link your client to a Google Sheet view, they forget the link, ask you to resend it, misread the formula, ask a follow-up — and you’ve now spent 15 minutes on something that should have been a self-service lookup. A dedicated URL that always shows the right number is faster for both of you.
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A time-tracker report requires an account they won’t create.
Toggl, Harvest, and Clockify all support client reports — but they require a login. Most clients won’t create one. The ones who do forget the password. HourTab’s public status page works with any browser, any device, no account needed, forever.
How to set up a public retainer status page
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1
Create a retainer in HourTab. Enter total hours per cycle, reset date, and client name. HourTab generates a unique public URL for that retainer in seconds.
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Import your time entries. Export a CSV from Toggl, Harvest, Clockify, FreshBooks, or Hubstaff and paste it in. The status page updates immediately with accurate hours and a work log.
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3
Share the URL once. Send it in Slack, email, or your first invoice. Your client bookmarks it. From then on, they check it themselves whenever they want to know their usage.
When the cycle resets, you import a new CSV and the page resets automatically. Your client sees zero at the start of each new cycle — no manual reset required.
“The moment clients can self-serve the answer to ‘how many hours do I have left?’ you get your inbox back.”
— Freelance consultant, 6 retainer clients
One public status page per retainer. That’s the whole idea.
Common questions
What is a public retainer status page?
A public retainer status page is a live, shareable URL showing hours used, hours remaining, and the cycle reset date for a retainer agreement. HourTab generates one per retainer — no client login required. Think of it as a live status indicator, like a Statuspage.io for your hours budget.
Is it safe to make retainer hours public?
Each page uses a unique, randomized URL slug — not your client’s name or a predictable ID. Only someone with the link can see the page. You can revoke and regenerate the slug at any time. No billing details, rates, or invoices are ever shown — just hours and work log entries.
How does the status page stay current?
Every time you import a CSV from your time tracker or log hours manually, the status page updates immediately. Your client sees the latest numbers the next time they open the URL. There’s no caching delay.
Can I customize the status page URL or branding?
On Solo ($9/mo) you get a custom URL slug. On Studio ($19/mo) you get a branded subdomain (e.g. status.yourstudio.com) and a per-client header with your logo. The Free plan includes a small HourTab badge.