Asana Guest Access vs a Client Portal: Which Should Your Clients Use?

If your team delivers client work in Asana, sooner or later a client asks to see what's happening. You have three choices: add them to the project as a guest, use Asana's own client product, or show them the work through a separate client portal.

Here's what each one involves, so you can pick the one that fits how your clients actually work.

How Asana guest access works

A guest is someone you invite to your Asana organisation who doesn't share your email domain.

• Guests only see what you share. You can add a guest to any task, project or team, and they can't access anything that hasn't been shared with them.
• Sharing a project gives them that project, not your workspace. To add a guest, open the project, click Share, enter their email and choose to share only that project.
• Guests can work in the project. Asana says guests can add, edit, assign and follow tasks in a shared project, but can't delete the project. They can also invite other people to it.
• Guests don't count toward your membership total.

When guest access works well: clients who collaborate on the work itself, such as a client marketing team that owns some of the tasks in a campaign plan.

Where it gets awkward:

• Your project is written for your team. Task names, internal comments and subtasks make sense to the people doing the work. A client sees all of it, and has to piece together what it means for them.
• Guests can change things. If a client can edit and assign tasks, they can also move dates or reassign work by accident. Check the project's permission settings before you invite anyone.
• Approvals get lost in comments. A "looks good" on a task is easy to miss and hard to find again later.
• Clients have to learn Asana. Some will. Many would rather open a link, see what changed and reply.

Asana Client Management

Asana now has a separate product for agencies and professional services firms: Asana Client Management. It became generally available in September 2026.

• It includes a branded client portal where clients can view project status, review deliverables and share feedback. Their feedback becomes tasks for your team.
• Asana says these are not features of its standard plans. Client Management is sold as its own Starter and Advanced plans, and the client portal is part of Advanced.
• Asana says clients access their portal without taking up a seat.

If your firm is happy to move delivery onto that product and plan, it's worth evaluating. Check the current plans and what's included on Asana's site, since it's a new product.

The client portal approach

A client portal connected to Asana keeps the two audiences apart. Your team keeps its existing Asana projects and plan. Clients see the progress, updates and requests meant for them in a portal, without joining your Asana workspace.

It tends to suit firms that want:

• Updates written for clients. A short summary of what changed, what's at risk and what's needed from the client, rather than a task list.
• A check before anything is shared. Someone on your team reviews what the client will see.
• A record of approvals and decisions. When a client signs off, you can find it again, linked to the work it covers. This matters most when your statement of work says deliverables are accepted on written approval.
• No change to how the team works in Asana.

Side-by-side

Questions to ask before you decide

1. Does the client need to do the work, or see the work? If they own tasks, guest access makes sense. If they mainly need progress and decisions, a portal is usually clearer.
2. Who checks what the client sees? If the answer is "nobody, it's live", be sure that's what you want for every comment and task name.
3. Where will approvals live? Decide before the first deliverable, not after the first dispute.
4. How many clients and projects? Managing guest permissions across dozens of client projects takes ongoing effort.

Whichever route you choose, a regular written update helps. The client status update template covers progress, risks, next steps and the decision you need.

How Angelwood works with Asana

Angelwood's Asana integration brings project progress from Asana into each client's portal, so clients can follow the work without being added to your Asana workspace as guests. Clients don't need an Asana account.

Angelwood drafts client updates from your project work with links back to the source, and your team reviews them before they're published. Clients approve work and record decisions in the portal, and portal activity shows who needs a follow-up. For a closer look, see Angelwood vs Asana or the client portal for agencies.

FAQ

What can a guest see in Asana?

Only the tasks, projects and teams you share with them. If you share a single project, the guest gets that project, not your whole workspace.

Can Asana guests edit tasks?

Yes. Asana says guests can add, edit, assign and follow tasks in a project shared with them, but can't delete the project. Check the project's permission settings before inviting a client.

Do Asana guests cost extra?

Asana says invited guests don't count toward your organisation's membership total. Check your own plan's billing terms before relying on this.

Does Asana have a client portal?

Yes. Asana Client Management, a separate product for agencies and professional services firms, includes a client portal on its Advanced plan. It isn't part of the standard Asana plans.

Do clients need an Asana account to use Angelwood?

No. Clients view project information in their Angelwood portal.