How to add a client portal to your Squarespace site

Squarespace gives you two ways to put pages behind a lock. Customer accounts exist too, but they show clients their payment history rather than project files. Here's how each lock works for client work, and where it breaks.

Option 1: a password-protected page for each client

Create a page for the client, add their files and a short status note, then set a page password in the page settings. Send the client the link and the password.

It works for one or two clients. The cracks show quickly after that. Squarespace's page password guide spells out the limits: everyone uses the same password for a page, you can't give different people their own password, and sessions expire after 4 hours, so clients type it again on later visits.

You also update every client page by hand, and nothing tells the client it changed.

Option 2: Squarespace Member Sites

Member Sites put pages behind a sign-up. Visitors join a pricing plan and see that plan's pages. That's great for selling a course or a community. Client work is a different problem.

Everyone on a plan sees the same pages

Access comes from the pricing plan. Put two clients on one plan and they can see each other's work. A separate plan for each client is possible, but each client still has to sign up on their own, and so can anyone else who finds the page.

You can't add a client yourself

Squarespace's guide to managing members says you can't sign someone up for a plan on their behalf or create member contacts manually. Every client has to sign up on their own.

You can't keep strangers out

The same guide notes that you can't stop a visitor from signing up for your member site. A portal meant for five clients is open to anyone who finds the sign-up page.

Option 3: link a dedicated client portal from your site

Keep Squarespace as your website and put the client portal on a subdomain, such as portal.yourstudio.com. You add one CNAME record in your domain's DNS settings, and the portal looks like part of your site.

With ClientDesk, each client gets their own private link that opens their projects, files and messages. There's no shared password and no sign-up page. A client who loses their link enters their email on your portal address and gets a one-time sign-in link, so a “Client login” button in your Squarespace navigation works too. On the Business plan ($29/mo), every client link uses your subdomain. On Pro ($12/mo), the portal carries your logo and colors on a ClientDesk address.

The three options side by side

Squarespace behavior from its help center, checked October 2026.

When Squarespace on its own is enough

Frequently asked questions