Services
/
Custom Portals
CUSTOM PORTALS
Give clients a window
into your data — not a
login to your systems.
A portal is a secure, branded view of the operational data you already have.
Each client sees exactly their projects, their deliverables, their status — nothing
else. Your team keeps working where they work; the portal handles the
presentation and the boundaries.
SHIPPED ARCHITECTURE
How we build them
This isn't theoretical — it's the architecture of a portal we run in production:
Next.js App Router + TypeScript + Tailwind
Deployed on Vercel — fast, maintainable, modern
Airtable behind the server, never in the browser
The REST API is accessed server-side only, so your API keys and full dataset never reach the client
Session security at the architectural level:
Signed http-only session cookies with email one-time-passcode sign-in
Per-viewer scoping
Every query is filtered to the signed-in client before data leaves the server
THE REAL DECISION
Portal vs. Airtable Interface vs. Softr
If you're researching portals, this is the actual choice you're weighing. Honestly:
AIRTABLE INTERFACE
SOFTR
CUSTOM PORTAL
Best for
Internal teams inside
your base
Standard portal patterns, fast,
low budget
Exact-fit experience, your
brand, your rules
External users
Per-seat costs add up;
limited control
Built for it, within Softr's
templates
Unlimited, priced by
infrastructure not seats
Custom logic & UI
Airtable's blocks only
Softr's components only
Anything — it's code
Security model
Airtable's sharing model
Softr's auth
Server-side scoping you
define and audit
When we recommend it
Your users are your own
team
Budget-first, patterns fit,
speed matters most
The portal IS part of your
product experience
Yes, we'll recommend the platform that fits. A portal that ships in a week and does
the job beats a custom build you didn't need.
RELATED
Your clients are asking for
visibility
Tell us what they need to see. We'll spec the smallest portal that gives it
to them safely.