What Clients Can See and Do

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Clients' Permissions in Projects

NOTE: If you're using Basecamp Personal, you won't be able to work with Clients in Projects — only those with paid plans can.
When a client logs in, they'll see a Project like your team does! The biggest difference is that they only see the items that have been made visible to them. Everything is private by default so you'll need to change the visibility of an item for them to see it:

Screenshot of the client view of a project

Clients can post comments, messages, events, to-dos, files, etc. like a regular/team user. They can use Pings like a regular/team user. For a full list of what Сlients can do, check out the page we have on permissions in Basecamp:

🔗 Permissions →

Here’s what's  different for Client Users:

  • They don't see any badges or borders calling out client visibility
  • They don't see the visibility flags calling out items that are visible
  • They can't publicly share items
  • They don't see Hill Charts
  • They can't create new projects
  • They can't add people to projects
  • They can't remove people from projects
  • They can't administrate a project
    • No editing a project's name, description, etc.
    • No modifying the Tools on a project
    • No setting up chatbots or webhooks on a project
    • No archiving or trashing a project
  • They can't be made Admins on the account
NOTE: Clients can't be added to your team and vice-versa. Once you've added someone to your team, you won't be able to use their email to add them as a client on another project. Likewise, if you've added someone to the client team, you won't be able to add them to your team on future projects.

Changing What Items Clients See in Projects

All items in a project are private by default. If you need to switch the visibility of an item, click "Change" on the flag at the top of the post:

A screenshot of a message that is shared with a clientAn animated GIF of changing the visibility of a to-do list so clients can see it.

When you make a private item visible to a client, they'll also be able to see:

  • all existing comments on that item
  • chat lines within the Campfire that you make visible
  • answers to a Check-In question that you make visible
  • nested items within a folder you make visible
  • to-do groups in a to-do list you make visible

Clients will also be notified of future comments on a thread, chat lines in a Campfire, and answers to a Check-In question. In the case of a Check-In question, the client won't automatically be asked the question, just subscribed to answers.

Next: Removing Clients from Projects