How to choose client approval software: 10 questions to ask

When you compare client approval software, the feature lists blur together. Every tool says it handles feedback, versions and sign-off, and the differences only show once a real client opens a real file in a hurry.

These are the ten questions I'd ask before committing to any of them. Each one says why it matters and what a good answer looks like, then how Skybase answers it, so you can hold every tool you look at to the same standard.

Judge it from the client's side first#

Approval tools are chosen by the studio and used by the client. Your team will learn whatever you pick. Your client opens it a few times a month, between meetings, and judges the whole process on whether the first click works.

So the first questions are about the person on the other end, and the later ones are about your team.

1. Does the client have to sign in to review?#

Every password between your client and the file is a chance for the review to stall. "I couldn't get in" is an easy reason for feedback to arrive late, and it can cost days without anyone being at fault.

A good answer: the approver opens the work from the email, on whatever device they're holding, and sees only what they were asked about. You can still tighten it for clients who need more control.

In Skybase, each approver gets their own secure link in the email. It opens that one request on a phone or a laptop without signing in or a password. The client is added to the project once, as a guest, and every request after that arrives the same way. Under Approval links, an administrator can also require a 6-digit code emailed to the approver when a link is opened, or have everyone sign in.

2. Can they comment on the exact spot?#

"The logo feels heavy" means something different depending on which of the four logos on page 12 they meant. A comment that points at the thing removes the guessing, and the back-and-forth that comes with it.

A good answer: click a point on an image or a PDF page and the comment sits there, with replies in a thread on the pin and a way to mark it dealt with.

In Skybase, clicking any point on an image or a PDF page pins a comment there. On a touch screen, you tap Comment, then the spot. Replies stay in a thread on the pin, and Resolve clears it once it's done. Videos play in the review, with comments left at a moment or pinned to a spot on a paused frame. If design files are most of what you send, the design approval software page goes into more detail.

3. What can they say besides yes or no?#

A plain yes or no forces a client who is happy apart from one typo into a bad choice: hold the job up for a whole new round, or approve something they want changed and mention it somewhere else.

A good answer: a middle option, and a note that's required whenever something has to change, so the reason travels with the decision.

Skybase has three decisions: Approve, Approve with changes and Request changes. The last two can't be sent without a note under What needs to change?, so every request for changes arrives with the next step attached.

4. How are versions handled, and can you compare them?#

Version 2 is where most approval processes fall apart. The new file goes out in a fresh email, the old feedback stays in the old thread, and nobody is sure which decision applies to which file.

A good answer: the new version goes into the same request, everyone is asked again, the earlier version keeps its decisions, and you can see what changed.

In Skybase, you choose New version on the request, upload the files and say what changed. Everyone on the request is asked again. Earlier versions and their decisions stay on the record, and open comments come across to the new version so you can check each was dealt with. Compare versions puts two versions together: images side by side, or one over the other with a slider or a fade, PDF pages turning together, and videos playing side by side.

5. What happens when the deadline passes?#

If the tool doesn't chase, a person does, and that person is usually the one who should be doing the work.

A good answer: reminders go to the people still to decide, at a sensible hour, and stop once they've answered.

In Skybase, a request can have a due date. Approvers still to decide are reminded the day before, on the day, then one and three days after it goes overdue, at 9am in each person's own time zone. The person who asked is told once, the day after it goes overdue. On top of that, Nudge reminds the people still to decide, at most once a day.

6. Can your team talk without the client reading it?#

Your team will want to discuss the work where it lives: "is the crop too tight?" belongs on the image, not in a separate chat. But that conversation isn't for the client.

A good answer: internal comments on the same file that never reach the client, by any route.

In Skybase, staff can mark a comment internal, labelled "Internal: only your team sees this". Internal comments are never sent to clients: not in the app, an email or a review link. If you want your own people to approve before the client is asked, there's an optional team check stage too.

7. Is there a record of who approved what?#

Sooner or later someone asks which version was signed off, and when. An email that says "looks good" is a weak answer.

A good answer: who decided, when, on which exact version, how, and with what note, kept with the work rather than in someone's inbox.

In Skybase, each approver makes one decision per version, recorded with who, when and how: in the app or from the email link. A sign-off record PDF lists every version, its files with their SHA-256 fingerprints, and every decision with its note. Clients who sign in to Skybase can download their own copy, which leaves out comments.

8. Does it work on a phone?#

Clients review on the train, in a corridor, between calls. If the review only works on a laptop, the decision waits until they're back at a desk.

A good answer: the review works in a phone's browser, comments can be placed with a tap, and nothing has to be installed first.

Skybase works in the browser on a phone. The review opens from the email link, a comment goes on the spot with two taps, and comparing versions becomes a flip between the two with a tap or a swipe.

9. What does each client reviewer cost?#

If every reviewer costs a seat, you start rationing who you ask. The client's managing director doesn't get added, and you hear their view at the last minute, after the work is done.

A good answer: clients who only review and approve don't cost anything, and approvals aren't metered by count or by file.

In Skybase, clients approve free as single-project guests, on either plan. Someone who works across several projects is a multi-project guest and counts as a paid user. Approvals are on every plan and never metered. How each plan bills guests has the details.

10. Does it live where the work is managed?#

A separate approval tool means two sources of truth. The board says "Client review", the approval tool says approved, and someone has to notice and move the work on.

A good answer: the approval belongs to the task or job, its state shows where the team plans the work, and an approval can move things along.

In Skybase, approval requests belong to a job, next to its brief, comments and tasks. The job's card shows Awaiting approval with the due date. The Inbox lists what's Waiting on me, Waiting on others and Recently decided. Make a task turns a comment into a task on the job, and automations can run when work is approved or when changes are requested.

Test the shortlist with one real job#

Feature pages can't answer most of these questions. One real round can. Take a small studio, say Harbour Studio, rebranding a client called Northwind. Harbour is made up: it's the example in Skybase's sample workspace.

Maya, the studio lead, picks one live deliverable, "Brand guidelines v3", and runs it through each tool on her shortlist. Leo, a designer, sends brand-guidelines-v3.pdf to Tom Becker at Northwind with a due date and a short brief: "The colour ratios and the logo misuse page. The typefaces are settled."

Then Maya watches what happens, question by question:

• Does Tom open it from the email first time, on whatever he has with him?
• Does his feedback land on the palette page, or in a reply to the email?
• When Tom wants a darker navy for print, can he say so clearly, with a note?
• When Leo adds Deep Harbour (#0B2545) and sends version 2, is Tom asked again, and can he see what changed?
• If Tom goes quiet past the due date, who does the chasing: the tool or Leo?
• Can Leo and Maya discuss the print specs on the file without Tom reading it?
• Afterwards, can Maya show which version Tom approved, and when?

A tool that gets through that round without a chaser or an inbox search is worth a closer look.

A checklist for your next demo#

Take this into every demo and ask to see each answer on screen:

1. The client reviews from the email without signing in, and you can tighten it when needed.
2. Comments pin to the spot on images and PDF pages, with replies and a way to resolve.
3. There's a middle answer between yes and no, and changes always come with a note.
4. New versions stay in the same request, ask again, keep earlier decisions and can be compared.
5. Reminders go out on their own, to the right people, at a sensible hour.
6. Your team can comment internally without the client ever seeing it.
7. Every decision is recorded with who, when, which version, how and the note.
8. The review works in a phone's browser.
9. Clients who only review don't cost a seat.
10. Approvals live on the work itself, and can move it on.

If you want to see how Skybase answers all ten in one place, see how approvals work. For the process side, client approvals without the email chain walks through setting it up step by step.