Best client approval and sign-off software for agencies in 2026
Eight tools agencies use to track client approvals and sign-offs in 2026, ranked for agency work: prices, the tier approvals sit on and who each suits.
· 7 min read · Client delivery
The best client approval software for an agency is the one that records who approved which version, and when, without making your client buy a seat or learn a new tool. In 2026 that narrows the field quickly: Filestage, Ziflow and PageProof lead on pure proofing, HoopoeHQ puts sign-off inside the client's request and its date, and the big project tools keep approvals on their upper tiers.
We make one of the tools on this list, so here is how we ranked them. Four tests, weighted for an agency rather than an in-house team:
- Free external reviewers. The people approving are your clients. Paying per client reviewer taxes the exact behaviour you want.
- A real decision. Named approvers, an explicit approve or request changes, and a record that survives the next version. A comment saying "looks good" is not a decision.
- Context. Is the approval attached to the request it belongs to, and the date the client is waiting on, or does it float on its own?
- Price for a small agency. What a ten-person studio pays to get approvals at all, not the enterprise headline.
Every price below was taken from the vendor's own pricing or help pages on 13 October 2026, in the currency each lists. Prices change often, so check before you buy.
| Tool | Entry price for approvals | External reviewers | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| HoopoeHQ | £39 a month (Studio) | Free, unlimited | Approvals inside client delivery |
| Filestage | €199 a month (Starter) | Unlimited, no account | Proofing many file types |
| Ziflow | $199 a month (Standard, annual) | Unlimited | Multi-stage proofing at volume |
| PageProof | $249 a month (Team) | Unlimited | Proofing with a formal record |
| Asana | $24.99 per user a month (Advanced, annual) | Free guests | Teams already on Asana |
| Wrike | $25 per user a month (Business, annual) | Paid seats with limited rights | Larger in-house style teams |
| Planable | $49 per workspace a month (Pro) | Unlimited users | Social content calendars |
| monday.com | No native approval feature | Guests from Standard | Not recommended for sign-off |
1. HoopoeHQ: approvals as part of the client's request
Disclosure first: this is our product. It ranks first on these four tests because it was built to pass them, and it will rank lower on yours if your tests differ.
In HoopoeHQ a deliverable is sent for review from inside the request it belongs to, in that client's own workspace. You can name approvers in order, and the chain runs in sequence: the last approval approves the deliverable, and any decline sends it back as changes requested. Feedback is pinned to the exact spot in the file, decisions go to an append-only log naming who approved which version and when, and a new version makes older review links read-only, so nobody approves a superseded file by accident.
Clients do not need an account to review. A review invitation is a private link to one version, and staff can revoke it. Every request also carries a landing date the client can see, which is the context the specialist proofing tools do not hold. Studio is £39 a month for two client workspaces and Agency is £119 for ten, both excluding VAT, with client reviewers free and unlimited on both. See reviews and sign-off and pricing.
Where it loses: there is no frame-accurate video review, no password-verified or digitally signed approval, and it is a young product with few independent public reviews yet. Judge it on a trial with a real client rather than on anyone's say-so, including ours.
2. Filestage: the strongest all-round proofing tool
Filestage does one job very well. You upload a file, reviewers comment on it in context, and they approve or request changes, with versions stacked underneath. Its pricing page lists unlimited reviewers on every plan, including Free, and reviewers need no account (Filestage pricing).
Pricing is per plan rather than per user: Starter is €199 a month and Business €329, each with ten team members included and more added in bundles of five. Extra decision types (approve with changes, reject) arrive on Business, and password-verified approval is an Enterprise feature.
The trade is scope. Filestage holds the file and the feedback, not the request that produced it or the date the client expects it. Most agencies run it beside a project tool, which means two places for the client to look.
3. Ziflow: multi-stage review for high volume
Ziflow is built for agencies and brand teams pushing a lot of artwork through several rounds. Its pricing page shows Free for two users with one workflow stage, Standard at $199 a month for 15 users and two stages, and Pro at $329 for 20 users and three stages, billed annually (Ziflow pricing). Reviewers are unlimited on every tier.
The detail to check is white labelling: a white-label proof viewer and custom domain are Enterprise only. If your clients see the review screen, they will see Ziflow's name on anything below that.
4. PageProof: when the record has to stand up
PageProof suits agencies whose sign-off occasionally ends up in front of a lawyer or a regulator. All plans include unlimited proofs, unlimited reviewers and automated workflows, at $249 a month for Team and $399 for Team Plus, or $2,499 and $3,999 a year (PageProof pricing). Digitally signed, verified approvals are an Enterprise feature.
Like Filestage, it will sit next to whatever runs the rest of the client relationship.
5. Asana: approvals for teams already living in Asana
Asana has a dedicated approval task type with three outcomes: approved, changes requested and rejected (Asana help). Its pricing page places "Approvals and proofing" on Advanced, at $24.99 per user a month billed annually, and lists unlimited free guests (Asana pricing). Downgrading from Advanced removes the approval feature.
That is reasonable if your whole team is already on Advanced, and expensive if you are upgrading every seat to get approvals.
6. Wrike: capable, but built for in-house teams
Wrike's help centre lists approvals on tasks, folders and projects on Business and above, not on Free or Team (Wrike help). Business is $25 per user a month, billed annually, for five to 200 users (Wrike pricing). External users take a paid seat with limited access rights.
For an agency that means paying for clients to approve, which fails our first test. Wrike makes more sense for a large in-house creative team whose approvers are colleagues.
7. Planable: approvals for social content
If most of what clients approve is social posts, Planable is built for exactly that. It prices per workspace with unlimited users: Basic is $33 a month and Pro $49, excluding tax (Planable pricing). Required approvals arrive on Pro, and multi-level approval chains (team lead, then client, then legal) on Enterprise.
It is the wrong tool for brand identity, print or web projects, which is most of what a design agency signs off.
8. monday.com: possible, not recommended for sign-off
monday.com's pricing page does not list an approval feature, and approvals are usually built from status columns plus automations. Guests arrive on Standard, where three are free and every further four use a billed seat, and are unlimited on Pro (monday.com guest pricing).
A status column records what someone clicked, not who approved which version. If an approval might be disputed later, that is the gap that matters. There is more on why in a client approval workflow that holds up.
Where ScreenDragon fits
ScreenDragon comes up in agency searches and sits in a different bracket: enterprise workflow, approvals, resourcing and asset management for large marketing and agency teams. Pricing is quote-only, per user per month plus a one-off setup and training fee, and its quote form starts at 30 users (ScreenDragon pricing). Look at it if you are a network agency. A studio of twelve is not who it is for.
How to choose in an afternoon
- Mostly video: start with a specialist. Frame.io's share links need no account for the reviewer.
- High volume of artwork, several rounds: Ziflow or Filestage.
- Approvals that may be challenged: PageProof Enterprise or Filestage Enterprise, for verified sign-off.
- Approvals tied to the request and the date the client sees: HoopoeHQ.
- Already paying for Asana Advanced: use what you have before buying anything.
Whichever you trial, run the same test: send one real deliverable to one real client and see whether they approve it without a reminder. If you want to know why approvals stall in the first place, read why creative approvals stall.
Questions agencies ask about approval software
Do clients need an account to approve work?
Not in the better tools. Filestage, PageProof and HoopoeHQ all let a reviewer open a private link and decide without creating an account. Check this before anything else, because every sign-up step loses you reviewers.
Is a comment saying "approved" good enough?
It is better than nothing and worse than a recorded decision. A comment can be edited, deleted or left on the wrong version. A decision log names the person, the version and the time, which is what you need when a client later says they never signed off.
If your sign-offs live in email threads today, start a 14-day trial and send your next deliverable through HoopoeHQ instead.