Clientia for design agencies

The workspace your retainers have been waiting for.

Design agencies run on long-term client relationships — retainers, annual contracts, license seats for the tools and access your clients hold. Clientia is built for exactly this: contracts that govern the engagement, billing that collects itself, and a client portal your clients will actually use.

No per-seat pricing·14-day free trial·EU & US data residency
DA
Northbridge & Co.
Retainer client · since 2024
healthy
ContractMSA · signed
Live
RetainerMonthly · auto-collected
On time
RenewalFlagged at 60 days
58 days
PortalOn your domain
Branded
one record · one source of truth
The friction

What most design agencies live with.

  1. 01

    Retainers tracked in spreadsheets

    Monthly retainers are the lifeblood of a design agency. Most agencies track them in a spreadsheet, check who's due at the start of each month, and manually trigger an invoice. When a client is late, there's no system — just a conversation. Clientia automates the collection, matches it to the contract schedule, and alerts you before a retainer drifts.

  2. 02

    Contracts scattered across email

    MSAs, SOWs, NDAs — they live in email threads, Google Drive folders, and the occasional DocuSign sent-items. When a client dispute arises or a renewal is due, finding the right version of the contract is a project in itself. Clientia holds every contract in the client record, with its negotiation history, signed version, obligations, and renewal date in one place.

  3. 03

    Client portals that feel like someone else's software

    Most design agencies use a generic client portal that announces itself immediately — branded with the software vendor's logo, hosted on a subdomain that isn't the agency's. For agencies charging €5,000–€20,000 monthly retainers, the portal is part of the client experience. Clientia's portal is white-labeled on your domain, in your colours.

  4. 04

    Seat-based billing that grows with your team, not your clients

    HubSpot, Asana, and most tools charge per team member. Hire a senior designer, pay more. Clientia charges per managed client — so adding team members doesn't add cost, and the pricing reflects the actual value you're buying: management of each client relationship.

With Clientia

What it looks like when it works.

Outcome

Retainers that collect themselves

Set the retainer schedule once from the signed contract. Clientia collects via Stripe, GoCardless, or Adyen on the agreed date — reconciled automatically. 87.8% of retainers collected on time without manual intervention.

Outcome

One record for each client relationship

Every client gets a dimensional record: their tier, their contacts, their health score, every contract they've signed, every retainer they're on, every license seat they hold. When a client calls with a question, the answer is in Clientia.

Outcome

A portal that reflects your work

Your clients access their contracts, invoices, and shared documents through a portal that looks and feels like your agency — your logo, your domain, your aesthetic. Standard on Atelier and above.

Outcome

Pricing that scales with your client book

Clientia's Studio plan covers 25 clients. Atelier covers 100. You're paying for how many clients you manage, not how many designers you employ. Startup and agency programs offer additional discounts for young firms.

How it works

A typical engagement, handled.

  1. 01
    A new client signs on
    Upload or draft the MSA in Clientia's contract module. The client signs via Scrive e-signature. The signed contract creates the client record, the retainer schedule, and any license seats in one action.
  2. 02
    The retainer collects automatically
    On the agreed billing date, Clientia collects the retainer via your payment method of choice. You see a reconciled record; the client sees a branded invoice in their portal.
  3. 03
    Renewals are flagged at 60 days
    Sixty days before a contract renewal date, Clientia alerts your team. Time to renegotiate terms, adjust pricing, or let the contract auto-renew based on the clause you set.
  4. 04
    Health scoring surfaces drift early
    Clientia's intelligence module scores engagement health across your client book — engagement frequency, payment patterns, contract utilisation. Flagged clients get attention before they churn.
Common questions

What design agencies ask.

Is Clientia built for design agencies specifically?
Yes. Clientia was built by a web studio for professional service firms — design agencies, web studios, and consultancies are the primary ICP. The contract module, retainer billing, and client portal are specifically shaped for the retainer-driven engagement model most design agencies operate on.
Can Clientia replace HubSpot for a design agency?
For the client relationship layer — yes. Clientia replaces HubSpot CRM, DocuSign, Stripe Billing, and a portal tool with one workspace. It does not replace HubSpot's outbound marketing features. Most design agencies don't need marketing automation; they need a system that manages existing client relationships. For that, Clientia is purpose-built and significantly cheaper.
Do I need to keep Asana or ClickUp alongside Clientia?
For delivery work — yes, if you currently use a task management tool. Clientia handles the client relationship layer (contracts, retainers, billing, portals) and not sprint-level task management. Most agencies run their preferred PM tool for delivery, and Clientia for the client relationship that governs the engagement.
How does Clientia's pricing work for a design agency?
Clientia charges per managed client, not per team member. Studio (€39/month) covers up to 25 clients — ideal for boutique agencies with a concentrated client book. Atelier (€119/month) covers up to 100 clients, includes SSO, a white-labeled portal, and API access. Design agencies under 3 years old with under €500K ARR qualify for the Founders programme at 50% off.
Can clients sign contracts directly in Clientia?
Yes. Clientia's contract module uses Scrive for legally compliant e-signature — the client receives a signing request, signs in a mobile-friendly interface, and the countersigned document is stored with a full audit trail in Clientia. No DocuSign or Adobe Sign required.
Ready to start?

Built for design agencies.
Quiet by design.

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