The project
Most freelancers cobble together five different tools to run their business, and it shows. I built one thing that does all of it. The TRS Client Portal is a full-stack web app with two sides. A client-facing portal where every client has their own private space to track project status, sign contracts, pay invoices, access files, and message the studio. And a full admin panel where I manage clients, leads, quotes, projects, approvals, and settings. Built on Next.js with Prisma and PostgreSQL, Stripe for payments, Cloudflare R2 for file storage, and Resend for transactional email. Fully branded, fully self-hosted on Railway.
The challenge
Most freelancers run their business on five disconnected tools, and clients feel every seam. The goal was one place where a client tracks a project, signs, pays, and grabs files, and where the studio runs leads, quotes, projects, and approvals behind it.
The approach
Two sides, one system. A client-facing portal where every client has a private space, and a full admin CRM behind it. Role-based access so clients only ever see their own data, Stripe for payment inside the portal, Cloudflare R2 for secure file handoff, all self-hosted so there are no per-seat fees to anyone.
What I built
- Client portal: dashboard, project status tracker, contracts, invoices, files, messages, and approvals
- Admin panel: full CRM with leads, clients, quotes, projects, contracts, invoices, and settings
- Stripe integration for direct invoice payment from inside the portal
- Cloudflare R2 file storage for secure deliverable handoff and shared assets
- NextAuth v5 with role-based access, so clients only ever see their own data
- Resend for transactional emails: invites, invoice notifications, and approvals
- Fully responsive, pixel-perfect on desktop and mobile
- Deployed on Railway with PostgreSQL. Zero per-seat fees, full ownership
Results
