TL;DR
Task privacy controls in Plutio let freelancers and agencies decide exactly which tasks, task boards, and task fields clients can see when they log into the client portal, so internal work stays hidden and the client view stays clean.
Plutio handles task privacy at three levels: individual tasks can be marked private with a single toggle, entire task boards can be included or excluded from the shared view per project, and visible fields (due dates, start dates, sub-tasks, cover images, task IDs) can be turned on or off for anyone viewing shared boards. The practical result: a freelancer running a 20-task web design project can share 8 client-facing milestones in the portal while keeping 12 internal tasks (research, QA, revisions, billing) completely hidden, with no second project or workaround needed.
Task privacy comes with all Plutio plans, including the 7-day free trial. Configure it inside any project's share settings. Changes apply instantly to the client portal view.
What task privacy controls are
Task privacy controls are a set of visibility settings in Plutio that determine which tasks, boards, and task fields a client can see when viewing a shared project through the client portal.
Every task in Plutio has an "isPrivate" flag. When a task is marked private, it disappears from the client's portal view entirely: the title, description, files, comments, and any associated time tracking become invisible to anyone outside the team. The task still appears normally for internal team members in the workspace.
Per-task privacy toggle
The per-task privacy toggle is the most granular control. Open any task, click the menu, and select "Make private." A lock icon appears on the task card in board view, list view, and table view so team members can see at a glance which tasks are hidden from the client. Toggle it back with "Make public" from the same menu. Sub-tasks inherit the parent task's privacy setting, so marking a parent private hides the entire task tree from the portal.
Per-board sharing
At the project level, Plutio's share settings include a "Shared boards" section. Choose which task boards from the project appear in the public share link and the client portal. A project with three boards (Design, Development, Internal) can share only Design and Development, keeping Internal completely off the client's radar. Board-level control works alongside per-task privacy, so even within a shared board, individual tasks can be hidden.
Visible fields per project
The "Visible fields" setting inside share preferences controls which task fields appear on shared boards. Options include task due date, start date, sub-tasks, cover image, task number (ID), task completion date, and repeat cycle. Turning off a field hides it from every task on every shared board in that project, so a freelancer who doesn't want clients to see due dates can disable that field once and it applies globally across all shared boards.
I keep two boards per project: one the client sees and one for internal ops. The lock icon on private tasks is a lifesaver when something accidentally lands in the wrong board.
Why task privacy matters for freelancers
Without task-level privacy controls, every task inside a shared project is visible to the client, which means internal notes, billing reminders, revision rounds, and QA checklists sit alongside finished deliverables in the same view.
On a $5,000 branding project with 25 tasks, a freelancer might have 10 internal items: competitor research, internal feedback rounds, invoice follow-ups, and asset exports. If the client sees those tasks, two things happen. First, the client starts asking questions about items that aren't relevant to their deliverables, creating back-and-forth that costs 1 to 2 hours per project. Second, the project looks messier than it is, because the client sees draft work and admin tasks mixed with completed milestones.
Project management tools like Asana and Monday.com handle client-facing views through separate guest permissions, but those tools charge per seat and don't include invoicing, contracts, or a branded portal in the same platform. HoneyBook offers a client-facing project tracker through Smart Files, but individual task visibility inside the tracker is limited to what the Smart File template includes, with no per-task private toggle or per-board sharing controls.
The most expensive outcome is not a confused client but a client who loses confidence. When internal revision notes, bug reports, or billing disputes appear in the client's project view, the perception shifts from "this team has it together" to "this feels disorganized," even when the work itself is on track.
Plutio's approach treats privacy as a built-in layer rather than a workaround. Instead of creating a separate "client-facing" project and duplicating tasks between two places, the freelancer works in one project and toggles visibility per task, per board, and per field.
How task privacy works in Plutio
Open any project in Plutio, navigate to the project's share settings, choose which boards to share, configure visible fields, and then mark individual tasks as private from the task menu.
Before starting, make sure the project has at least one task board with tasks. Task privacy settings apply to projects that are shared through the client portal or a public share link.
Step by step
- Step 1: Open the project and go to "Share project tasks" in the project settings. Set the sharing option to "Anyone with the link can view" to enable the client portal view for this project's tasks.
- Step 2: Under "Shared boards," select which task boards from the project should be visible. Boards that are not selected stay completely hidden from the client view.
- Step 3: Under "Visible fields," toggle on or off the task fields clients can see: due date, start date, sub-tasks, cover image, task ID, completion date, and repeat cycle. Title, status, and description are always visible on shared tasks.
- Step 4: For individual tasks that should stay hidden even on a shared board, open the task, click the menu, and select "Make private." A lock icon appears on the task card confirming it is private.
- Step 5: Share the project link or invite the client to the portal. The client sees only the boards, tasks, and fields configured in the previous steps. Private tasks are completely excluded from the client's view.
Practical tip: use the "Connected messenger" option in share preferences to add a chat widget to the shared board, so clients can ask questions about visible tasks directly from the portal without needing to email separately.
Who needs task privacy controls
Freelancers and agencies running client projects with a mix of internal and external tasks, particularly on web design, branding, and development projects with 10 or more tasks, get the most value from task privacy controls.
A web designer billing a $4,000 website redesign might have 18 tasks total, but only 6 are client-relevant milestones: wireframe review, design mockup approval, development preview, content upload, launch review, and post-launch check. The remaining 12 (competitor research, asset sourcing, responsive testing, browser QA, internal revisions, invoice creation) are internal workflow items. With per-task privacy, the designer marks those 12 tasks private and the client sees a clean 6-task board that tracks deliverable progress without clutter.
Agencies running multi-phase projects use board-level sharing to give clients access to specific phases. A marketing agency with Discovery, Strategy, Execution, and Reporting boards can share only Execution and Reporting, keeping early-stage research and internal strategy discussions out of the client's view entirely.
Freelancers exploring HoneyBook alternatives often ask whether Plutio allows per-task visibility controls in the client portal. Plutio handles task privacy natively with a per-task toggle, per-board sharing, and per-field visibility, all configured inside the project without add-ons. Freelancers comparing Dubsado alternatives find that Plutio's approach gives more granular control over what clients see, since Dubsado's client portal focuses on forms, invoices, and contracts rather than individual task visibility within a project board.
Across Plutio projects with task sharing enabled, an average of 35% of tasks are marked private, which means roughly one in three tasks on a typical project is internal work that the client never needs to see.
Bottom line: any freelancer or agency sharing project progress with clients through a portal, especially on projects with more than 10 tasks, benefits from task privacy controls that keep internal work hidden and the client view focused on deliverables.
