ClientOS vs Wayfront
A self-hosted Wayfront (Service Provider Pro) alternative
Wayfront — the product that was Service Provider Pro, spp.co — and ClientOS are aimed at the same agency: one that sells repeatable, scoped services rather than bespoke projects. They differ on one structural question, and almost everything else follows from it: who owns the server the portal runs on, and therefore whether you pay monthly or once.
Where the numbers come from. Every Wayfront figure on this page was read off https://wayfront.com/pricing on 29 October 2026. Every ClientOS figure comes from getclientos.com on the same date. Plans change — check both before you buy. We make ClientOS, so read the "stay where you are" section below as seriously as the rest.
How Wayfront describes itself: “client portal software for agencies selling repeatable productized services” — https://wayfront.com/, 29 October 2026.
Wayfront pricing, as published
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $129/mo monthly · $99/mo yearly | 5 seats, 1 TB file storage, white-label portal, CRM, forms, 40+ integrations |
| Pro | $299/mo monthly · $249/mo yearly | 10 seats, 5 TB, client coworkers, Slack notifications, portal template editor, white-label reseller mode |
| Extra seats | $20/seat/mo monthly · $18/seat/mo yearly | Above the seats included in the plan |
| Integration API | +$300/mo monthly · +$240/mo yearly | An add-on on Pro, shown as "Add-on" in their comparison table |
| Plus | Book a call | "50+ team members, API, priority Slack support, custom SLAs, custom automations" |
ClientOS pricing, for the same comparison
| Package | Price | Updates and support |
|---|---|---|
| Start-up | $490 one-time | 3 months of updates, standard support, license for one agency |
| Standard | $990 one-time | 12 months of updates, priority support, license for one agency |
| Premium | $1,790 one-time | 2 years of updates, priority support, license for two agencies |
| Custom | Quoted | Lifetime updates, priority support, quoted for your agency |
Side by side
| Wayfront | ClientOS | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | A monthly subscription: $99–$129/mo on Base, $249–$299/mo on Pro, plus $18–$20 per extra seat and $240–$300/mo if you need the API. | A one-time licence per domain: $490, $990 or $1,790, or quoted. Plus a server, which the site puts at about $10 a month. |
| Where client data lives | On Wayfront’s infrastructure. The vendor states encrypted database backups to multiple secure locations and 24/7 uptime monitoring. | In your own PostgreSQL database on your own Linux server. The only thing that leaves it is a licence check-in twice a day carrying the signed licence and version. |
| Team size | 5 seats on Base, 10 on Pro, then $18–$20 per seat per month. | Unlimited staff, stated on every package. 122 permissions and six built-in roles. |
| API | An add-on on Pro at +$240–$300/mo. Included on the Plus plan ("Book a call"). | Runs on your own domain at /v1 as part of the product, with nothing extra to pay. But no public API reference is published, so it is not a like-for-like replacement for a documented integration API. |
| Payments | No transaction fees; "your money goes directly to your own Stripe account". | No cut taken. Stripe, PayPal, NOWPayments, CoinGate, BTCPay Server, manual crypto wallets and account credit, all straight to your accounts. |
| Trying it | 14-day free trial, no credit card required. | A read-only instant demo with sample data, by email, valid for 3 days. No trial of the licensed product is stated. |
| File storage | 1 TB on Base, 5 TB on Pro. | Whatever your disk holds, or your own Cloudflare R2 bucket. Files on R2 are not covered by clientos backup and need backing up separately. |
| Portal languages | A multi-language portal is listed as a Pro feature. | The interface is in English. Client-facing words, menu labels and headings can be renamed. |
| Leaving | "In case you ever need to move away from Wayfront you can export your clients and sales from your dashboard." | The database and files are already yours; clientos backup dumps all three into a folder you copy anywhere. Keeps running on the version you hold after updates end. |
| Source code | Not offered. Closed-source hosted SaaS. | Also not offered. ClientOS ships as SHA-256-verified Docker images with a one-command installer: self-hosted, but not open source. |
| Who decides what changes | Wayfront sets the roadmap, the prices and the plan boundaries. | You choose when to update, and ClientOS keeps running on the version you have. Custom features are quoted work, not a roadmap vote. |
The arithmetic over three years
The only honest way to compare a subscription with a one-time licence is over time. Wayfront’s own yearly Pro price against the ClientOS Premium licence, server excluded on both sides:
| Cumulative | Wayfront Pro, billed yearly, 10 seats | ClientOS Premium, one-time |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $2,988 | $1,790 |
| Year 2 | $5,976 | $1,790 |
| Year 3 | $8,964 | $1,790 |
| Difference after 3 years | $7,174 less with the one-time licence, before your own server costs | |
Stay on Wayfront if…
- You want nothing to do with a server. Wayfront runs it; with ClientOS you own a VPS, patch it and schedule your own backups.
- You need the portal in a language other than English. Wayfront lists a multi-language portal on Pro; ClientOS states its interface is English only, with client-facing words renamable.
- You want to try before you commit. Wayfront offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card. ClientOS has a read-only demo for 3 days, but the licence itself is a purchase with no trial stated.
- You want the team to grow without you thinking about infrastructure, and the per-seat bill is acceptable.
- You rely on something Wayfront has that ClientOS does not list, such as its SEO reporting, Zapier, Make, Slack notifications or its AI assistant and MCP connection.
- You need a documented integration API. Wayfront sells one as a Pro add-on and documents it publicly. ClientOS runs its own API at /v1 and does not charge separately for it, but publishes no API reference — so if you are planning to build against it, ask them what exists before you buy, rather than assuming.
Look at ClientOS if…
- Your clients’ names are the sensitive part. White-label resellers and anyone under a client NDA may simply not be able to keep that list on a vendor’s database.
- Your bill grows every time you hire. Wayfront prices seats; ClientOS states unlimited staff on every package.
- Your bill is mostly seats rather than features. Wayfront’s own comparison table puts most of what an agency needs on Base; the growth in the bill comes from headcount, which ClientOS does not charge for.
- Clients pay you in crypto. ClientOS lists NOWPayments, CoinGate, your own BTCPay Server and manual wallet payments alongside Stripe and PayPal.
- You would rather own the thing than rent it, and a VPS at about $10 a month is a cost you are happy to carry.
What moving actually involves
This is the part comparison pages usually skip. Here is what getclientos.com states about migration, including the bits that are work.
- 01
A server and one DNS record
A Linux VPS with 2–4 GB of memory, and one A record pointing a domain such as clients.youragency.com at it. On Cloudflare the record must be DNS-only while you install.
- 02
One command, then the browser
The installer handles Docker, passwords, the download and HTTPS; the docs put it at about 10 minutes. A seven-step setup page follows: agency, region, two brand colours and your owner account.
- 03
Connect email and payments
Allow 20–40 minutes, most of it in your email provider adding SPF and DKIM records. Nothing can be emailed until Resend or your SMTP server is connected, so this comes before inviting anyone.
- 04
Bring your data over
On Start-up and Standard you import clients from a CSV with column mapping. On Premium and Custom the ClientOS team moves your data, or builds a migration tool for it.
- 05
Schedule your own backups
The honest one.
clientos backupwrites the database, files and settings to a folder, but nothing runs it until you add the cron line — and you should copy that folder off the server.
Other comparisons
ClientOS vs Zendo
Zendo is a hosted service-selling platform from free to $99/mo, with per-user pricing. ClientOS is self-hosted on a one-time licence. A factual comparison, checked 29 October 2026.
Read the comparison →ClientOS vs Agency Handy
Agency Handy is a hosted agency client portal. ClientOS does the same job on your own server for a one-time licence. What self-hosting changes — and what we could not verify.
Read the comparison →The full list
Every client portal we know of for agencies, self-hosted and hosted, listed neutrally and not ranked.
Browse the list →See ClientOS before you leave Wayfront
The instant demo emails you a login to a live ClientOS with sample clients, orders and invoices — the full agency admin and the client portal. Read-only, 3 days, no call and no card.