Various types of companies often collaborate with people outside their own organization – freelancers, clients, consultants, or business partners. Managing access to information and projects is crucial in such companies for security and work efficiency. ClickUp, as an advanced project management tool, offers the “Guests” feature, which allows flexible and secure invitation of external users to selected areas of the workspace. In this guide, you will learn how the Guests feature in ClickUp works, how to implement it in your company, and how to get the maximum benefit from it.
Who are guests in ClickUp?
A guest in ClickUp is a person who is not a full member of the workspace but is granted access to selected tasks, lists, or folders. This allows you to collaborate securely with external users without giving them access to all company data.
Key features of a guest:
- Access only to selected elements (tasks, lists, folders)
- Limited permissions (e.g., no ability to create new tasks across the entire workspace)
- No access to global settings and confidential data
- Ability to assign different permission levels (view, comment, edit)
Typical use cases for guests
- Collaborating with a client on a specific project
- Assigning tasks to freelancers
- External consultations and audits
- Documentation reviews by business partners
- Working with marketing, IT, or HR agencies
- An employee who enters ClickUp only to mark that a task has been completed
Business example
Imagine you run a marketing agency and are executing a campaign for a client. You can invite the client as a guest to a selected task list. The client will be able to track progress, comment, and approve work stages, without access to other projects in your company.
How to add a guest to ClickUp? – Step-by-step instructions
- Go to the workspace settings.
- Select the “People” tab.
- Click “Invite” and enter the email address of the person you want to invite. Important: the user cannot be invited using the same company email domain as the ClickUp workspace owner. If the owner uses an email ending with @agency.com, the guest cannot have the same domain, because the only option will be a limited member (so-called paid guests), who functions like a guest with a few additional permissions.
- ClickUp will send an invitation to the entered email address. The guest will receive an email with a link to join. If the person does not have an account, they will be able to create one through that link, and after creating the account, a window will appear allowing them to join the workspace.
- Select which tasks, lists, or folders they should have access to.
- Define the permission level:
- View only – view access only
- Comment – ability to comment
- Edit – ability to edit selected elements
Tip: You can change or revoke a guest’s permissions at any time.
Permissions and security – what to pay attention to?
ClickUp ensures data security. Guests do not have access to:
- Workspace settings
- Private lists and tasks (unless shared with them)
- Reports and automations
- Integrations and API
This allows you to confidently invite external users without concerns about information confidentiality.
Best security practices:
- Share only necessary information – limit access to the minimum required to protect company data.
- Regularly review the guest list – remove those who are no longer active.
- Establish clear collaboration rules – define what you expect from the guest and what their responsibilities are.
- Use comments – encourage guests to ask questions and provide feedback directly within tasks.
Practical tips and checklists for administrators
Checklist: Inviting a guest to ClickUp
- Verify whether the guest truly needs access.
- Prepare the list of tasks or folders to be shared.
- Define the minimum necessary permission level.
- Provide the guest with instructions on how to use ClickUp (e.g., a short video or a link to a guide).
- After the collaboration ends, remove the guest’s access.
Most common mistakes when managing guests
- Sharing too broad a scope of data
- Lack of regular review of the guest list
- Unclear collaboration rules
- Lack of communication regarding project changes
Case study: Implementing the Guests feature in a creative agency
Agency XYZ delivers projects for multiple clients simultaneously. Thanks to the Guests feature in ClickUp, each client receives access only to their own project. This allows for:
- Transparency of activities
- Fast communication (comments, questions, approvals)
- Security of other clients’ data
- Time savings for the team (no need to send reports via email)
The result? Satisfied clients, fewer mistakes, and greater work efficiency.
Case study: Implementing the Guests feature in a company working with subcontractors
A construction company executes projects by employing external subcontractors. Thanks to the Guests feature in ClickUp, each subcontractor logs their worked time and task completion. The subcontractor has access only to their own assignments. This allows for:
- Better control over subcontractors’ work
- Simpler work organization. The subcontractor sees only the projects they are involved in
- Easier communication, thanks to comments within tasks
- Time savings. From now on, instead of calling a supervisor to confirm task completion, the subcontractor marks the task in ClickUp via smartphone and checks which task to handle next
The result? Optimization of work and time tracking for subcontractors, along with improved communication, which positively impacts work efficiency.
Frequently asked questions about ClickUp Guests
What are the limits on the number of guests in ClickUp?
In the free ClickUp plan, there is no limit on invited guests. In paid plans, limits are restricted and increase along with the number of full users, depending on the selected ClickUp plan.
Does a guest see all tasks in a project?
No. A guest sees only the tasks, lists, or folders they have been invited to.
Can I change a guest’s permissions after adding them?
Yes, an administrator can change or revoke a guest’s permissions at any time. Permissions are set individually for each element (folder, list, or task).
What are the differences in permissions?
In ClickUp, we distinguish 4 permission levels:
- Full edit – A person with full permissions can create and delete. Suitable for open projects where new tasks may appear during the project lifecycle. Recommended access for a supervisor responsible for organizing team work.
- Edit – A person with edit permissions can edit a task but cannot delete it. Suitable for closed projects where an employee needs to complete custom fields, change status, and comment on a task. Recommended access for regular employees.
- Comment – A person with commenting permissions. Additionally, a function of this permission is that if such a person is assigned to a given task as an assignee, they can change the status of that task. Recommended access for employees whose role is only to mark that a task has been completed.
- View Only – A person with view-only permissions. Such a person can only browse the spaces they have access to. A person with only this permission does not count toward the guest limit.
Can a guest use the ClickUp mobile app?
Yes, guests also have access to ClickUp via the mobile application. It is worth noting that guests have limited access to certain features, such as private lists; in such cases, we create dedicated private lists for guests in a separate space.
How can I check what a guest has access to?
In the People settings, you can check the list of guests, the places they have access to (Folders, Lists, and Tasks), and their permissions (visibility of time estimates, visibility of time tracking, adding and removing tags, ability to create views).
Summary
The guest feature in ClickUp is an excellent solution for companies that want to securely collaborate with people outside the organization or simplify work organization for regular employees. It enables flexible access management, increases communication transparency, and streamlines project execution. With proper implementation of this feature, you can gain greater control over data and improve your team’s work efficiency.
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