Working with Customers as an Adalo Freelancer

Best practices for setting up, managing, and handing off client projects.

Overview

How you structure a client engagement from the start has a big impact on app ownership, account management, and what happens when a project wraps up.

As a general rule, we recommend setting your customer up with their own Adalo account rather than building their app under yours. This keeps ownership clear, ensures the customer is responsible for their own subscription, and avoids complications for your account if the relationship ends.

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Before You Begin

Before setting up a customer's account, make sure you have:

  • A signed contract in place that covers deliverables, timelines, payment terms, and what happens at the end of the engagement

  • Confirmed which scenario applies (see Walkthrough below): is the customer taking over independently, or will you continue managing their app?

  • Your customer's preferred email address for their Adalo account

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Affiliate Program: If you're part of the Adalo Affiliate Program, you'll earn commission on any paid accounts your customers create through your affiliate link. Share your link when directing customers to sign up for a new account.


Walkthrough

  1. Direct your customer to create a new Adalo account using their own email address and credentials. If you're in the Adalo Affiliate Program, share your affiliate link for them to use when signing up.

    1. You can also create the account for them and transfer the account to the customer once the contract is completed.

  2. Have the customer upgrade their account to a paid plan if needed for building out the app.

  3. Have the customer invite your email to their app via Settings > App Access > Add Team Members so you can begin building.

  4. When the project is complete and the customer is satisfied, have them remove you from the app via the same App Access settings.

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App transfers break custom actions and publishing settings. If an app needs to be transferred to a new organization at any point, any custom actions and domain or publishing configurations tied to the original organization will break and must be reconfigured from scratch on the new account. Plan for this when structuring the handoff as the Adalo team is unable to assist with this.


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Never share account credentials. Sharing Adalo login credentials with a customer (or accepting theirs) is against Adalo's Terms of Servicearrow-up-right. Always use App Access to invite collaborators. Adalo cannot distinguish between logins from different users on the same account and will not be liable for any damages that result from shared credentials.

Use a password manager for any non-Adalo credentials. If your project involves third-party services (such as API keys, external database credentials, or publishing accounts), never share these over email or chat. Use a dedicated password manager to share credentials securely. We recommend TeamPasswordarrow-up-right for collaborative client work, as it allows you to share specific credentials with a customer or team without exposing the underlying passwords directly.

Adalo does not mediate disputes between freelancers and clients. Adalo support cannot intervene in billing disputes, ownership conflicts, or non-delivery claims between a freelancer and their customer. A clear contract is your primary protection.

Encourage customers to back up their apps. Regardless of engagement length, it's good practice to clone the app periodically as a backup. This protects both parties in the event of a dispute or accidental deletion. All Adalo plans include unlimited unpublished app drafts.


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