Assembly Alternative
A client portal built for onboarding, not everything
Assembly is a polished client portal. But its forms have 9 field types, no conditional logic, and no auto-save. Signatures and payments are separate apps, not part of the intake flow. Portico puts forms, signatures, and payments in one guided sequence — with conditional logic that adapts to each client.
Why teams leave Assembly
9 field types, no conditional logic
Short answer, long answer, file upload, and 6 more. No conditional branching, no signature fields, no payment steps. If your intake needs logic or legal signatures, Assembly does not have either.
Single-scroll forms with no save
All fields on one page. No progress bar, no step navigation. If clients close the browser mid-form, their work may be lost — Assembly has no save functionality on client forms.
Branding stops at the sidebar
Assembly offers 3 color pickers — all for the sidebar. The rest of the portal is the same white/blue for every customer. Client emails arrive with no logo and a broken header icon.
Polished portal, shallow onboarding
Assembly's portal looks professional. But its onboarding tools are surface-level: no e-signatures, no conditional logic, no workflow automations, and no auto-save on client forms. A checklist is not a guided flow.
See the difference
Dashboard
Assembly
Portico
Forms
Assembly
Portico
Automation
Assembly
Portico
Onboarding that works. Not a portal with forms bolted on.
18+ field types with conditional logic
Text, file uploads, signatures, payments, dates, dropdowns, multi-select, ratings — plus branching logic that shows different fields based on previous answers.
Multi-step forms with progress bar
Clients see step 2 of 5, not an endless scroll. Auto-save on every field means they can close the browser and resume exactly where they left off.
E-signatures and payments inline
Contracts signed and deposits collected as part of the onboarding flow. No separate DocuSign subscription or Stripe invoice — it is all in one sequence.
Full branding — not just the sidebar
Logo, colors, custom domain, branded emails with your sender name. Remove the "Powered by" badge on Starter tier. Your brand on every surface clients see.
In-portal messaging and per-field feedback
Per-onboarding message threads, per-field comments with approve/reject workflows, and read receipts. Portico's messaging is purpose-built for onboarding conversations — not a generic chat bolted onto a portal.
Portico vs Assembly
| Feature | Portico | Assembly |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose-built client onboarding | General-purpose client portal | |
| Conditional intake forms | ||
| E-signatures | ||
| Multi-step forms | Single scroll | |
| Auto-save on client forms | 800ms | |
| Field types | 18+ | 9 |
| Branded transactional emails | No logo, broken icon | |
| Custom branding | $39/mo | Sidebar only (3 colors) |
| Remove "Powered by" badge | $39/mo | Advanced plan |
| Per-field comments | ||
| Per-field approve/reject | ||
| Payment collection | Separate app | |
| Client portal | ||
| In-portal messaging | ||
| Magic-link access | ||
| Workflow automations | ||
| Audit trail | Hash-chained, tamper-proof | |
| Multilingual (9 locales) | ||
| Unlimited team members | ||
| Setup time | ~10 min | 1-3 hours |
| Starting price | $0 (free tier) | $39/mo |
Frequently Asked Questions
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