Free external reviewers and guests, named in every decision they make

How guest review works, step by step

1. Define the contact. The guest exists in Aproove as a named contact with an email address, either individually or inside a contact group such as "Agency reviewers" or "Client legal."
2. Assign the work. A workflow step assigns a task to the guest or to a contact group that contains the guest. An administrator or licensed user can also call a specific guest into the workflow or into a single task by name and email address, send an ad hoc task, @mention the guest on a specific note, or ask the guest to upload files to a specific folder.
3. Notify the guest. The guest receives a notification, usually an email, with a button that opens the task directly in the Review Interface. Nothing needs to be installed, and no account needs to be created.
4. Record the action. Inside the task, the guest does only what the task permits: add feedback and notes, apply tags, compare versions, upload files, or select a decision such as Approve or Changes Required.
5. Write the audit trail. Aproove records each action in the project history under the guest's name, with a timestamp, against the exact version the guest reviewed. A guest decision routes the workflow the same way a licensed user's decision does.

Administrators control how long guest tasks stay open through workflow and task-level policies, so access to a task ends on the schedule your process sets. Two-factor authentication is optional for guests. Where a workflow needs stronger identity assurance, two-factor authentication can confirm a guest invite: the recipient receives a one-time code in a second email, so a forwarded invitation cannot be used by someone else.

What a guest can see, and what stays private

A guest sees the assigned task and the content attached to that task, with the permissions the workflow step grants. Everything else in Aproove stays out of view.

• No dashboard. Guests cannot open the Projects, Tasks or Contacts dashboards, so a guest never browses other projects or other clients' work.
• No contact list. A guest entering from a notification cannot @mention other people, because Aproove never exposes the system contact list to a guest.
• Scoped notes. When a guest is @mentioned on a note, the task opens on that note only, so internal notes on the same proof stay hidden.
• Task-level permissions. Each workflow step sets exactly what the assignee can do, such as annotate, tag, approve, reject or upload, and the same rules apply to guests and licensed users.
• Read-only context. Project forms can be shown inside a task as read-only, so a guest sees the brief, state or product details needed for the review without wider access.

Why free, named guests matter in regulated review

• No reviewer tax. Agencies, clients and partners join the review at no cost, so you can invite every person whose sign-off the record needs.
• No login friction. A guest opens the task from the notification, so a client reviewer does not stall the cycle over a forgotten password or an account setup.
• Attribution without ambiguity. Because each guest is a named contact, the audit trail shows who approved which version and when, the question auditors and clients ask first.
• One record for every external comment. External feedback lands on the proof and stays tied to the version, so nobody has to reconcile forwarded email threads later.
• Controlled exposure. Guests see only their task, so you can bring outside parties into regulated work without opening the rest of the system.

Who uses guest review

• Print service providers and direct mail teams collecting client approval on every mailing version, with proof of who approved what and when.
• Health plan, Medicare and insurance marketing teams routing materials to agencies, vendors and outside counsel during AEP and other deadline windows.
• Pharma and life sciences brand teams bringing agencies into MLR review cycles without buying seats for every agency contributor.
• Packaging and licensing teams collecting licensor approval on artwork across SKUs, markets and languages.
• Agencies and creative operations giving each client a simple review route that still produces a complete approval record.

Frequently asked questions about external reviewers and guests

Do external reviewers need an Aproove account or a paid license?

No. External reviewers take part as guests, who need neither an Aproove login nor a license. Guests are free and unlimited on Team, Multi-Team and Enterprise, and they do not count toward your licensed users. See Aproove pricing for how licensed users are counted.

Does review without a login mean anonymous review?

No. Every guest is a defined contact with a name and email address, and every action a guest takes is recorded under that name. Where your process requires stronger identity assurance, two-factor authentication can confirm the guest invite with a one-time code.

What can a guest see in Aproove?

A guest sees only the assigned task and the content attached to that task, with the permissions the workflow step grants. Guests have no dashboard access and cannot view other projects, other clients' work or the contact list.

How are guest actions recorded in the audit trail?

Aproove writes each guest action, including feedback, notes, tags, uploads and decisions, to the project history under the guest's name with a timestamp and the version reviewed. The record can be exported with the rest of the audit trail. How long you retain that record depends on your own regulatory and contractual requirements.

Can someone use a forwarded invitation?

When two-factor authentication is enabled for guest invites, the recipient must enter a one-time code sent in a separate email before the task opens, so a forwarded invitation alone is not enough. Administrators decide which workflows and steps require that confirmation.