Understanding how user access works in Formaloo helps you manage your projects securely and collaborate efficiently. Whether you’re working with teammates inside your workspace or inviting customers to interact through your portals, knowing the difference between internal and external users is essential for control, security, and scalability.
This guide explains each user type, how to manage them, and how they compare, with links to related articles for deeper learning.
Table of contents
What are internal users?
Internal users are the people you add directly to your Formaloo workspace.
They can view, edit, or manage your projects, depending on the permissions you give them.
Internal users are your teammates, people who collaborate on form design, logic setup, dashboards, or data analysis. They must have a Formaloo account and verify their email before they can access your workspace.
💡 Pro Tip: Explore how to manage your workspace team in How to Manage Your Team’s Access to Your Folders and Forms.
What access levels can internal users have?
Each team member has a role that determines what they can do inside your workspace. Here’s a breakdown of each level:
Member (Read & edit data & rows)
Can view, edit, and delete responses or submissions.Editor (Full access to responses + edit apps & forms)
Can modify form logic, calculators, or structure.Admin (Full access + edit & delete apps & forms)
Can edit and delete forms or apps within the workspace.Owner (Full ownership)
Has every permission, including moving or deleting folders and managing ownership rights.
💡 Pro Tip: Learn how to allow your team to edit your Formaloos safely in How to Allow Your Team to Edit Formaloos.
How to add or remove internal users
Go to your home page and click on your profile photo.
Click on Workspace Members.
To add users, type their email in the box and click Invite.
To remove a user, click the three dots (⋮) beside their name and select Remove.
💡 Pro Tip: To collaborate efficiently, review Collaborate with Your Team and Your Audience.
Internal user limits by plan
Each Formaloo plan includes a set number of internal team seats:
Free & Pro plans: 1 Admin or Editor
Team plan: 3 Admins or Editors
You can find more details on the Formaloo Pricing page, or contact customer support to upgrade.
💡 Pro Tip: Want to share projects with clients who don’t need edit access? See How to Share, Edit & Delete Access to Your Workspace (Guest Users).
What are external users?
External users are customers, clients, or members who interact with your forms or portals, not your internal workspace.
They don’t need a Formaloo account. Instead, they sign up or log in directly to your portal or Memory Form environment. Based on your settings, they can view or edit only their own data but cannot modify forms or pages.
💡 Pro Tip: Learn to customize external access in How to Restrict Users’ Access to Pages in Your Portal.
How to add and manage external users
You can add or manage external users from your portal project:
Open your portal project in the dashboard.
Go to User Directory.
Click Add New User to manually add users, or allow public sign-ups.
Assign user roles and access permissions as needed.
External users can log in and manage their own data through the portal interface.
💡 Pro Tip: See full details in How to Add New Users to Your Portal and How to Create and Assign User Roles in Your Portal.
External user limits by plan
Each plan provides a fixed number of external user seats per directory:
Free plan: 20 external users
Pro plan: 100 external users
Team plan: 200 external users
See full details on Formaloo’s pricing page or contact customer support to buy additional user seats.
💡 Pro Tip: Want users to sign in and view their own data? Learn more in How to Enable Login/Sign-Up on Your Portal and How to Let Users View and Edit Their Own Data in Your Portal.
Internal vs external users comparison
Feature / Access | Internal users | External users |
Who they are | Team members in your workspace | Clients, customers, or public users |
Access type | Dashboard, forms, and projects | Portals, forms, or pages |
Account requirement | Must have a Formaloo account | No Formaloo account required |
Can edit forms | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Can edit responses | ✅ Yes (if allowed) | ✅ Only their own responses |
Seats per plan | 1 (Free/Pro), 3 (Team) | 20 (Free), 100 (Pro), 200 (Team) |
Common use case | Team collaboration, project setup | Customer or student portals, client dashboards |
🖼️ Combine both types in Memory Forms to create a hybrid workflow, internal users manage data, while external users update their own records. Explore templates here.
Wrap-up: choosing the right user type for your project
Choosing the right user type helps you:
Collaborate safely inside your workspace.
Protect data with proper permissions.
Engage clients through secure portals.
Scale your operations by adding new users as your team or audience grows.
Use internal users for team management and project editing, and external users for customer-facing forms, portals, or data views.
💡 Pro Tip: For a full overview of team and audience collaboration, read Collaborate with Your Team and Your Audience.
FAQ
1. Do internal users need a Formaloo account?
Yes. Every internal user must have a verified Formaloo account to access your workspace.
2. Can I assign different roles to my team members?
Yes. You can set roles such as Member, Editor, Admin, or Owner. Learn more in How to Manage Your Team’s Access.
3. Can external users edit their data?
Yes, if you enable it. See How to Let Users View and Edit Their Own Data in Your Portal.
4. How can I customize the appearance of my portals for external users?
You can modify design and layout using portal settings. Check How to Customize Portal Pages.
5. Where can I see all shared projects as an internal user?
Go to your Shared with Me page: What Is “Shared with Me” Page.
6. Can I mix internal and external users in one project?
Absolutely. Many Formaloo users do this in Memory Forms or Portals to manage data internally while giving external users controlled access.
💡 Pro Tip: Learn more about customizing access and organizing data in How to Customize Forms and Organize Data Inside Your Portal.