# Softr Templates: What a Copy Includes and What to Change First

> Softr's nearly 100 templates cover portals, job boards, marketplaces and directories. What a copy brings, what to change first, which plan keeps it.

_Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/softr-templates — The Professional's Toolkit · updated November 2026_

---

Softr has nearly 100 pre-built templates, its template pages describe them as free to use, and the sign-up to copy one needs no credit card. The gallery holds client portals, a job listing site, a freelance marketplace, partner and employee directories, CRMs and an LMS. Picking one creates a new app: the interface plus a Softr Database already filled with sample data lands in your workspace.[1] One limit surprises people. A template cannot be applied to an app you already have. Our verdict: a template is the quickest honest start when its user roles match yours, but the roles, branded forms and mobile install it shows off often sit on Pro or Business, so check the plan before you spend a week customizing.


**Nearly 100** — pre-built templates in Softr's gallery, each copied into a new app



- **Nearly 100** — pre-built templates (Softr's docs)
- **No card** — needed to sign up and copy a template
- **New app only** — a template cannot be applied to an existing app


## Reading the gallery by the job you need done

Softr's template gallery filters by use case (Portals, CRM, Dashboards and Reporting, Knowledge Management, Directories, Forms, Project Management, Business Operations) and by industry, including Non-profit, Education, Real Estate and Professional Services. Each template opens as a working preview before you copy anything. Use that preview well. Click through it as the admin, then as the member or client, because a template earns its keep through the permissions and user groups it ships with, not through its colors. Two candidates that look alike on the card can differ completely in who sees which records.

### Job boards and hiring portals

Three templates fit a Softr job board. The job listing website gives you a public careers page, a candidate application flow and private workspaces for recruiters and talent, with applications sorted by stage on a Kanban view and AI-written job summaries. Talent Space adds a recruiter dashboard and a candidate portal with table, list and Kanban views. The Recruitment Agency Portal splits the same work across Client Admins, Clients, Recruiters and Agency Admins, each with a tailored view. A public careers page costs nothing in users, since visitors are not limited. Candidates who log in do count, and a Gmail applicant is always a Client user.

### Marketplaces and directories

The Freelance Marketplace template ships service listings, freelancer profiles, request forms, request tracking and navigation that changes by user group, on a sample database of users, services and requests. Directories come in three flavors. The Employee Directory is searchable and mobile-friendly. The partner directory can be embedded in your website or run as its own microsite, public or gated. Softr's customer story on My AskAI describes three public FAQ directories with thousands of pages each, started in Google Sheets and moved to Softr Databases by CSV import. Public pages get per-page SEO settings and an automatic sitemap; gated pages are not crawled.

### Portals, CRMs and courses

The client portal template gives admin, client and consultant groups their own dashboards, project and task views, comments, and invoice payment through Stripe or PayPal. The AI CRM template adds AI agents that enrich company records, Ask AI chat over deal history, a Kanban pipeline, a public lead capture form and CSV contact import. The LMS template, built on the Softr Academy, tracks progress and keeps a Remaining Lessons view, a Watch Again playlist and comments on course pages. Tenant, vendor, investor and student portals follow the same pattern: separate logins and a different view for each role.

## What a copy actually brings with it

A copied template is a complete starting app, not a page design. You get the pages, the navigation, the user groups and the data structure, all pre-filled with sample records you can study before deleting. Some templates still run on Airtable or Google Sheets while Softr moves the rest to Softr Databases, so check the source on the template card. An Airtable-based copy lives with Airtable's own API call caps, which Softr cannot raise. Softr's template pages say the sample data can be swapped for your own or the app pointed at an external source, and our [guide to Softr's data sources](/articles/softr-databases) covers which source needs which plan.

Bundled automations come along too. The legal case template notifies the assigned lawyer by Slack or email when a case opens, and the student portal alerts enrolled students when a course document is uploaded. Each action those workflows run counts against the workspace's monthly workflow actions (500 on Free, 2,500 on Basic, 10,000 on Pro, 25,000 on Business), and an action inside a loop counts once per item. At the limit, workflows pause until it renews or you upgrade. Some templates also lean on AI, from auto-categorized maintenance requests to AI-titled feedback, and every AI feature draws from one monthly credit pool.


> 💡 **Preview every role before copying:** Open the template preview and click through as admin, member and client. The user groups and permissions decide whether it fits, not the design.


## The first hour after you duplicate

Order matters here. Fix the people and the data before the look, because a polished app with the wrong permissions is the expensive mistake. This sequence works for most templates:

1. **Preview as each user group.** Softr lets you view the app as any user or group, so confirm what a client, member or candidate really sees.
2. **Replace the sample data.** Import a CSV or a whole Airtable base into Softr Databases, or connect the source you already use.
3. **Rename and tighten the groups.** Visibility rules and record filters are checked on the server side; an Airtable view or a Sheets filter is not a security measure.
4. **Check any Vibe Coding block.** The Gantt chart, org chart and leave calendar templates use one, and recompiling such a block resets its actions to default permissions.
5. **Apply your brand.** A theme library with 30+ presets arrived in April 2026; logo, colors and fonts follow.
6. **Publish, then republish.** Unpublished apps stay private, and later edits go live only when you publish again.

Two ways exist to reshape what you copied. Several template pages suggest prompting the AI Co-Builder to add sections, tables or automations, or to apply a new theme. Every such prompt spends AI credits, and Free includes 5 a month. Dragging blocks in the visual editor spends none. Our [playbook for Softr's AI](/articles/softr-ai-app-builder) explains how to budget those credits.


> ⚠ **Shared templates carry your data:** When someone clones a template you created, Softr copies the app with its data source and workflows, and the cloner receives a copy of the connected data. Remove private records first.


## Where a template meets your plan

A template is built with features from several plans. Softr's pricing FAQ says everyone gets a free trial at sign-up, with no credit card required, to experience everything Softr has to offer, and that the trial can be extended once by choosing a plan. Keeping those features is a separate question. The gates below come from Softr's plan comparison, matched to the features the templates we read rely on most often, so you can see which plan a copied app really needs once the sample data is gone:

| If the template relies on | Lowest plan that keeps it |
|---|---|
| Airtable, Google Sheets or Notion as the data source | Free |
| Forms with conditional logic | Basic (2 branches; unlimited from Pro) |
| A custom domain | Basic (1 included) |
| Custom user groups such as admin, client, consultant | Pro (3 groups; 10 on Business) |
| No Softr branding | Pro |
| monday.com, ClickUp or Supabase as the source | Pro |
| HubSpot or SQL as the source | Business |
| Installable mobile app (PWA) and push notifications | Business |
| Domain-restricted signup | Business |

Read that list against your template before you invest. Portals, marketplaces and hiring apps usually separate three or more roles, which means custom groups. Pro holds 3 custom groups and Business 10, so a template with more custom groups, such as the four-role Recruitment Agency Portal, can need Business. Pro, with 50 AI credits a month, costs $119 per month billed monthly or $99 per month billed annually, per workspace.[2] Several template pages promise a downloadable mobile app. That is a PWA, it needs Business, and it does not work offline. Business costs $395 per month billed monthly or $329 per month billed annually, per workspace.

The people your template invites are the other limit. Free allows 5 app users in total. Paid plans split them: Basic has Team 5 + Client 5, Pro Team 10 + Client 50, Business Team 30 + Client 100. Team users share a business email domain with a builder; everyone else is a Client user, so clients, candidates and freelancers almost always land in the Client count. Extra app users can be bought only on Pro and Business, per user per month, billed monthly even on annual plans, after a 7-day grace period and only up to a per-plan limit, as our [Softr pricing breakdown](/articles/softr-pricing) details.


> 💡 **Edit by hand to save credits:** Changes made in Softr's visual editor spend no AI credits; prompts to the AI Co-Builder do, and Free includes 5 AI credits a month.


## Paid templates and publishing your own

Free today is not a promise for every template. Softr's Terms let it publish Paid Templates for an extra fee and reclassify a template as paid at any time.[3] The protection that matters: an app you already built from a template stays usable, with no extra fee, even if that template is later removed or turned into a paid one. So copy the ones you want now.

You can also turn your own app into a template. When someone clones it, Softr copies the app along with its data source and workflows, and the person cloning receives a copy of the connected data.[4] Strip client names, emails and invoices before you share anything. Creation used to work only for Airtable-based apps and now covers apps on Softr Databases too. Submitting to the public gallery is a different step. Softr reviews Creator Templates and may decline or remove them without reasons, creators may not resell a published one, and Softr takes an irrevocable, royalty-free license to use it. It neither supports creator templates nor checks them for third-party rights.


## FAQ

**What happens to a template app when the Softr trial ends?**

The app stays available, but features that need a paid plan stop working and custom user groups are removed. Roles a template set up with custom groups have to be kept on Pro or higher.

**Can a Softr template become a phone app in the mobile stores?**

No store app is possible on any plan: Softr apps are web apps and cannot be published to the iOS App Store or Google Play. An installable PWA needs Business or higher and does not work offline.

**Can I export a template's code or self-host it?**

No. Softr does not export code and does not offer self-hosting; a template is a Softr app that runs on Softr's hosting.

**Are there templates for Softr Workflows too?**

Yes. A workflow can be started from scratch, from a template, or by describing the automation to the Workflows AI Co-builder.


## The bottom line

Start from a template when one already matches your roles: a client portal for an agency, a job listing site for a recruiter, a directory for a member network. You get the database, pages and permissions in one copy, at no cost and with no card. Then read the plan table above with the template open, because custom groups, branded forms and the mobile install are where the free start ends. Count your Team and Client users early. If no template fits, a blank app in the visual editor spends no AI credits, while a Co-Builder prompt does.



## Sources

[1] Softr docs: Create an App From a Template — https://docs.softr.io/start-here/create-an-app-from-a-template (2026-11)
[2] Softr plans and pricing — https://www.softr.io/pricing (2026-11)
[3] Softr Terms and Conditions — https://www.softr.io/terms (2026-11)
[4] Softr docs: How to Create Your Own Template? — https://docs.softr.io/how-to-guides/how-to-create-your-own-template (2026-11)
[5] Softr help docs — https://docs.softr.io/start-here/welcome
[6] Softr Privacy Policy — https://www.softr.io/policy