What Handoff AI actually does
Before the granular questions, here is the shortest possible answer: Handoff AI interviews you about a finished project, then drafts everything a client needs to operate without you.
When a freelance project ends, the client needs to know: what was built, how to maintain it, who to call if something breaks, what the passwords and credentials are, what comes next, and what was left out of scope. Normally that lives in a long email you write at midnight before an invoice goes out -- if it gets written at all.
Handoff documentation is the structured set of materials that answers those questions. Handoff AI produces them from a short conversation: a plain-English project summary, a technical reference sheet, a maintenance checklist, a credentials inventory, a change-log of what was delivered versus what was quoted, and a recommended next-engagement proposal.
Generative AI, not templates. Templates require you to fill in blanks and still sound like templates. Handoff AI asks you 12-20 conversational questions -- project type, scope, tech stack, client technical level, known quirks, things left for phase two -- and then drafts documents that read like something a senior freelancer spent two hours writing.
The output is editable. You own the final documents. We do not store client-identifiable data beyond what is needed to generate and deliver the package.
The default delivery is a hosted microsite your client opens via a link -- mobile-friendly, no login required. From there the client can export any section to PDF. You can also export the full package as a structured PDF or a Markdown file for clients who want to paste it into Notion or Confluence.
If you need a raw Word or Google Docs export, that is on our Q3 roadmap. The current workaround is copy-paste from Markdown into your document editor of choice -- most content transfers cleanly.
Yes. The intake questions adapt based on project type. If you select "Brand / Visual Identity," you get questions about file formats delivered, font licenses, color systems, and brand usage rules. If you select "Web Design (no code)," you get questions about Figma file handoff, responsive breakpoints documented, and CMS training notes.
Project types currently supported: Web Development, Brand / Visual Identity, Web Design, Mobile App, SaaS Product Build, Data / Analytics, and Other (free-form). Copywriting and content-strategy handoff is in beta.
What happens step by step
A project handoff that used to take 90 minutes now takes 8. Here is exactly how those 8 minutes flow.
After you log in and create a new project, you answer four groups of questions:
- Project identity -- client name, project type, delivery date, agreed scope summary
- What was built -- key deliverables, technologies used, third-party services integrated
- Operational notes -- credentials structure, maintenance cadence, known fragile areas
- Transition notes -- what the client should tackle in the first 30 days, what phase two might look like, who is the ongoing technical contact
Each question has an example answer you can tap to pre-fill and then edit. Most freelancers say the intake takes 6-10 minutes for a typical project.
Between 45 and 90 seconds for a standard project. Complex projects with many integration notes or multiple deliverable types can push toward two minutes. You stay on a progress screen during generation, and receive an email link when it is ready. You do not need to keep the browser tab open.
Yes, and we strongly encourage it. The AI draft is a starting point, not a final submission. After generation you see the full package in an editor. Each section is independently editable. You can add, remove, or rewrite any part before activating the client link.
Changes you make are saved automatically. If you want to revert a section to the AI-generated version, there is a "restore original" button at the section level.
No. The client receives a link. The link opens a read-only microsite with your branding. They can view all sections, download individual sections as PDF, and export the credentials sheet as an encrypted file. No email capture, no account wall.
You can optionally password-protect the link for clients who prefer that security layer. The password is set during the share step, not during intake.
The link is live, not a static snapshot. When you update a section in your editor, the client link reflects the change immediately. You can send the same link to a client six months later and it will show the current version of the document.
If you want to archive a version before making changes -- for example, to record exactly what was delivered on a specific date -- use the "version snapshot" button. Snapshots are stored in your account history and cannot be edited.
Is Handoff AI right for your practice?
Handoff AI is not right for everyone. Here is an honest picture of who benefits most and where the tool has limits.
Freelancers and small studios delivering 4-20 projects per year to clients who are not highly technical. The more your client needs to operate independently after you leave, the more this tool earns its cost.
Less directly. Handoff AI is designed for discrete project completions -- moments when a defined body of work is delivered and a client takes ownership. If your retainer work produces periodic deliverables (monthly reporting, quarterly updates, sprint-based features), you can use Handoff AI to document each sprint cycle. Some retainer freelancers use it for annual "state of the engagement" summaries sent at contract renewal time.
If your retainer is purely ongoing support with no discrete outputs, a different tool is probably a better fit.
Many enterprise clients prefer the PDF export or Markdown export because it drops cleanly into their own systems (SharePoint, Confluence, Notion). The hosted microsite is a convenience for smaller clients who lack internal documentation infrastructure.
If your client has strict information-security requirements about third-party-hosted documents, use the Markdown export and host it yourself or paste it into their system. The content is yours once it is generated.
Handoff AI generates business documentation, not legal or clinical documents. It does not make claims about regulatory compliance. If your project involves HIPAA-covered data, financial instruments, or legal advice, the generated handoff materials should be reviewed by a qualified professional before delivery to your client.
We do not store PHI, financial account numbers, or legal case details. Our intake questions do not prompt for that category of information, and our terms of service prohibit entering it.
Yes. The Team plan (starting at 3 seats) supports multiple users under one agency account with a shared project library. Each team member has their own login and their projects roll up into the agency view. The account owner can see all projects, manage branding settings centrally, and assign projects to team members.
The Solo plan is limited to one user. If you share login credentials with a colleague on the Solo plan, that violates the terms of service -- move to Team rather than sharing.
How Handoff AI compares to the alternatives
Freelancers comparing options most often look at Notion templates, Loom video walkthroughs, or writing documents in Google Docs. Here is how those compare.
| Capability | Notion template | Loom video | Google Doc | Handoff AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to produce per project | 30-60 min | 20-45 min | 60-90 min | 8-12 min |
| Searchable and scannable | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatically organized by section | ~ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| No client account required | ✗ | ✓ | ~ | ✓ |
| Consistent across all projects | ~ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Includes credentials structure | ~ | ~ | ~ | ✓ |
| Includes next-engagement proposal | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Live-editable after delivery | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Your branding on the document | ~ | ~ | ✗ | ✓ |
If your template is working and you actually use it consistently, you may not need to switch. The comparison is mostly relevant if you find yourself skipping the documentation step because filling the template takes too long, or if the template produces documents that look inconsistent because different projects required different sections.
The repeatable 8-minute intake is the core argument. If your template takes 25 minutes and you skip it on 40% of projects, Handoff AI probably pays for itself in client trust and repeat business within the first month.
Loom is excellent for showing how something works. It is poor at providing reference material a client returns to six months later. When a client needs to find their CMS login, they will not re-watch a 20-minute video. They will Ctrl+F a document.
Many freelancers use both: a Handoff AI package for structured reference, and a short 3-minute Loom for the "big picture" tour. The AI-generated package is the thing that sits in the client's bookmark bar, not the video.
What it costs and what you get
Simple per-seat pricing. No per-document fees, no storage limits, no surprise overages.
Solo -- $29/month: 1 user, unlimited projects, all deliverable types, hosted microsites, PDF and Markdown export, custom logo on client-facing pages.
Team -- $79/month: Up to 5 users, shared project library, agency branding across all users, priority generation queue, team analytics dashboard.
Studio -- $179/month: Unlimited users, white-label domain (handoff.yourstudio.com), API access for workflow automation, dedicated support.
Annual billing saves 20% on all plans. There is no free tier, but there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
No. All plans include unlimited projects. There is no generation credit system, no document storage cap, and no per-export fee. The monthly subscription covers everything.
You have 30 days after cancellation to export all your documents. After that, your account and documents are deleted. Client-facing links go offline when your account is deleted. We strongly recommend exporting to PDF or Markdown before cancelling if you need to preserve records.
We do not sell your data to third parties or use your project content to train AI models. Both of those are covered in the privacy policy.
Yes. We have a 40% discount for verified students (.edu email or enrollment letter) and a 30% discount for self-described bootstrapped freelancers earning under $50k/year from their freelance practice. Email support with a brief note about your situation. We do not require proof of income -- the honor system has worked for us so far.
What happens to the data you enter
Your project data and client information are sensitive. Here is exactly how Handoff AI handles them.
No. Your intake data is used only to generate your documents. It is not shared with third-party AI providers for training purposes, and it is not used to improve our own models. We process intake data through the generation API and then store only the generated output -- not the raw conversation.
The credentials section of the intake is optional. If you fill it, the data is stored encrypted at rest (AES-256). The credentials section of the client-facing package is delivered as a separate encrypted download, not displayed inline on the page. The client decrypts it with a password you set separately from the main share link.
We recommend against entering raw passwords. The intended use is credential structure documentation ("hosting is managed in Cloudflare, DNS in Namecheap, login details in 1Password under 'ClientName'") rather than actual secret values. That way, even if the link were shared too broadly, no raw credentials are exposed.
On the Solo and Team plans, there is a small "Powered by Handoff AI" note in the footer of the client microsite. This can be removed on the Studio plan (white-label). The rest of the client-facing page shows only your logo, your name, and the project content -- not Handoff AI's branding prominently.
Still have questions?
Email us at hello@handoff.ai and a human will respond within one business day. If your question is a good one, we will add it to this page.