A creative approval workflow
with every sign-off on the record.

Storyflow is built for exactly this job at the workflow level: the brief, every round, the comments and the approval record sit on one board, and a client opens it from a view-only link with no account. It comes first because the record stays beside the work, which is what people check six weeks later. Ziflow still does what Storyflow does not: automated stage routing, version compare and proof-level mark-up.

Studios collect client approvals by naming one approver per gate, posting each round beside the last and asking for a written yes on a named version within 48 hours. In Storyflow, the client opens a view-only link with no account and signs in to comment. The studio then enters the approver, status and date in the approval table, so the decision is findable later.

The approval chain should hold one approver per gate, usually a marketing or brand director, plus a separate legal or compliance check where claims are involved. Everyone else is a reviewer whose notes are consolidated before they reach you. On a Storyflow board, write those names beside the brief at the start, and invite the senior approver to the first review rather than the last.

A sensible default is one round at brief and concept, two at first draft and final, and a plain yes at release, with further rounds priced in advance. More usually signals an unsettled brief or unofficial approvers. A round number in the Storyflow approval table makes that visible: when a poster reaches round four, you raise it with the client using the agreed price rather than a complaint.

A creative approval is a written yes from the named approver on a specific version, with a date. "Looks good" from someone else is a comment, and silence is nothing. In Storyflow, the approver can sign in and comment on the board, and you then record the decision in the table row, so nobody relies on memory of a call.

When stakeholders disagree, the named approver decides, and the client sends you one consolidated list per round rather than four conflicting ones. Agree this in the brief, before anyone has an opinion to defend. If a senior person appears late, Storyflow's record shows what was already signed, so reopening it becomes a visible change with a cost rather than a quiet extra round.

A creative approval workflow needs a proofing tool when work is near-final and the question is detail: frame-accurate notes on a cut, a status on each asset, version compare, or a formal audit trail. Use Frame.io for video, Ziflow for regulated routing and Filestage for clients reviewing mixed files. Keep the concept rounds and the overall record on the Storyflow board, with a link to each proof.

Get a video cut approved in a video review tool such as Frame.io, where reviewers leave frame-accurate comments and the cut can carry an Approved status. Storyflow does not mark up video frames. Do the earlier gates in Storyflow, including script, storyboard and moodboard, then paste the review link into the row for that deliverable and record the final decision and date on the board.

A client can view a Storyflow board from a link with no account, and needs to sign in only to comment or draw. Invite that client to the board, because anyone a paid member invites joins free. If a client refuses to sign in to anything, use Filestage or Frame.io for the comments, and copy the outcome into your approval record yourself.

Storyflow combines briefs, approval records and a dated plan on one board, though it has no calendar view: dates live in table date cells, with rows kept in date order. Add person and status columns and each post has an approver beside its date. It does not schedule or publish, so posts still go out through Buffer, Later, Metricool or Meta Business Suite.

AI helps you prepare a round, not make the decision. The AI inside Storyflow starts on Plus, where What's missing here? checks the board against the brief before the client sees it. On paid plans, with no weekly limit, ChatGPT or Claude can report what changed on a board in the last day or week and who changed it, which helps with the what-changed line. Approving stays with people.

Storyflow has no frame-level approval status, no version compare and no proofing mark-up on video frames. It does not automate routing between stages, send due-date reminders or collect e-signatures. A signed-in commenter can comment and draw, and that is the limit of it. Pair it with Frame.io, Ziflow or Filestage for proofing, and DocuSign where a legally binding signature is required.

Storyflow is paid-only during early access. Plus adds the in-app AI at $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly), Pro is $14 ($19 monthly) and Max is $39 ($49 monthly). Anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free, and a client viewing a link needs no account. Proofing tools are priced separately: see Frame.io, Ziflow and Filestage for current plans.