Understanding Klaviyo's account hierarchy

Understanding Klaviyo's account hierarchy

Estimated 2 minute read

Updated Jun 10, 2026, 12:00 AM EST

Table of contents

Why this matters
The Klaviyo hierarchy
Core concepts
Which structure is right for your business?
Additional resources

Why this matters

Klaviyo uses 3 different structures to organize businesses and users. While every customer works in an account, portfolios and organizations serve different purposes for account management. Understanding how they differ helps you choose the right setup as your business grows.

The Klaviyo hierarchy

Organizations and portfolios both connect multiple accounts, but they serve different purposes. Organizations provide centralized ownership and governance, while portfolios provide a convenient way to access and monitor multiple accounts.

Core concepts

Account

An account is the core workspace in Klaviyo. Each account is a self-contained environment with its own profiles, lists, segments, campaigns, flows, integrations, sending domains, and billing.

Portfolio

A portfolio is a grouping of accounts for aggregated reporting and account management. It can include accounts owned by different businesses, such as an agency's clients. With the required permissions, you can also manage users across linked accounts.

To create a portfolio, you need portfolio setup permission in a paid account and in each account you add. Owners and Admins have this permission. An account can belong to more than 1 portfolio. Learn more about getting started with portfolios.

Organization

An organization formally connects multiple accounts for centralized administration, shared security policies, permissions, and optional cross-account data capabilities. Each account can belong to 1 organization.

Data sharing is optional and requires approval from each participating account. Profile linking recognizes the same person across accounts without merging the original profiles. Profiles, consent, and settings remain in their original accounts.

Organizations are currently in beta. Contact your customer success manager (CSM) to request setup. If you do not have a CSM, consider setting up a portfolio. Learn how to create an organization.

Personal account

Your personal account contains your login information and preferences. It follows you across every account, portfolio, and organization you can access.

Which structure is right for your business?

Area	Organizations	Portfolios
Focus	Centralized administration and cross-account insights	Reporting and external management
Audience	Enterprise leaders, legal counsel, and global admins	Agency partners and businesses with multiple brand or regional accounts
Primary use	Centralized administration, linked customer identities, and cross-account reporting	Agency client management, aggregated reporting
Access model	Access depends on the assigned role and its scope: all accounts, specific accounts, or account groups. Org Super Admins have access to all accounts.	Portfolio users can see data from every linked account; their role determines which features they can use.
Data sharing	Optional profile linking across accounts that approve data sharing; original profiles remain separate.	Reporting across linked accounts; profiles remain in their original accounts.
Legal basis	Data sharing requires acceptance of the Klaviyo Organizations Feature Data Processing Addendum.	Informal, self-service