Understanding Klaviyo's account hierarchy
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 |
Additional resources
- Getting started with portfolios
Learn about portfolios in Klaviyo, including what they are, who should use them, and how to set them up.