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Tenant management

A tenant is the parent company account that owns one or more MessageDesk workspaces. Tenant admins can update tenant-level company details and spin up new workspaces for different teams, brands, or business units, all from a single account.
Tenant vs. Workspace: A tenant is your company (organization-level). A workspace is an inbox under that company (per-workspace configuration lives in Workspace Settings). Most users only need one workspace, but larger organizations can run multiple workspaces under the same tenant.
Plan required: Running multiple inboxes and workspaces is an Enterprise feature. See Pricing or talk to sales.
Where tenant management lives: Tenant management isn’t inside a workspace’s Settings menu. It lives on the Workspaces screen: click your profile icon (top-right) and choose Workspace. The Workspaces screen lists every tenant you have access to and the workspaces under each one. The Manage tenant option and the Add Workspace link are only visible to tenant admins.

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Do I need a separate workspace, or just user permissions?

Most teams don’t need a second workspace. Before creating one, decide whether the goal is separating data (different teams and contact lists) or separating access (limiting which users see which lines, labels, or inboxes).
Setting up access control inside your existing workspace is usually faster and cheaper than adding a workspace. See Roles & permissions for how to scope users to specific phone lines, labels, or inboxes.
Billing scales per user, per workspace. A user who needs access to two workspaces is billed in each one. If your goal is “User A only sees Line A and User B only sees Line B,” UAC inside a single workspace is almost always the better fit.

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Who can manage a tenant

There’s no separate “tenant admin” role to assign. You’re a tenant admin when you hold the Admin role in at least one workspace under that tenant. That’s what unlocks the tenant-level actions on the Workspaces screen:
  • Edit the tenant company profile (Manage tenant).
  • Add new workspaces under the tenant (Add Workspace).
The person who creates the MessageDesk account is made Admin of the first workspace, so they’re the default tenant admin. To make someone else a tenant admin, give them the Admin role in any workspace under the tenant (see Roles & permissions).
Admin stays per workspace. Being a tenant admin lets you edit the tenant and add workspaces. It does not make you an Admin inside every workspace under the tenant. You still need an Admin membership in each workspace you want to manage. A teammate who isn’t an Admin in any workspace under the tenant isn’t a tenant admin and won’t see Manage tenant or Add Workspace.

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Update tenant company details

  1. Click your profile icon (top-right) and choose Workspace to open the Workspaces screen.
  2. Under the tenant you want to edit, select Manage tenant (visible to tenant admins only).
  3. Click Edit on the Tenant profile.
  4. Update your company name, address, website, or logo.
  5. Click Save.
Changes apply at the tenant level and are reflected across all workspaces under the tenant.

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Add a workspace under a tenant

Tenant admins can add workspaces directly from the Workspaces screen. Don’t go back to the Create Account page to make a second workspace: registering again with the same email returns an “account already exists” error, and a different email would create a brand-new account under a separate tenant.
  1. Click your profile icon (top-right) and choose Workspace to open the Workspaces screen.
  2. Find the tenant you want the new workspace under and click its Add Workspace link. If you belong to more than one tenant, each tenant has its own Add Workspace link, and you only see it for tenants where you’re a workspace Admin.
  3. Enter a workspace name (e.g., “Sales”, “Support”, “West Coast Team”).
  4. Click Create.
When the workspace is created:
  • You’re automatically added as the workspace Admin.
  • The workspace appears under that tenant on the Workspaces screen. Adding a workspace never creates a new tenant.
  • The workspace has no subscription yet.
Each workspace needs its own subscription. Subscriptions are tied to the workspace, not the tenant. A new workspace can’t send messages until it has an active subscription, even if another workspace under the same tenant is already paid. Open the new workspace and go to Settings → Workspace Settings → Billing & Subscription to pick a plan and add a payment method. See Start a subscription (new workspaces).
After the subscription is active, follow the standard onboarding steps to connect phone numbers, import contacts, and invite teammates.

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The Workspaces screen

The Workspaces screen is where you see every tenant you have access to and the workspaces under each. You land on it when you sign in with more than one workspace, and you can open it anytime from your profile icon → Workspace. Memberships are grouped by tenant:
  • Tenant header: company name and logo, with Manage tenant for tenant admins.
  • Workspaces list: every workspace under that tenant where you’re a member.
  • Add Workspace: one link per tenant, visible only if you’re a workspace Admin somewhere in that tenant.
Click any workspace to enter it. To move between workspaces without signing out, open your profile icon → Workspace and pick another one.

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How accounts, tenants, and workspaces are created

It helps to know which step creates what, especially if you’re setting up several companies or teams. A few consequences of that flow:
  • A new tenant is only created when a brand-new, non-invited user completes Name your workspace. After that, every workspace you add lives in an existing tenant.
  • There’s no self-service way to create a second tenant from an existing account. Signing in always takes you to the Workspaces screen, which only offers Add Workspace.
  • Registering again with the same email returns an “account already exists” error. The only way to end up with separate tenants is to sign up with a different, never-invited email for each one, which also means separate logins.
  • If you’ve been invited into another company’s workspace, you’ll see that tenant on your Workspaces screen too. If you’re an Admin in one of their workspaces you can add workspaces under their tenant, but each new workspace stays scoped to the tenant it was added under.
Need separate billing for sister companies or business units? You usually don’t need separate tenants. Keep everything under one tenant, add a workspace per company, and give each workspace its own subscription. See Use a different card for each workspace.

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Frequently asked questions

Can a single user belong to multiple tenants?
Yes. If you’ve been invited to workspaces across different companies, each tenant appears as its own group on the Workspaces screen, with its own Add Workspace link if you’re an Admin there. Who becomes the tenant admin?
Anyone who holds the Admin role in at least one workspace under the tenant. The person who created the MessageDesk account is Admin of the first workspace, so they’re the default tenant admin. To add another tenant admin, give that teammate the Admin role in any workspace under the tenant. See Who can manage a tenant. Can I create a second tenant from my existing account?
No. Once your account belongs to a tenant, signing in takes you to the Workspaces screen and the only option is Add Workspace, which always creates the workspace under an existing tenant. Registering again with the same email returns an “account already exists” error. See How accounts, tenants, and workspaces are created. Can I delete a workspace under a tenant?
Yes. Cancelled workspaces are automatically deleted 90 days after cancellation. You don’t have to do anything. To delete a workspace sooner than that, email support@messagedesk.com from a workspace admin email and include the last 4 digits of the card on file to authorize the deletion. There is no in-app delete button, and the action is permanent. See Delete a workspace for the full request checklist. Tenant deletion follows the same process. What’s the difference between cancelling a subscription and deleting a workspace?
Subscriptions and workspaces are separate. Cancelling a subscription severs the subscription ↔ workspace link at the end of the billing period and puts the workspace in a locked state. Data is retained for 90 days, after which the workspace is automatically deleted if you don’t resubscribe. To delete a workspace before the 90-day window ends, contact support. See Cancel a subscription vs. delete a workspace. Does adding a new workspace require a separate subscription?
Yes. Every workspace has its own subscription and goes through its own checkout. Subscriptions are stored on the workspace, not the tenant, so a paid subscription on one workspace doesn’t cover another. A newly added workspace can’t send messages until it has an active subscription. Open the new workspace and go to Settings → Workspace Settings → Billing & Subscription to start one. See Start a subscription (new workspaces). Can I pay for each workspace with a different card?
Yes. All workspace subscriptions under your tenant bill through the same billing customer, so you can add every card you want to use under Account → Billing → Payment methods. New subscriptions charge your default payment method. To bill a specific workspace’s subscription to a specific card, email support@messagedesk.com with the workspace name and the last 4 digits of the card, and we’ll set that card as the default for that subscription. See Use a different card for each workspace. Does a user who’s in two workspaces get billed twice?
Yes. Workspace seats are billed per user, per workspace. If the same teammate needs access to two workspaces under your tenant, they’re billed in each. If your goal is just to limit what a user sees, use User Access Control inside a single workspace instead. Can I move a phone number from one workspace to another?
Yes. MessageDesk first removes the number from the source workspace, which also removes the conversation history tied to that number there. See Move a phone number between workspaces.