Organizations
Learn how Galaxy organizations give teams a shared account for apps, databases, billing, and configurable access.
What Are Organizations?
Want to collaborate on Galaxy? You need an organization.
Organizations let multiple developers deploy, scale, and monitor apps together. Think of them as shared workspaces where your team can access the same resources without sharing login credentials.
Here's the key thing: you always log in as yourself. Organizations don't have passwords. Each team member uses their own Galaxy account, and organizations group those individual accounts together.
Why this matters:
- Each person keeps their own credentials secure
- You can track who did what
- Removing someone doesn't affect others
- Security settings (like 2FA) are per-person, not shared
Creating an Organization
Ready to set up a team workspace? Here's how.
Open the Account Switcher
Click the account dropdown at the top left of the dashboard. You'll see your personal account listed, plus any organizations you're already part of.
Create New Organization
Click "New Organization" at the bottom of the dropdown menu. Enter a name for your organization.
Choose carefully. Organization names are locked once created. Can't change them later.
Set Up Billing
Each organization has its own billing. Go to the Billing section and add a payment method for your new organization.
Organization charges are completely separate from your personal account billing.
Add Your Team
Head to the Members section and start inviting collaborators. They'll need their own Galaxy accounts first.
See the Members Menu guide for details on adding team members and assigning roles.
Organization names are permanent. Pick something you won't regret, like your company name or project codename.
Switching Between Accounts
Use the account switcher at the top left of the dashboard to move between your personal account and organizations.
Your dashboard view changes depending on what you select. When viewing an organization, you see that organization's apps and databases. Access to billing, members, and organization settings depends on your role and the organization's Billing Management setting. Switch back to your personal account and you see your individual resources.
Not seeing the resources you expected? Check which account is selected in the switcher. Apps and databases belong to specific accounts, and you only see what belongs to the currently selected one.
Organization vs Personal Account
What's the difference?
Personal accounts are for individual developers. Apps and databases here are yours alone. Great for personal projects, learning, or solo work.
Organizations are for teams. Multiple people share access to the same apps and databases. Everyone uses their own login, but resources are collectively managed.
You can have both. Keep personal experiments in your individual account and move team projects to an organization.
Roles and Access
Each organization member has one role: Owner, Admin, Developer, or Viewer. Roles determine organization-level capabilities, while a separate app-permissions matrix lets eligible users choose which app features Admins, Developers, and Viewers can use.
App permissions are set by role and apply to all apps in the organization. They aren't configured per member or per app. Database access and billing continue to follow their existing organization rules. For a role overview and the available app permission controls, see the Members Menu.
Each organization has one owner. The owner has full access and can transfer ownership. New members join as Viewers. Owners and admins manage members and roles; only the owner can transfer ownership. Configure billing access in Organization Settings.
App Permissions Apply Across the Organization
Changing a role's app permissions changes access for every member with that role across all organization apps. For hard separation between projects, create separate organizations.
Deploying to Organizations
When you deploy an app, Galaxy needs to know which account should own it.
Push to Deploy: Select your organization in the account switcher before starting the deployment flow. The app deploys to whatever account is currently selected.
CLI deployment: Use the --owner flag to specify the organization. See the Meteor CLI deployment guide for details and examples.
Manual Deployments Follow App Permissions
Manual deployment access depends on the member's role and the organization's app permission settings. Check the Manual deployments permission in the Members Menu if someone can't deploy.
Transferring Apps
Have an app on your personal account that the team needs? Move it in from the app's own Settings page, under Danger Zone.
The organization owner then accepts the request from the dashboard, and the app arrives with its configuration and domains intact. Moving an app back out works the same way, in the other direction.
Both sides of the transfer are owner-only. You need to own the account the app is leaving, and the owner of the destination account has to approve. See Transfer an App for the full walkthrough.
Organization Billing
Each organization has completely separate billing from your personal account.
- Own payment method
- Own invoices
- Own usage tracking
Charges for organization resources never appear on personal account bills. Make sure to set up billing for each organization you create.
Closing an Organization
Need to shut things down?
Pause without closing: Just stop all apps and databases. Galaxy doesn't charge for inactive resources. The organization stays available if you want to restart later.
Close permanently: Contact support. They'll walk you through closing the organization entirely. All apps, databases, and member associations are deleted.
Closing is permanent. Export any data you need first. Let team members know they'll lose access.
Common Questions
What's Next?
Defining Your Context with the Header
Learn about the Dashboard Header, where you can switch between personal accounts, organizations, and regions.
Navigating the Sidebar
Use the sidebar to access different sections of Galaxy, with all content filtered by your currently selected region and account or organization.