Summary and recommendation
Monday.com user management can be run manually, but complexity usually increases with role models, licensing gates, and offboarding dependencies. This guide gives the exact mechanics and where automation has the biggest impact.
Monday.com's user management lives under Admin → Team (avatar bottom-left → Admin → Team). Admins control four fixed roles - Admin, Member, Viewer, and Guest - each with distinct board and account-level access.
Viewer and Guest roles carry meaningful constraints: Viewers are read-only and only available on Pro and Enterprise; Guests are board-scoped and their allowance is tied to the ratio of paid Member seats.
Quick facts
| Admin console path | Avatar (bottom-left) → Admin → Team |
| Admin console URL | Official docs |
| SCIM available | Yes |
| SCIM tier required | Enterprise |
| SSO prerequisite | Yes |
User types and roles
| Role | Permissions | Cannot do | Plan required | Seat cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | Full account control: manage billing, users, permissions, integrations, security settings, and all boards. Can see all boards unless explicitly restricted. | Cannot be restricted from account-level settings by other roles. | All paid plans | Paid seat (counts toward billing) | Admins can view and edit all boards by default, which may be undesirable for sensitive workspaces. Multiple admins are allowed but each consumes a paid seat. |
| Member | Can create boards, dashboards, and workspaces (if permitted by admin). Can be added to boards and collaborate on items. Can invite guests. | Cannot access Admin panel, manage billing, or change account-level settings. | All paid plans | Paid seat (counts toward billing) | Members can create public boards visible to the entire account unless board creation permissions are restricted by an Admin. |
| Viewer | Read-only access to boards they are added to. Can view items, updates, and dashboards but cannot edit. | Cannot create boards, post updates, edit items, or manage anything. | Pro and Enterprise plans only | Paid seat at a reduced rate (Viewer seats are billed at a lower cost than full Member seats on eligible plans) | Viewer seats still consume a paid seat allocation. Not available on Free, Basic, or Standard plans. |
| Guest | Access only to specific boards they are explicitly invited to. Cannot see other boards, workspaces, or account-level content. | Cannot access the Admin panel, create boards, view other workspaces, or see the full account directory. | Basic plan and above (limited guest seats on Basic; more on higher plans) | Guests are not counted as paid seats on most plans; each paid Member seat includes a set number of free guest seats (varies by plan) | Guest seat allowance is tied to the number of paid Member seats. Exceeding the guest-to-member ratio may require upgrading. Guests must use the same email domain restrictions if domain whitelisting is enabled. |
Permission model
- Model type: role-based
- Description: Monday.com uses a fixed set of account-level roles (Admin, Member, Viewer, Guest) combined with board-level permission settings. Board owners can set boards to 'Main' (all members), 'Shareable' (specific members + guests), or 'Private' (invite-only). Column-level and item-level permissions can be restricted on Pro and Enterprise plans. Enterprise adds advanced account permission controls.
- Custom roles: No
- Custom roles plan: Not documented
- Granularity: Account-level: 4 fixed roles. Board-level: board type (Main/Shareable/Private) and edit vs. view permissions per board. Column-level restrictions available on Pro+. Item permissions available on Enterprise.
How to add users
- Navigate to Admin → Team (or use the avatar menu at bottom-left → Invite members).
- Click 'Invite members' button.
- Enter the invitee's email address (one or multiple, comma-separated).
- Select the user type: Member, Viewer (Pro/Enterprise only), or Guest.
- Optionally assign the user to a Team within the account.
- Click 'Send invite'. The invitee receives an email to set up their account.
Required fields: Email address, User type (Member, Viewer, or Guest)
Watch out for:
- Inviting a new Member or Viewer immediately adds a paid seat to the account and may trigger a prorated billing charge.
- If the account has reached its seat limit, adding a new user will prompt an upgrade or seat purchase.
- Guest invitations are tied to a specific board; guests must be invited from within that board's member list, not from the Admin panel.
- Domain restriction settings (if enabled on Enterprise) will block invitations to email addresses outside approved domains.
- Users who have not accepted their invitation still occupy a pending seat on some plan configurations.
| Bulk option | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV import | Yes | Admin → Team → Invite members → Import from CSV |
| Domain whitelisting | Yes | Automatic domain-based user add |
| IdP provisioning | Yes | Enterprise |
How to remove or deactivate users
- Can delete users: No
- Delete/deactivate behavior: Monday.com does not permanently delete user accounts. Admins can only deactivate (formerly called 'archive') a user. Deactivated users cannot log in and do not consume a paid seat, but their account record, owned items, updates, and board data are retained. There is no hard-delete option available through the UI.
- Navigate to Admin → Team.
- Locate the user in the team list (use search if needed).
- Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the user's name.
- Select 'Deactivate member'.
- Confirm the deactivation in the dialog box.
- The user is immediately logged out and loses access. Their seat is freed at the next billing cycle or immediately depending on plan.
| Data impact | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Owned records | All boards, items, and dashboards created by the deactivated user remain intact and accessible to other members and admins. Ownership of boards is not automatically transferred; an Admin must manually reassign board ownership if needed. |
| Shared content | Updates, comments, and file attachments posted by the deactivated user remain visible on boards. The user's name appears as the author but is marked as deactivated. |
| Integrations | Integrations and automations set up using the deactivated user's credentials (e.g., OAuth-connected integrations) may break and require reconnection by an active Admin or Member. |
| License freed | The paid seat is released after deactivation. On annual plans, the seat credit may be applied to the next renewal rather than immediately refunded. On monthly plans, the seat is typically freed at the next billing cycle. |
Watch out for:
- Deactivated users cannot be permanently deleted; their profile and data persist indefinitely.
- Integrations authenticated under the deactivated user's account will stop working and must be manually reconnected.
- Board ownership is not auto-transferred; orphaned boards may become inaccessible to teams if not reassigned before deactivation.
- On annual billing, seat cost reduction from deactivation typically applies at renewal, not immediately.
- Reactivating a previously deactivated user re-adds them as a paid seat immediately.
License and seat management
| Seat type | Includes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Member seat | Full collaboration access: create boards, items, dashboards, automations, and integrations (within plan limits). Access to all workspaces and boards they are added to. | Full per-seat price per plan tier (Basic ~$9/user/mo, Standard ~$12/user/mo, Pro custom, Enterprise custom - annual billing) |
| Viewer seat | Read-only access to boards they are added to. Cannot edit items or post updates. | Reduced per-seat rate compared to Member seats; exact pricing varies by plan and is negotiated on Pro/Enterprise. Available on Pro and Enterprise only. |
| Guest seat | Access to specific boards only. No workspace or account-wide visibility. | Free up to a ratio of guests per paid Member seat (ratio varies by plan). Additional guests beyond the allowance may require seat upgrades. |
- Where to check usage: Admin → Billing → Seats (shows total seats purchased, seats used, and seats available). Also visible at Admin → Team for a full user list with roles.
- How to identify unused seats: Admin → Team → filter or sort by 'Last active' date to identify users who have not logged in recently. No built-in automated unused-seat report; admins must manually review last-active timestamps.
- Billing notes: Monday.com sells seats in minimum increments (minimum 3 seats on most paid plans). Annual plans are billed upfront for the full year; adding seats mid-year is prorated. Removing seats mid-year does not generate a refund on annual plans - the reduction applies at renewal. Monthly plans adjust at the next billing cycle. Enterprise pricing is negotiated and typically quoted per seat per year.
The cost of manual management
Every app in your stack that requires manual provisioning creates the same category of risk: access that outlives employment. In Monday.com, deactivating a user does not transfer board ownership or reconnect broken integrations - both must be handled manually before or after offboarding.
Integrations authenticated under a deactivated user's account stop working silently, requiring an admin to identify and reconnect each one.
Seat costs add a second layer of friction. Adding a Member or Viewer immediately triggers a prorated billing charge, and removing seats on an annual plan does not generate a mid-year refund - the reduction applies only at renewal. Guest seats are free up to a plan-defined ratio; exceeding that ratio requires an upgrade.
What IT admins are saying
The most consistent complaint across Monday.com's community forums is that SCIM provisioning sits behind the Enterprise plan, which many mid-market teams find cost-prohibitive relative to their actual provisioning needs.
A second recurring issue is the absence of permanent user deletion - deactivated accounts accumulate indefinitely with no cleanup path available through the UI.
Board ownership is a frequent operational pain point: deactivation does not auto-transfer ownership, so orphaned boards are a predictable outcome when offboarding is rushed. Annual billing compounds the seat management problem - admins who deactivate users mid-year see no cost relief until renewal.
Common complaints:
- Enterprise pricing required for SCIM provisioning, which many mid-market teams find cost-prohibitive.
- No permanent user deletion - deactivated users accumulate indefinitely with no cleanup option.
- Integrations break silently when the authenticating user is deactivated, requiring manual reconnection.
- Board ownership is not automatically transferred on deactivation, leading to orphaned boards.
- Annual plan seat reductions do not generate mid-year refunds; cost savings only apply at renewal.
- Viewer seats are only available on Pro and Enterprise, limiting read-only access options for lower-tier plans.
- No built-in report for identifying inactive or unused seats; admins must manually check last-active dates.
- Guest seat allowance tied to Member seat count creates confusion when scaling teams.
- Complex setup requiring multiple admin roles for large organizations.
- No custom roles - only four fixed account-level roles, which limits granular access control for mid-size teams.
The decision
Monday.com's manual user management is workable for small teams on Basic or Standard plans where SCIM is not an option. The four-role model is straightforward, and the Admin → Team path is direct.
The gaps become operational liabilities at scale: no auto-transfer of board ownership, no permanent deletion, silent integration failures on deactivation, and seat cost that does not flex mid-year on annual plans.
Teams that need automated provisioning and deprovisioning must be on Enterprise with SSO configured - there is no middle path. If your organization manages every app through an IdP and expects lifecycle events to propagate automatically, the Enterprise requirement is a hard prerequisite, not a configuration option.
Bottom line
Monday.com gives admins a clean, role-based interface for day-to-day user management, but the manual process carries compounding risk at scale. Deactivation leaves behind orphaned boards, broken integrations, and no permanent deletion option.
Seat costs on annual plans do not adjust mid-year, so delayed offboarding has a direct budget impact.
For teams managing every app manually, Monday.com is manageable in small numbers - but the absence of automated lifecycle controls, locked behind an Enterprise plan, means the operational burden grows linearly with headcount.
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