What are the different types of admin roles?
Which user management experience do you have?
Go to Atlassian Administration. Select your organization if you have more than one. You can identify which user management experience you have by checking where your Users page is located.
Centralized | Original |
|---|---|
In Atlassian Administration, Users is located in Directory.  | In Atlassian Administration, Users is located in Apps >  |
Centralized user management content
Different admin roles allow organizations to delegate responsibilities among several people, instead of relying on one person. It’s possible to hold multiple admin roles at the same time.
This page only outlines admin roles granted through Atlassian Administration. If you want to know more about other admins, read the documentation for:
Roles
Organization admin
An organization admin is the highest level of admin. They’re responsible for managing users, groups, apps, and security within their organization. They have limited access to manage billing.
When you create an organization, you automatically become an organization admin. We recommend organizations have more than one organization admin in case one account is lost or compromised.
Only organization admins can add or manage other organization admins.
Site admin
Site admins are responsible for managing a site in an organization. This includes adding new apps to the site and managing Marketplace apps installed on the site. They have limited access to manage billing.
Only organization admins can assign the site admin role or remove it from someone.
User access admin
A user access admin can manage user access to a specific app. For example, a Confluence user access admin can manage access to Confluence. A user access admin doesn’t automatically get access to the app they administer.
Only organization admins can assign the user access admin role or remove it from someone.
App admin
An app admin can administer settings in a specific app. They don’t have access to Atlassian Administration. With the exception of the Jira family, app admins can access the content within the app they administer.
What can each admin do?
Key
✅ Allowed
🔸 Allowed for the site or app they administer
❌ Not allowed
Manage users
| Organization admin | Site admin | User access admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
View users in organization | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Configure user access settings | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Update managed accounts | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage portal-only accounts | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Make another user an organization admin | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Make another user a site admin | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Make another user a user access admin | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Make another user an app admin | ✅ | ❌ | 🔸 Exception: For the Jira family, only an organization admin can make another user an app admin. | ❌ |
Make another user a project and space admin | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Manage groups
| Organization admin | Site admin | User access admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Create or modify a group | ✅ | ❌ | 🔸 For groups that only give access to apps they administer. Only an organization admin can modify a group that grants app admin for Jira. | ❌ |
Add or remove users from a group | ✅ | ❌ | 🔸 For groups that only give access to apps they administer. Only an organization admin can add or remove users from a group that grants app admin for Jira. | ❌ |
Configure default groups for Atlassian apps | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage Atlassian apps and Marketplace apps
We give organization admins the user and app admin roles for every Atlassian app in their organization automatically, but these roles can be removed. The organization admin role on its own doesn’t grant app access or the ability to configure app settings.
| Organization admin | Site admin | User access admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Access to Atlassian apps | ❌ We give organization admins the user role for every Atlassian app in their organization. The organization admin role itself doesn’t grant app access. | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ Exception: Confluence app admins automatically get access to the app. |
Approve or deny a request to access Atlassian apps | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ | ❌ |
Add or remove users from Atlassian apps | ✅ | ❌ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Configure Atlassian app settings | ❌ We give organization admins the app admin role for every Atlassian app in their organization. The organization admin role itself doesn’t grant the ability to configure app settings. | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Add Atlassian apps to an organization | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ | ❌ |
Add Marketplace apps to Atlassian apps | ✅ Requires also having the app admin role for the Atlassian app. | 🔸 | ❌ | ❌ Exception: App admins can add a Marketplace app if it’s free and doesn’t require permission to act on a user’s behalf. |
Manage Connect apps | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage security
| Organization admin | Site admin | User access admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Set up and manage user provisioning | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Set up and manage SAML and SSO | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage passwords | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Set up and manage two-step verification | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
View audit log | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Track storage | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ | ❌ |
Update security settings | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Update API keys | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage billing
What each admin role can manage for billing depends on which billing experience your organization has. Understand billing administration
Original user management content
Different admin roles allow organizations to delegate responsibilities among several people, instead of relying on one person. It’s possible to hold multiple admin roles at the same time.
This page only outlines admin roles granted through Atlassian Administration. If you want to know more about other admins, read the documentation for:
Roles
Organization admin
An organization admin is the highest level of admin. They’re responsible for managing users, groups, apps, and security within their organization. They have limited access to manage billing.
When you create an organization, you automatically become an organization admin. We recommend organizations have more than one organization admin in case one account is lost or compromised.
Only organization admins can add or manage other organization admins.
Site admin
Site admins are responsible for managing users, groups, apps, and settings of a site. They have limited access to manage billing.
Organization admins and site admins can assign the site admin role or remove it from someone.
App admin
An app admin can administer settings in a specific app. They don’t have access to Atlassian Administration. With the exception of the Jira family, app admins can access the content within the app they administer.
What can each admin do?
Key
✅ Allowed
🔸 Allowed for the site or app they administer
❌ Not allowed
Manage users
| Organization admin | Site admin | App admin |
View users in organization | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Configure user access settings | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Update managed accounts | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage portal-only accounts | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Make another user an organization admin | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Make another user an app admin | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Make another user a site admin | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Make another user a project and space admin | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Manage groups
| Organization admin | Site admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|
Create or modify a group | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Add or remove users from a group | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Configure default groups for Atlassian apps | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Manage Atlassian apps and Marketplace apps
| Organization admin | Site admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|
Access to Atlassian apps | ❌ | 🔸 | ❌ Exception: Confluence app admins automatically get access to the app. |
Approve or deny a request to access Atlassian apps | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Add or remove users from an Atlassian app | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Configure Atlassian app settings | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Add Atlassian apps to an organization | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Add Marketplace apps to Atlassian apps | ✅ Requires also having the app admin role for the Atlassian app. | ✅ Requires also having the app admin role for the Atlassian app. | ❌ |
Manage Connect apps | ✅ | 🔸 | ❌ |
Manage security
| Organization admin | Site admin | App admin |
|---|---|---|---|
Set up and manage user provisioning | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Set up and manage SAML and SSO | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage passwords | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Set up and manage two-step verification | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
View audit log | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Track storage | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Update security settings | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Update API keys | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Manage billing
What each admin role can manage for billing depends on which billing experience your organization has. Understand billing administration
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