There are two ways to give someone access to your ESTAGE hub. You can invite them to a hub you host, with a role that sets what they can do, or they can start an ESTAGE account in their name and build there. Both work. The difference is who holds the account, the domains and the bill.
I run more than one hub on ESTAGE, and this comes up whenever a client, friend or partner wants in. If you're new to the platform, here's what ESTAGE is. The member and role details below come from ESTAGE's Members and Roles & Permissions help pages (checked October 2026).
The Short Answer: Two Ways In
- Option A: host their hub in your account and invite them. They run the hub day to day. You stay the owner, so you invite anyone else they need, and you hold the domains and the bill.
- Option B: they start an ESTAGE account in their name. The account, domains and billing sit under their name, and they invite their team and publish to the app stores themselves.
Option A suits a hub you build and look after for someone. Option B suits someone who wants to hold the account and the bill. It comes down to who should hold the keys down the track.
Option A: Host Their Hub in Your Account and Invite Them
Create a Separate Hub for Their Business
Give their business a separate hub rather than adding pages to yours. In ESTAGE's settings each hub is a project, and members and roles are set per project. So the role you give them applies to their hub, not to your other hubs.
Invite Them Under Project Settings > Members
- Open their hub and go to Project Settings > Members.
- Under Invite by email, type their email address.
- Pick the role they should get. Leave it as it is and they come in as a Contributor, the default.
- Click Invite.
If they already have an ESTAGE account, they're added straight away. If they don't, ESTAGE emails them a sign-up invitation. Until they accept, they show in the list with a Pending badge, and you can resend or cancel the invitation from that row's menu.
A few things worth knowing before you send it (checked October 2026):
- A hub holds up to 20 members. Pending invites count toward the limit, so an invite nobody accepts still takes a place. At the limit, a new invite is refused.
- The invite form, role pickers and member actions are for the hub owner. An Admin can't invite people or change roles, so anyone new comes in through you.
- Removing someone takes their access away immediately. Their work on the hub stays.
- You can gift AI credits from your balance. They go across the moment the invite is sent and don't come back if you cancel it, so check the email address.
Pick the Role: Admin, Contributor, Marketer or a Custom Role
Every hub starts with three built-in roles, and ESTAGE adds a fourth, Video editor, once you open the Roles tab.
- Admin: a partner or lead developer you trust with everything. Admin covers everything in the hub except the owner's list in the next section, and new ESTAGE features reach Admin automatically.
- Contributor: someone building the site with you. They can build, edit and publish, and they can see payments, connectors and code injection without being able to change them.
- Marketer: SEO, ads and content. That means SEO, Pixels & Tracking, Analytics, Email Integrations, the blog and funnels, and they can publish those changes.
- Video editor: uploads and edits videos in the video library folders the role opens, and nothing else in the hub.
If none of those fit, make a custom role under Project Settings > Roles > New role and tick what it needs. For a client who runs the hub day to day, Admin is the natural fit. For a VA or a writer, Contributor or Marketer is usually enough. Roles are enforced on the server, not just hidden on screen, and a role change from Members takes effect immediately.
What an Admin Can and Can't Do
ESTAGE describes Admin as the owner minus a few things. That short list is the whole decision for Option A, because it's what stays with you. Here's how it lines up (checked October 2026):
| Action | Admin | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Build, publish, settings, blog and funnels | Yes | Yes |
| Invite people and change roles | No | Yes |
| Delete or transfer the hub | No | Yes |
| Publish to the App Store or Google Play, or build a desktop installer | No | Yes |
| Issue API tokens | No | Yes |
| Buy, verify, attach or delete a domain | No (DNS records can be delegated) | Yes |
| Buy a Dedicated Cloud or a plan | No | Yes |
| Open your video library | No, unless a role names it | Yes |
Two rows are easy to miss. Domains you buy or attach sit in your ESTAGE account, not in one hub, although an Admin can be given a domain's DNS records. And your video library belongs to your ESTAGE account, so an Admin doesn't see it unless a role names it, such as Video editor, which opens the folders you pick.
Money follows the owner too. Each collaborator spends AI credits from their balance, not yours. The Dedicated Cloud, the web-app server and the hub's AI Assistant bill to the hub owner, whoever triggered the spend.
When an Admin reaches one of these controls, it usually shows as disabled with the reason on it. If the app store and desktop side is new to you, I covered ESTAGE web apps, multi-app projects and the desktop AI builder when they landed.
Option B: They Start an ESTAGE Account in Their Name
Option B is simpler. They sign up for ESTAGE and build their hub in their account. The account, domains and billing sit under their name. They invite their team, set the roles, and publish to the App Store, Google Play or a desktop installer themselves.
You can still help. If they invite you to their hub as an Admin, you can build alongside them while the account stays under their name.
If they'd like to sign up, here's the link: Get started with ESTAGE. I'm an ESTAGE Founding Ambassador and earn a commission if you sign up through my links. ESTAGE is in its invitation phase, so pick the option that fits them, not the one with a link in it.
If you're curious how affiliate tracking works on ESTAGE, I've explained the ESTAGE Affiliate Center separately.
Which Way Fits
Here's the side-by-side I'd use when someone asks which way to go (checked October 2026):
| Question | Hosted hub with a role | Account in their name |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds the account | You do; they're a member of your hub | They do |
| Domains | Bought and attached in your ESTAGE account | Bought and attached in their account |
| Billing and plan | Your plan; Dedicated Cloud, web-app server and AI Assistant usage bill to you | Their plan and their bill |
| Inviting the team | You invite everyone and set the roles | They invite their team |
| App stores and desktop installers | You publish | They publish |
| Video library | Yours stays closed to an Admin unless a role names it | Their library, in their account |
| AI credits | They spend from their balance; you can gift credits | They spend from their balance |
My rule of thumb is simple. If you're building and looking after the hub for them, host it and give them a role. If they want to hold the account and the bill, or they'll want it under their name down the track, set them up with an account in their name from the start.
Community Roles Are a Separate Thing
Everything above is project access: who can build, publish and change settings on the hub. Community roles are set inside the community and cover moderation, channels and courses, so a hub role and a community role are set in different places. If community access is what you're after, I've written up ESTAGE community roles separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I add someone to my ESTAGE project?
Go to Project Settings > Members, type their email under Invite by email, pick a role and click Invite. If they already use ESTAGE, they're added straight away. If not, they get a sign-up invitation by email and show as Pending until they accept (checked October 2026).
What can an Admin do in ESTAGE?
Nearly everything in the hub: building, publishing, settings, the blog and funnels. ESTAGE defines Admin as the owner minus a short list of actions, so new features reach Admin automatically. Your video library stays closed to an Admin unless a role names it.
What can't an Admin do in ESTAGE?
An Admin can't delete or transfer the hub, invite people or change roles, publish to the App Store or Google Play, build a desktop installer, issue API tokens, buy, verify, attach or delete a domain, or buy a Dedicated Cloud or a plan. Those stay with the hub owner (checked October 2026).
How many members can I invite to an ESTAGE hub?
Up to 20 members per hub, and pending invites count toward that limit, so cancel old invites you no longer need. At the limit, a new invite is refused (checked October 2026).
Can I build a hub for a client in my ESTAGE account?
Yes. Create a separate hub for their business and invite them under Project Settings > Members with the role that fits, usually Admin if they'll run it day to day. You stay the hub owner, so the domains, the plan and the billing sit with you, and you invite anyone else they need.
Should a client have an ESTAGE account in their name?
If they want to hold the account, the domains and the bill, yes. They invite their team and publish to the app stores themselves, and they can still invite you in to help. If you're building and looking after the hub for them, hosting it with a role is simpler.
What's the difference between project roles and community roles?
Project roles, set under Project Settings > Roles, control who can build, publish and change settings on the hub. Community roles are set inside the community and cover moderation, channels and courses. The two are managed separately.
Join The Community
Build your hub with people doing the same work. If you're setting up hubs for clients, friends or partners, the HubSteady Community is where hub builders compare notes.
If that sounds useful, Join The Community.