[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":75},["ShallowReactive",2],{"help-article-brand-vs-business":3},{"data":4},{"title":5,"excerpt":6,"content":7,"help_category":8,"seo":11},"Brand vs. Business","A business is your account — a physically isolated database and storage bucket. A brand is a logical partition inside it. Learn when to add a brand vs.","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>What you'll learn\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>The difference between a business (your account) and a brand (a partition inside it).\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Why one is physically isolated and the other is logical.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>When to add a brand versus stand up a whole new account.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Cp>Most SaaS tools bundle your login, your billing, and your workspace data into one box. Want a second project? You either mix it into one workspace or pay for a second account. m18t splits those concerns into two layers, and knowing which is which saves you from setting up your workspace the wrong way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two layers are the \u003Cstrong>business\u003C\u002Fstrong> (your account — your workspace) and the \u003Cstrong>brand\u003C\u002Fstrong> (a partition inside it). One is heavy and physically separate; the other is light and instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>The business (your account)\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>A business is the hard boundary. It's the top of the isolation model, and the separation is physical:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Col>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Its own database.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Each business gets its own isolated database. One business's data never sits in another's. There are no shared tables across businesses.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Its own storage.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Each business gets its own isolated storage bucket for media.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Its own billing.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Your subscription is tied to the business.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Fol>\n\u003Cp>Because the isolation is physical, businesses are heavy — they involve provisioning — and you cannot query across two of them. (In m18t this is also called your \u003Cstrong>workspace\u003C\u002Fstrong> — the whole account container.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>The brand\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>A brand is a logical partition \u003Cem>inside\u003C\u002Fem> one business's database. It's lightweight:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Col>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Shared infrastructure.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Every brand in a business lives in the same database file and the same storage bucket. Isolation between brands is enforced by the application's brand-scoping, not by separate files.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Instant context switching.\u003C\u002Fstrong> The \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fthe-brand-switcher\">Brand Switcher\u003C\u002Fa> filters the studio to the active brand — switch and the content, assets, integrations, and specs all re-shard.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Shared vault, if you want it.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Brands in the same business can point at the same encrypted API keys. Five brands can route their AI calls through one OpenAI key in \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fthe-secret-vault\">the vault\u003C\u002Fa> — or each can have its own.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Fol>\n\u003Cp>Brands are free and instant to create.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>When to use which\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Ch3>The solo operator\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp>You run a tech blog, a portfolio, and a side project.\n\u003Cstrong>One business, three brands.\u003C\u002Fstrong> One subscription, one set of shared AI keys if you like, and the \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fthe-brand-switcher\">switcher\u003C\u002Fa> jumps you between them instantly. (\u003Ca href=\"\u002Ffor\u002Ffounders\">More on going solo →\u003C\u002Fa>)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3>The agency\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp>You manage social and content for five external clients who don't log in themselves.\n\u003Cstrong>One business, five brands\u003C\u002Fstrong> — this is \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fagency-mode\">Agency Mode\u003C\u002Fa>. One billing relationship with m18t, every client managed from one place, and \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fper-brand-integrations\">per-brand integrations\u003C\u002Fa> so each client's posts go to that client's own accounts while sharing your AI key. (\u003Ca href=\"\u002Ffor\u002Fagencies\">More for agencies →\u003C\u002Fa>)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3>The strict-isolation client\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp>A client demands their data never share a database file with anyone else's, for compliance or contractual reasons.\n\u003Cstrong>A new business.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Adding them as a brand inside your existing account wouldn't give them physical separation. A separate business gives them their own database file and their own storage bucket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3>The flippable project\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp>You're building a niche site you plan to sell.\n\u003Cstrong>A new business.\u003C\u002Fstrong> When you sell, you hand over a whole account cleanly, rather than trying to untangle one brand's rows out of a shared database.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>A note on pricing\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Pricing isn't locked during beta, but the working assumption is that m18t meters on \u003Cstrong>brands per account\u003C\u002Fstrong>, not seats and not AI tokens — because that's the dimension that scales naturally from a solo operator with three side projects to an agency with thirty client brands. So "just add another brand" may carry a cost as your account grows; "add another teammate" is not the axis. Treat this as the direction, not a committed price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>FAQ\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Is a brand the same as a workspace?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\nNo. A workspace (the business \u002F your account) is one physical database and bucket. A brand is one logical partition inside it. A workspace can hold many brands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Can two brands share an API key?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\nYes. Brands in the same business can point at the same key in \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fthe-secret-vault\">the vault\u003C\u002Fa>, which is how agencies centralize AI billing. Each brand can also have its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Can I move a brand to a different business later?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\nNot through a built-in tool today. Because a brand's rows live inside one business's database, splitting it out is a data operation, not a button. Plan the boundary up front — that's exactly why the "flippable project" case argues for a separate business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Do I get charged for adding a brand?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\nThe metering axis is expected to be brands per account, so additional brands are the thing that scales your plan. Pricing isn't finalized in beta — see the pricing note above.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Which should I pick for client work?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\nAlmost always one business with a brand per client — that's \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fagency-mode\">Agency Mode\u003C\u002Fa>. Reach for a separate business only when a client needs physical data isolation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>What's next\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fadd-a-second-brand\">Add a Second Brand\u003C\u002Fa> — what's shared and what's isolated when you add one.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fthe-brand-switcher\">The Brand Switcher\u003C\u002Fa> — how switching re-shards everything.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"\u002Fhelp\u002Fagency-mode\">Agency Mode\u003C\u002Fa> — running many client brands from one account.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n",{"slug":9,"title":10},"brands-and-workspaces","Brands & Workspaces",{"meta_title":12,"meta_description":6,"keywords":13,"canonical_url":14,"og_title":5,"og_description":15,"og_image":16,"robots":17,"json_ld":18},"Brand vs. Business | m18t Help","brand vs business, workspace, physical isolation, logical partition, when to add a brand, new account, m18t architecture","https:\u002F\u002Fm18t.com\u002Fhelp\u002Fbrand-vs-business","One is a physically isolated account; the other is a light, instant partition inside it. Here's when to use which.","https:\u002F\u002Fm18t.com\u002Fog-default.png","index, follow",{"@context":19,"@graph":20},"https:\u002F\u002Fschema.org",[21,34,59],{"@type":22,"headline":5,"description":6,"articleSection":10,"inLanguage":23,"datePublished":24,"dateModified":24,"image":16,"author":25,"publisher":29,"mainEntityOfPage":32},"Article","en","2026-06-25",{"@type":26,"name":27,"url":28},"Organization","m18t","https:\u002F\u002Fm18t.com",{"@type":26,"name":27,"url":28,"logo":30},{"@type":31,"url":16},"ImageObject",{"@type":33,"@id":14},"WebPage",{"@type":35,"mainEntity":36},"FAQPage",[37,43,47,51,55],{"@type":38,"name":39,"acceptedAnswer":40},"Question","Is a brand the same as a workspace?",{"@type":41,"text":42},"Answer","No. A workspace (the business \u002F your account) is one physical database and bucket. A brand is one logical partition inside it. A workspace can hold many brands.",{"@type":38,"name":44,"acceptedAnswer":45},"Can two brands share an API key?",{"@type":41,"text":46},"Yes. Brands in the same business can point at the same key in the vault, which is how agencies centralize AI billing. Each brand can also have its own.",{"@type":38,"name":48,"acceptedAnswer":49},"Can I move a brand to a different business later?",{"@type":41,"text":50},"Not through a built-in tool today. Because a brand's rows live inside one business's database, splitting it out is a data operation, not a button. Plan the boundary up front — that's exactly why the flippable project case argues for a separate business.",{"@type":38,"name":52,"acceptedAnswer":53},"Do I get charged for adding a brand?",{"@type":41,"text":54},"The metering axis is expected to be brands per account, so additional brands are the thing that scales your plan. Pricing isn't finalized in beta — see the pricing note above.",{"@type":38,"name":56,"acceptedAnswer":57},"Which should I pick for client work?",{"@type":41,"text":58},"Almost always one business with a brand per client — that's Agency Mode. Reach for a separate business only when a client needs physical data isolation.",{"@type":60,"itemListElement":61},"BreadcrumbList",[62,66,70,73],{"@type":63,"position":64,"name":65,"item":28},"ListItem",1,"Home",{"@type":63,"position":67,"name":68,"item":69},2,"Help","https:\u002F\u002Fm18t.com\u002Fhelp",{"@type":63,"position":71,"name":10,"item":72},3,"https:\u002F\u002Fm18t.com\u002Fhelp\u002Fcategories\u002Fbrands-and-workspaces",{"@type":63,"position":74,"name":5,"item":14},4,1786312168404]