--- title: What are the differences between Users versus Subscribers? description: Both users and subscribers can exist for the same person so read on to learn the differences and how they function. --- [![uConnect](https://s41911.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/logo.svg)](https://www.gouconnect.com/) - [Knowledge Base](https://support.gouconnect.com/) - [Career Everywhere](https://www.gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/) - [Community](https://www.gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/community/access/) - [Submit a Ticket](https://share.hsforms.com/10AUHU9-DRi-Bw3fdB-SUYA8bok) - [Support Portal Login](https://support.gouconnect.com/_hcms/mem/login) ✕ ## Submit a Ticket Loading support form... [Skip to content](https://support.gouconnect.com/en/articles/8871073-what-are-the-differences-between-users-versus-subscribers#main-content) Open main navigation Close main navigation What do you need help with today? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [uConnect Knowledge Base](https://support.gouconnect.com/en/articles) 2. [Manage Subscribers & Users](https://support.gouconnect.com/en/articles/manage-subscribers-users) # What are the differences between Users versus Subscribers? In general, **Users** are the accounts created for yourself and anyone contributing content to your platform and of whom has backend access. Conversely, **Subscribers** are the accounts of individuals that you want to receive your uConnect emails and these accounts store the subscriber preferences (or tags) of those individuals so you know who should receive certain content (example: if a subscriber signed up to receive information about your Accounting career community, you could email anyone with that corresponding career community tag and send them information). Let's dive in deeper. Users are the accounts created under *Manage>Users>Add New*, and each user type has different permission levels associated with them related to admin capabilities. User Types: - Members - Admins - Staff - Student Staff - Community Experts Unlike typical subscribers who can only customize their preferences, certain users types such as *Student Staff, Staff*, and *Admin* user types all have higher levels of permissions and varying levels of access to different areas of the platform and adding/editing/deleting content. **Learn more [here](https://support.gouconnect.com/en/articles/1991928-what-permissions-do-different-users-have)!** ![](https://support.gouconnect.com/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base%20Import/image-Feb-25-2026-06-56-48-8874-PM.png) In contrast, you can gain Subscribers in three ways. The first is through organic user sign-ups, the second is through an automated integration (SIS) with your institution's user data system, and the third is through [uploading a subscriber list](https://support.gouconnect.com/en/articles/10412036-upload-a-subscriber-list). ![](https://support.gouconnect.com/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base%20Import/image-Feb-25-2026-06-56-47-8447-PM.png) In the case where Single Sign On (SSO) is enabled, when visitors log into their uConnect platform using their institutional credentials, a user account is created for that visitor. When the visitor logs in using their institutional credentials and they don't sign up for alerts or set their preferences, you cannot see them from the admin view in **Engage** > **Subscribers**. On the other hand, any visitor who has logged in using SSO **AND** has signed up for alerts and set their preferences, their accounts will show up under **Engage** > **Subscribers**. Sometimes, there may be many more subscribers than users because either a) there was a subscriber upload or a SIS (student information sync) is set up, or b) students are logging in through SSO. To completely remove a user, you should delete any existing accounts, and in cases where there are duplicates, those user accounts should also be merged. 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