What are the types of polyamory?

There is no single list, because the words describe different things. Some sort by hierarchy — whether one relationship is placed above the others. Some sort by integration — how much the people in a network mix socially. Others describe the shape: how many people are involved and who is connected to whom. The categories overlap rather than partition: the same relationship can be described with more than one label, or with none, and the same word can mean different things to different people.

Hierarchy is the axis the research cited here compares directly. A hierarchical arrangement gives a primary partner priority over other partners, and a non-hierarchical arrangement gives no relationship priority over others. In a peer-reviewed two-sample study of 225 and 360 polyamorous people, participants in hierarchical configurations scored lower on overall relationship satisfaction and attachment security than those in non-hierarchical ones, and lower with secondary and tertiary partners than with primary or non-hierarchical partners; the authors suggest those differences may attenuate with time (Flicker, Sancier-Barbosa, Moors & Browne, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2021). Its abstract does not describe the sampling, so the comparison is reported as a finding about the people studied rather than a ranking of structures.

Integration has its own vocabulary. Kitchen-table polyamory takes its name from an image: partners spend enough time together that they could all hang out around the same kitchen table. Parallel polyamory keeps relationships separate, with little or no cross-over — metamours do not generally spend time together and might never meet, though both know the other exists. Garden-party polyamory sits in the middle: partners do not necessarily hang out often, but may all see each other at a garden party or another special event. None of these is a research category; they come from community writing, which is why definitions drift and why it is worth asking what a particular person means by one.

Then there is shape. A triad (or throuple) is three people involved with each other. A vee is one person with two partners who are not involved with each other. A quad is four people — often two couples — connected as a group. A polycule is the whole network, including partners of partners. Solo polyamory answers a different question again: it describes practising polyamory without merging into a couple-shaped unit, and the qualitative research reports that most of the solo polyamorists interviewed did not wish to live with partners or pool finances (Fukami, Annals of Family Studies).

Used well, these words are communication tools rather than rankings, and none is more advanced or more legitimate than another. The practical move is to say what you mean in plain language — who you have, what they know about each other, how much time and priority each relationship gets, and what you are looking for — and then let a label, if you want one, follow the description. The ethical-non-monogamy guide and the lifestyle glossary cover how these structures sit alongside swinging, open relationships and relationship anarchy.