Hive review (2023): Pricing, standout features & alternatives

Launched in 2016, Hive has become one of the leading project management solutions for businesses of all sizes. It offers an impressive portfolio of features, including automated task management, in-built messaging, templates and integrations with several third-party applications.

In this review, we take a deep dive into Hive’s features, pricing, pros and cons to help you better understand the software and determine if this is the right project management software for your needs. If Hive is not a good fit for you, we have shared a few top Hive alternatives.

SEE: Learn more about how to use project templates in Hive.

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Pricing

Free

Hive’s Free plan is available at no cost for up to 10 users and 500MB storage. You get unlimited tasks, unlimited collaborative notes, custom emojis, native messaging tools, and multiple views such as kanban boards and Gantt charts.

The free version is ideal for light project management for small teams.

Team

The Team plan is $12 per user per month, billed annually, or $18 per user when billed monthly. It offers unlimited storage, unlimited users, external guest access and several other features not available in the free version.

The Team version is ideal for handling multiple projects. Those interested can take advantage of Hive’s 14-day free trial.

Enterprise

The Enterprise plan includes enhanced security and permission controls, customer analytics, enterprise application programming interface and access to professional services. The Enterprise plan is best for teams that need a full suite of add-ons, enterprise security and extra support.

Businesses interested in the Enterprise plan will need to contact Hive’s sales team for a custom quote. Discounts are available provided to nonprofits.

Key Features of Hive

Hive milestones and reporting

The Hive Goals is a goal-setting feature that allows users to set objectives, visualize projects and keep everyone in the team aligned using a centralized dashboard (Figure A). Using this feature, users can break down complex projects into small goals, assign tasks to users and monitor progress.

Figure A

Hive has a feature where you can view project summaries to get a quick overview of project status, make meeting updates and create content calendars. The best use case for this feature is for managing multiple or complex projects, as it provides a bigger picture of the projects in real time.

Time tracking

Hive has a native time tracking feature, which makes it easy to record how long it takes to complete a task. Project managers can use this feature for resource management, while individual users can keep track of their time sheets. Third-party integrations for time tracking are available, but having a native capability provides a more seamless experience.

Communication and collaborative tools

The instant messaging app of Hive can be used for group chatting or individual use (Figure B). Whether you need to discuss a project, celebrate a milestone or set up a video chat, you can use Hive’s native messenger to collaborate with your team. You can even use Messenger to upload and share files.

Figure B

The proofing and approval tools offered by Hive make it convenient and efficient to proof and approve files. Instead of attaching files to an email, users can use Hive to simply tag their managers for approval.

Kanban boards and Gantt charts

Kanban boards help boost team efficiency by minimizing work in progress. They also help improve project visibility by allowing all team members to be aligned on the project’s status and progress. Gantt charts help users visualize project roadmap and track project schedules. Hive offers these tools as well as a few other views such as list view, portfolio view, table view and calendar view.

SEE: Learn more about what a Gantt chart is and when to use it.

Mobile app

Through the Hive mobile app, you get access to a mobile-optimized workspace so you can manage tasks on the go. The mobile app has impressive functionality, as you can use it to share files, create new tasks or send messages. Hive mobile app is available for Android and iOS.

Drag-and-drop tools

The drag-and-drop feature of Hive improves the navigation of the software and boosts efficiency. For example, to alert a coworker about a change in project status, you can simply drag and drop an action into the chat window. Similarly, you can use the drag-and-drop feature to share files with coworkers.

Hive’s customer support

Hive’s customer support is available through email help desk, live chat and phone support. And with the higher-tiered plans, users can access a deeper level of customer support through a dedicated 24/7 customer success manager.

Hive users can request new features, view the latest changes to Hive, join the Hive Facebook community and get access to the FAQs section. There is also an online Hive knowledge base, which is regularly updated.

On Hive’s website, users get access to video demos and product webinars to help facilitate a “teach-yourself” approach to learning how to use Hive’s features. In addition, newer users can schedule a product walkthrough demo to learn about the basic and advanced features of Hive.

Pros and cons

Who is Hive best for?

The outstanding versatility and scalability make Hive work for different types of users. For example, it offers excellent collaboration tools, such as a built-in messaging app, that would work for small or large teams.

In addition, it has powerful reporting and analytics tools that work for enterprises or smaller organizations looking to gain insights from project data. The pricing of Hive makes it more expensive than some competitors, so you will decide whether you can afford Hive in your budget.

SEE: Use this project manager hiring kit to find the right person to lead your project teams.

Best Hive integrations

Hive offers access to over 1,000 native and non-native integrations to third-party applications (Figure C). It should be noted that non-native integration requires a Zapier account, which comes at an additional starting price of $19.99 per month. However, users can still access top native Hive integrations at no extra cost, including tools like:

• Salesforce: Hive can be integrated with Salesforce, which is one of the leading customer relationship management platforms, to help businesses manage their customers and projects.
• Slack: Although Hive has a built-in messaging app, you can integrate it with Slack for more comprehensive communication between teams.
• Zoom: With Zoom integration, Hive users can bypass the hassle of setting up meeting sessions.
• Github: Hive integrates with GitHub to provide a version control system for developers. The integration allows users to track and manage the progress throughout the development life cycle.
• Google Drive: You can store, share and collaborate on any file using Google Drive integration with Hive.

Hive alternatives and competitors

Asana

Similar to Hive, Asana is a project management solution that is versatile and flexible, which makes it work for businesses of all sizes. It offers similar core features to Hive and integrates with over 1,000 business applications. The ease of use offered by Asana is superior to Hive, so if you are looking for an easy learning curve, Asana would be a better fit.

SEE: For more information, check out our full review of Asana.

ClickUp

ClickUp is another leading project management solution. While Hive is more focused on team collaboration, ClickUp is better suited for freelancers, solopreneurs or small businesses. The feature-packed free plan of ClickUp means that some users can use the software without upgrading to a paid plan.

SEE: For more information, check out our full review of ClickUp.

Trello

Trello is well known for its simplicity, ease of use and outstanding free plan. With Trello, you get a kanban-based layout that is easy to navigate for beginners. The ease of use of Trello is a trade-off with some advanced features, as you don’t get built-in messaging or native time tracking with Trello. Trello is ideal for those looking to get up and running fast with a capable project management solution.

SEE: For more information, check out our full review of Trello.

Review methodology

To review Hive, we analyzed its pricing, ease of use, scalability, features, customer service, reliability and other parameters. In addition, we looked at how Hive would perform in a business environment and individual use. The review was based on information from personal use, expert reviews and customer ratings from reputable websites.

If you still think Hive isn’t right for you after this review, check out our list of the top cloud-based project management software.