The Best Hive Alternative Shortlist
Have a quick glance at the tools I review in this article.
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Hive is a productivity software shaped by users that unites team communication and task management under one platform. This allows project managers to replace Slack or other collaboration apps they might be using. This keeps all messaging and project information in a single place.
Therefore, it makes it hard to find a Hive alternative. However, there's always something better out there. I will review some alternatives and you decide if those are better for you.
About Hive
Hive is one of the young project management tools on the market. It was founded in 2015 by co-founders John Furneaux and Eric Typaldos.
The tool is part project management and part AI. It brings together features like task management automation, custom workflows, templates, messaging, and collaboration under one roof.
This project management platform has dashboards to help you navigate tasks, reporting, and communications.
First, these dashboards are modern, colorful and easy to navigate with drag-and-drop items like task cards and reporting widgets. Then, portfolio dashboards can provide metrics into what your team is doing and how the big picture projects are coming together. Finally, personal dashboards can track individual productivity levels and workflow patterns.
Hive’s automated workflow processes help you alleviate the administrative burden of basic tagging and communication tasks. Even newbies can easily follow the conversational pattern for setting up custom workflows and automating routine processes. This can support accurate dashboard metrics, as it relies less on manual input that is prone to error.
In addition, you’ll have access to flexible project views like Kanban boards, Gantt charts, portfolios, tables, calendar views, and summary views. A flexible toolset covers everything you need to digitize your workspace, including customizable forms, project templates, proofing and approval systems, and automations.
Hive offers over a dozen native third-party integrations with tools like Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, JIRA, and Salesforce. Additionally, you can unlock more connections with a paid plan through Zapier (costs extra).
Hive starts at $18/user/month on a monthly plan and offers a 14-day free trial.
10 Best Hive Alternatives Compared
To clarify which Hive alternative suits your project teams best, I’m going through the pros and cons, trial info, pricing, and expert opinion for 10 options you need to consider. I’m comparing each alternative to Hive so you can pick two or three apps that are worth a trial run.
monday.com
Best Hive alternative for specialized integrations
Why monday.com is a great Hive alternative
Sure, Hive does come with basic integrations, but you’ll want to try monday.com if you’re looking for industry-specific ones. PagerDuty, JotForm, Clearbit, Mailchimp, and Shopify are just some of the native add-ons you’ll get with monday.com as your project management software that you can’t access with Hive.
ClickUp
Best Hive alternative for similar features at a lower cost
Why ClickUp is a great Hive alternative
ClickUp essentially has the same features as Hive under a slightly different workspace design, with ClickUp being more customizable and colorful. What makes ClickUp a better choice is the cheaper and less complicated pricing. With Hive, you have to pay for extra modules like timesheets or resource management, leading to costs adding up. ClickUp, on the other hand, has simpler pricing that reunites multiple of their functionalities. Not to mention ClickUp provides a great free plan with unlimited users whereas Hive doesn’t offer a free subscription at all.
Scoro
Best for project management with built-in KPI tracking
Why Scoro is a great Hive alternative
Scoro has plenty of features that can help you enter, track, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) for your team. You can track task efficiency, hours logged by activity, and projects by client. Plus, they have robust sales and CRM capabilities to set and monitor sales goals. You can easily build, bookmark, and share reports outlining these results for the key decision makers at the company.
Asana
Best for a simple, collaborative to-do list
Why Asana is a great Hive alternative
Not only is Asana free for up to 15 users, but it is incredibly easy to learn and master. Small businesses and startups can easily get what they need using only the free plan. Asana makes for a simple, mess-free to-do list that can be tailored to everything from small personal goals to complex project tracking.
Celoxis
Best Hive alternative for financial management
Why Celoxis is a great Hive alternative
Celoxis is similar to Hive in many ways, but it is also more robust and flexible and includes many additional features. Such features include risk analysis and financial management. You can track your team's time, manage expenses, and even manage project accounting information right from the platform. You can also create project budgets and allocate costs to specific tasks or resources. With its powerful reporting and analytics tools, Celoxis is a great option for businesses that need to keep a close eye on their projects. By integrating financial aspects with project management, Celoxis helps organizations control costs and ensures successful project delivery within budgetary constraints.
Basecamp
Best Hive alternative with a flat monthly rate, no matter your team size
Why Basecamp is a great Hive alternative
Basecamp is a great Hive alternative for large teams because it does not charge a per-user rate. Instead, Basecamp offers their platform for a $99/month flat fee. This gets you unlimited projects, unlimited users, 500GB storage space, unlimited clients, project templates, and priority customer support.
Ravetree
Best Hive alternative for project resource management
Why Ravetree is a great Hive alternative
Hive is a platform for team collaboration and communication with project management features. When comparing features, both Ravetree and Hive offer task management, Gantt chart visualization, and project templates. However, Ravetree has resource planning and budgeting, time and expense tracking, and a range of project management frameworks, whereas Hive's strengths lie in its communication and collaboration abilities. Compared to Hive, Ravetree offers more comprehensive project management features. Additionally, it provides customizable features, allowing users to tailor their workflows and dashboards to their needs.
Notion
Best for a low per-month price (unlimited users)
Why Notion is a great Hive alternative
Unlike most project management software on the market, Notion offers its tool for a flat monthly fee rather than a per-user subscription. This can be great for growing teams who need easy scalability without the hassle of paying for each new user separately. This flexibility also makes it stand out as a great Hive alternative for companies working with a rotating list of contractors and freelancers.
Rocketlane
Best for customer collaboration and onboarding
Why Rocketlane is a good Hive alternative
Many teams need to collaborate with external contractors, customers, or stakeholders as often as (or more often then) their own team members. Rocklane is designed as a project management tool for these types of situations. They prioritize guest account access, robust permissions settings, and customer onboarding in order to get users who are external to your primary team up and running as quickly as possible.
Smartsheet
Best Hive alternative for teams that want a spreadsheet-like interface
Why Smartsheet is a great Hive alternative
Smartsheet has similar features to Hive so the main difference between the two lies in the interface. Smartsheet resembles classic spreadsheets which some users might already be used to but, in the end, it’s all a matter of personal preference so make sure you test Smartsheet with your team before making the switch.
If you are looking for a more user-friendly experience, then there’s other software that can do the trick for you.
Need expert help selecting the right tool?
We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!
10 Best Hive Alternative Comparison Chart
Here is a table where you can compare the tools we just covered in the overviews.
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | monday.com Best Hive alternative for specialized integrations | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Visit Website |
| 2 | ClickUp Best Hive alternative for similar features at a lower cost | Freemium plan available | From $9/user/month | Visit Website |
| 3 | Scoro Best for project management with built-in KPI tracking | 14-day free trial | From $28/user/month | Visit Website |
| 4 | Asana Best for a simple, collaborative to-do list | Free plan available | From $10.99/user/month | Visit Website |
| 5 | Celoxis Best Hive alternative for financial management | 30-day free trial | From $25/user/month | Visit Website |
| 6 | Basecamp Best Hive alternative with a flat monthly rate, no matter your team size | 30-day free trial | From $15/user/month (billed annually) | Visit Website |
| 7 | Ravetree Best Hive alternative for project resource management | 7-day free trial | From $29/user/month | Visit Website |
| 8 |  Notion Best for a low per-month price (unlimited users) | Free for 1 admin + 5 guests | From $10/user/month | Visit Website |
| 9 | Rocketlane Best for customer collaboration and onboarding | 14-day free trial | From $19/user/month | Visit Website |
| 10 | Smartsheet Best Hive alternative for teams that want a spreadsheet-like interface | Freemium version available | From $7/user/month | Visit Website |
Why Might You Need A Hive Alternative?
You need to connect Hive to other tools you’re already using
Hive offers all the basic integrations. If you need industry-specific ones to really bring all tools under one hood, consider looking over the list of integrations Hive competitors provide first.
You want different features to streamline complex projects
Hive doesn’t yet come with an invoicing module. So whether you want to bill your clients or keep track of accounting data, other alternatives will help you get paid for your projects with just a couple of clicks.
You’re looking to reduce costs
Hive isn’t the most expensive solution on the market, but there are cheaper alternatives that provide the exact same features under a different user interface.
Key Features For A Viable Hive Alternative
Advanced time tracking
A time tracking module isn’t a must for project management tools but it’s a viable asset to your projects. Hive provides different time tracking options, timesheets, and real-time reporting for your team members you don’t want to miss when switching to an alternative.
An intuitive interface
Hive mimics Slack’s UI, making it extra easy for new users to get used to working in Hive. Good news is there are other project management apps with a low learning curve out there. Each has its own particularities that make it more suitable for certain users who’ve worked within a similar interface organization before.
Team collaboration
It’s difficult to find the best alternative with better collaboration features. So the teamwork solutions you’re considering need to have at least the communication options you’re using on a daily basis.
Customization options for analytics
You can access and customize over 50 interactive dashboards that make use of machine learning to provide realistic insights of your team’s activity. If you’re considering scaling up your team and projects, you’ll need reporting capabilities at a portfolio management level.
