Introduction
If you’re managing complex projects and juggling team communication, you know how challenging it can be to keep everything organized. Hive claims to solve this by offering an all-in-one project management solution designed to streamline collaboration, boost productivity, and keep your team on track. But does it really deliver?
What is Hive?
As someone experienced in project management, you need tools that adapt to your workflow, not the other way around. Hive promises flexibility with customizable workflows, seamless communication, and powerful integrations. But before you commit, it’s essential to see how it stacks up against other tools on the market.
In this review, we’ll explore Hive’s core features, user experience, and pricing. We’ll also dig into its pros and cons, giving you an expert perspective on whether Hive can truly support your team’s needs. Let’s dive in and find out if Hive is worth your investment!
Software specification
Hive’s Core Features
Hive offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enhance your team’s productivity and streamline project management. Here’s an overview of its key features:
1. Project and Task Management
Hive provides flexible project views, including Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and calendars, allowing you to visualize tasks in a way that suits your workflow. You can create tasks, assign them to team members, set deadlines, and track progress seamlessly. The platform also supports unlimited projects and messages, ensuring scalability as your team grows.
2. Team Collaboration
Effective communication is vital for project success. Hive’s native messaging feature enables real-time collaboration through direct messages and group chats. Additionally, Hive Notes allows multiple team members to edit documents simultaneously, fostering a collaborative environment. The platform also integrates with popular tools like Zoom and Google Meet, facilitating seamless video conferencing.
3. Automation and Workflow Management
To minimize repetitive tasks, Hive offers robust automation capabilities. You can set up custom workflows and automate routine processes, such as task assignments and status updates. This not only saves time but also reduces the potential for human error, allowing your team to focus on more strategic activities.
4. Time Tracking and Resource Management
Understanding how time is allocated across projects is crucial for efficiency. Hive’s time tracking features enable team members to log hours directly within tasks. The resourcing tools allow you to assign tasks based on team members’ availability and monitor workloads to prevent burnout. These insights are invaluable for optimizing resource allocation and project planning.
5. Analytics and Reporting
Data-driven decision-making is facilitated through Hive’s analytics and reporting tools. You can create custom dashboards to monitor key performance indicators, track project progress, and identify areas for improvement. These insights help in making informed decisions and demonstrating value to stakeholders.
6. Integrations
Hive seamlessly integrates with over a thousand third-party applications, including Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, and Salesforce. This extensive integration capability ensures that your team can continue using their preferred tools within the Hive ecosystem, promoting a cohesive workflow.
By leveraging these features, Hive aims to provide a centralized platform that addresses various aspects of project management and team collaboration, tailored to meet the complex needs of modern teams.
Pros and Cons
Advantages and Disadvantages
Hive is a versatile project management tool that offers a range of features designed to enhance team collaboration and productivity. However, like any software, it has its strengths and areas for improvement.
Pros:
- User-Friendly Interface: Hive’s intuitive design makes it accessible for both new and experienced users, facilitating quick onboarding and ease of use.
- Flexible Project Views: Offers multiple project layouts, including Gantt charts, Kanban boards, calendars, and table views, allowing teams to visualize projects in their preferred format.
- Robust Collaboration Tools: Integrated messaging, file sharing, and collaborative note-taking streamline communication and ensure all team members are aligned.
- Comprehensive Analytics and Reporting: Provides actionable insights into team productivity and project progress, enabling data-driven decision-making.
- Extensive Integrations: Seamlessly connects with popular tools like Slack, Zoom, Google Drive, and Dropbox, enhancing workflow efficiency.
Cons:
- Overwhelming Notifications: Users have reported receiving an excessive number of notifications, which can be distracting and may require manual adjustment of settings.
- Additional Costs for Add-Ons: Certain features, such as time tracking and advanced analytics, are available as add-ons, which can increase the overall cost for teams requiring these functionalities.
- Mobile App Limitations: The mobile version of Hive is reported to be less responsive and more challenging to navigate compared to the desktop version.
- Occasional Performance Issues: Some users have experienced bugs and occasional performance hiccups, which can disrupt workflow.
- Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features: While the basic interface is user-friendly, some advanced functionalities may require time to master, potentially leading to an initial learning curve.
In summary, Hive offers a comprehensive suite of project management tools that can significantly enhance team collaboration and efficiency. However, potential users should consider the additional costs for certain features and be prepared for an initial learning period to fully leverage its capabilities.
User Experience
User Interface and Experience
Hive offers an intuitive user experience designed to minimize complexity. Its clean interface helps you focus on your tasks without feeling overwhelmed. Whether you’re setting up a new project, updating a task, or checking team progress, everything is just a few clicks away.
🚀 Customizable Workspace
Hive stands out with its customizable workspace. You can personalize your dashboard to show the most relevant information—like project timelines, task lists, or communication threads. This flexibility helps you organize your work in a way that suits your needs, boosting productivity and focus.
🤝 Seamless Collaboration
Collaboration is easy with Hive’s integrated messaging system. You can communicate with your team in real-time without needing third-party chat tools.
Key collaboration features include:
- Direct Tagging: Tag team members in tasks or comments to keep everyone in the loop.
- Hive Notes: Collaboratively edit documents for brainstorming, meeting agendas, or project plans.
- Video Conferencing: Integrate with tools like Zoom for virtual meetings without leaving the platform.
📱 Consistent User Experience Across Devices
Hive keeps you connected, whether you’re at your desk or on the go. It offers:
- Desktop App: Ideal for detailed project planning and team collaboration.
- Mobile App: Great for quick updates, checking notifications, and joining virtual meetings.
However, some users find the mobile app less responsive compared to the desktop version. This can occasionally impact usability.
📘 Learning Curve and Support
Hive is user-friendly, but mastering its advanced features takes some time. Fortunately, Hive provides excellent support resources, including:
- Tutorials and Webinars: Learn how to use Hive’s features step by step.
- Help Center: Access detailed guides and troubleshooting tips.
- Customer Support: Responsive team ready to assist with any questions.
This support makes it easier to get up to speed, even for beginners.
Integrations and Compatibility
How Hive Integrates with Other Software
Hive is designed to work seamlessly with the tools you already use, making it easy to connect your workflow without disruption. Its powerful integration capabilities and built-in App Library allow you to centralize tasks, automate workflows, and enhance productivity—all within one platform.
🔗 Extensive Third-Party Integrations
Hive integrates with over a thousand third-party tools, allowing you to keep all your work connected. Key integrations include:
- Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom for seamless team collaboration and virtual meetings.
- File Management: Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive for efficient file sharing and document management.
- CRM and Marketing: Salesforce, HubSpot, and Mailchimp to synchronize customer data and marketing campaigns.
- Development and IT: GitHub, Jira, and Zendesk to bridge the gap between project management and technical teams.
These integrations ensure that your team can use their favorite tools while maintaining a centralized workflow in Hive.
🛠️ Hive App Library: Enhance Productivity
In addition to third-party integrations, Hive offers an App Library featuring a variety of premium and free apps designed to enhance your productivity and workflow management. Notable apps include:
- Analytics: Gain detailed insights into productivity, project performance, and KPIs to make data-driven decisions.
- Hive Automate: Connect Hive to other apps for workflow automation, reducing manual tasks and improving efficiency.
- Timesheets: Track and analyze team members’ time directly within Hive, supporting accurate time management and billing.
- Approvals Reporting: Streamline decision-making by managing project approval rounds efficiently.
These apps allow you to customize Hive to your team’s specific needs, enhancing productivity without the need for additional software.
🔄 Workflow Automation
Hive’s integration with automation platforms like Zapier and Hive Automate lets you:
- Create tasks automatically from form submissions or support tickets.
- Notify team members on Slack or Microsoft Teams when a task status changes.
- Sync files and documents from Google Drive directly into Hive tasks.
By automating repetitive tasks, Hive saves time and reduces the risk of human error.
🔍 Unified Search and Accessibility
One of the standout features is Hive’s unified search, which lets you search across all connected tools and apps directly from the Hive dashboard. This means you can find a document in Google Drive, a message in Slack, or a ticket in Jira—all in one place.
This centralized search functionality enhances accessibility and saves time, especially for teams using multiple platforms.
⚙️ Easy Setup and Customization
Hive makes it easy to set up integrations and apps without the need for complex coding. You can:
- Add Integrations and Apps directly from the “Apps” section in the dashboard.
- Customize Settings for data flow, notifications, and user permissions.
- Troubleshoot Easily with clear error messages and comprehensive help documentation.
This intuitive setup ensures your team can quickly adapt Hive to your unique workflow.
Compare with Others
Alternatives to Hive
Hive competes directly with other popular project management tools like Monday.com, ClickUp, and Notion. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, catering to different team needs and workflows. Here’s how Hive stacks up against them:
Hive vs. Monday.com
🎨 User Interface and Experience
- Hive: Offers a clean, customizable dashboard with multiple project views, including Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and calendar views. It’s designed for teams that need flexibility in how they visualize tasks.
- Monday.com (full review): Known for its vibrant and user-friendly interface. It provides highly customizable boards with color-coded tags and automation. However, the customization can be overwhelming for beginners.
📊 Project Management and Automation
- Hive: Excels in advanced automation and workflow management, allowing users to automate routine tasks and approvals easily.
- Monday.com: Also strong in automation but with more pre-built templates. It’s particularly useful for teams that want quick setup without custom coding.
🔗 Integrations and Collaboration
- Hive: Integrates with over a thousand tools, including Slack, Zoom, Google Drive, and Salesforce. It also offers native messaging and collaborative document editing.
- Monday.com: Has extensive integrations but relies more on third-party tools like Zapier for complex workflows. Collaboration is mainly through task comments and mentions.
💲 Pricing and Value
- Hive: Offers flexible pricing based on the number of users and additional add-ons like advanced analytics. It’s cost-effective for small to medium-sized teams.
- Monday.com: Uses a tiered pricing model that can get expensive as team size grows. It provides more out-of-the-box templates but at a premium price point.
✅ Best For: Teams seeking deep customization and automation with a focus on team communication.
🚫 Limitations: Can be complex for beginners compared to Monday.com’s template-based setup.
Hive vs. ClickUp
🎨 User Interface and Experience
- Hive: Offers a clean and intuitive design with multiple project views and customizable dashboards. It’s ideal for users who want a straightforward, easy-to-navigate interface.
- ClickUp: Highly customizable with numerous views, including list, board, Gantt, calendar, and mind maps. However, its extensive features can make the interface feel cluttered.
📊 Project Management and Automation
- Hive: Specializes in workflow automation and advanced approvals. It allows teams to automate repetitive tasks, saving time and reducing errors.
- ClickUp: Offers more granular task management with features like task dependencies, priorities, and custom statuses. Its automation is powerful but more complex to set up.
🔗 Integrations and Collaboration
- Hive: Integrates with popular tools like Slack, Zoom, and Google Workspace, emphasizing seamless team communication.
- ClickUp: Also offers extensive integrations but includes native time tracking, which Hive offers as an add-on. ClickUp supports rich task comments with image and video embedding.
💲 Pricing and Value
- Hive: Flexible pricing based on user count and add-ons. It’s ideal for teams that want to pay for only what they use.
- ClickUp: More affordable with a free plan that includes most core features. However, advanced features require upgrading to paid plans.
✅ Best For: Teams needing customizable workflows and advanced task dependencies.
🚫 Limitations: ClickUp’s complex features may require a steeper learning curve than Hive’s straightforward interface.
Hive vs. Notion
🎨 User Interface and Experience
- Hive: Designed for structured project management with task-oriented views like Kanban, Gantt, and calendar. Ideal for teams that need visual task tracking.
- Notion: More of an all-in-one workspace with flexible blocks for notes, databases, and tasks. It’s highly customizable but less structured for project management.
📊 Project Management and Automation
- Hive: Focuses on task and project management with built-in automation for workflows and approvals.
- Notion: Lacks native automation but allows custom scripting with API integrations. It’s more suited for knowledge management than complex project tracking.
🔗 Integrations and Collaboration
- Hive: Seamlessly integrates with tools like Google Drive, Slack, and Zoom for enhanced collaboration.
- Notion: Integrates with fewer third-party apps but offers deep customization within the platform, like linked databases and relational tables.
💲 Pricing and Value
- Hive: Flexible user-based pricing with add-ons for advanced features like time tracking and analytics.
- Notion: More cost-effective with a generous free plan, but advanced permissions and collaboration features require upgrading.
✅ Best For: Teams looking for structured project management and advanced automation.
🚫 Limitations: Notion is better for content organization and knowledge management than task-oriented project tracking.
🏆 Which One Should You Choose?
- Choose Hive if you want robust automation, seamless communication, and flexible project views. It’s best for teams needing structured project management with advanced workflows.
- Choose Monday.com for highly visual project boards with out-of-the-box templates and extensive customization.
- Choose ClickUp if you want granular control over tasks, dependencies, and custom statuses with powerful automation.
- Choose Notion if you need an all-in-one workspace for knowledge management, note-taking, and lightweight task tracking.
Read more about the top project management software
Pricing
Free vs Paid
Hive offers flexible pricing tailored to different team sizes and needs:
- Free Plan: Ideal for small teams with basic project management needs, including unlimited tasks, collaborative notes, and up to 10 workspace members.
- Teams Plan: Starting at $12 per user/month, it includes advanced project views, integrations, and workflow automation.
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing for larger organizations with enhanced security, custom analytics, and priority support.
For more details, visit the Hive Pricing Page.
Hive Pricing Comparison Table
| Plan | Price | Key Features | Best For |
| Free | $0 / forever | Unlimited tasks, collaborative notes, 10 users | Small teams, basic project management |
| Teams | $12 per user/month | Advanced views, integrations, workflow automation | Growing teams needing customization |
| Enterprise | Custom Pricing | Security, custom analytics, priority support | Large organizations with complex needs |
Security and Compliance
What about security?
Hive places a strong emphasis on data security, implementing multiple layers of protection to ensure user information remains confidential and secure.
1. Data Encryption
- In Transit: All data transmitted between users and Hive’s servers is protected using SSL/TLS encryption, safeguarding information from interception during transfer.
- At Rest: Stored data is encrypted using 256-bit AES, a robust encryption standard that ensures data remains secure even if storage media are compromised.
2. Access Control and Authentication
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Hive allows administrators to define user roles and permissions, ensuring team members access only the information pertinent to their responsibilities.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): To enhance account security, Hive supports MFA, adding an extra layer of verification during the login process.
3. Network Security
- Segmentation: Hive employs network segmentation to isolate critical systems, reducing the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Regular Assessments: The platform undergoes frequent internal and third-party security audits, including penetration testing, to identify and address potential vulnerabilities proactively.
4. Compliance and Certifications
- SOC 2 Certification: Hive has achieved SOC 2 certification, indicating adherence to stringent standards for data security, availability, and confidentiality.
- GDPR Compliance: For users within the European Union, Hive complies with the General Data Protection Regulation, ensuring user data is handled with the utmost care and transparency.
5. Physical Security
- Data Center Protection: Hive’s data centers are ISO 27001 certified, featuring strict physical security measures to prevent unauthorized access to hardware and infrastructure.
By implementing these comprehensive security protocols, Hive demonstrates a commitment to protecting user data against a wide array of threats, providing users with confidence in the platform’s ability to safeguard their information.
Summary
Final thoughts and conclusion
Hive is a robust project management and collaboration platform designed to enhance team productivity and streamline workflows. Its intuitive interface, extensive customization options, and powerful automation features make it a valuable tool for teams of all sizes.
Hive excels in offering flexible project views, seamless communication, and deep integration capabilities with popular tools. Whether you’re managing complex projects, coordinating remote teams, or automating repetitive tasks, Hive adapts to your needs while maintaining ease of use.
🎯 Final Verdict: Is Hive Worth It?
Hive is an excellent choice for teams looking for a flexible and scalable project management solution. It stands out for its:
- Advanced automation that reduces manual work and streamlines processes.
- Customizable dashboards that cater to diverse workflows and team needs.
- Comprehensive integrations that keep all tools connected in one platform.
- User-friendly design that ensures quick adoption, even for non-technical users.
However, it may not be the best fit for teams looking for offline capabilities or those needing highly advanced reporting features. Additionally, the cost of add-ons might be a consideration for budget-conscious teams.
✅ Who Should Choose Hive?
- Teams needing advanced automation and workflow management.
- Project managers who require flexible views like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and calendars.
- Growing businesses looking for scalable work management solutions.
❓ Who Should Consider Alternatives?
- Organizations requiring offline capabilities should explore other project management tools.
- Teams looking for highly advanced analytics might prefer tools like ClickUp or Monday.com.
- Budget-conscious teams may find the cost of add-ons a limitation.
⭐ Overall Rating: 7.0/10
Hive is a powerful, flexible, and user-friendly platform that empowers teams to design workflows tailored to their needs. It strikes a balance between functionality and simplicity, making it an excellent choice for teams seeking productivity and collaboration without unnecessary complexity.
Have more questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of customer support does Hive offer?
Hive offers extensive support resources, including tutorials, webinars, a help center, and responsive customer support. The Enterprise plan also includes priority support with a dedicated account manager.
Is Hive suitable for remote teams?
Yes, Hive is designed to support remote collaboration with features like real-time messaging, video conferencing integrations (e.g., Zoom), and cloud-based document sharing. It allows remote teams to stay connected and manage projects efficiently from anywhere.
Does Hive offer any training materials or programs to help new users?
Yes, Hive offers a range of training resources, including online tutorials, webinars, and a knowledge base that provides detailed articles on how to utilize various features effectively. Enterprise customers also have access to customized training sessions.
How does Hive handle large file uploads and storage?
Hive allows users to attach and share large files directly within the platform. The specific file size limits and storage capacities depend on the chosen subscription plan, with more generous allowances provided in higher-tier plans.
Is there a limit to the number of projects or tasks that can be managed in Hive?
Hive does not impose a hard limit on the number of projects or tasks that users can manage. This makes it scalable and suitable for handling everything from small projects to large, complex initiatives.
Can Hive generate custom reports?
Yes, Hive offers powerful reporting tools that allow users to generate custom reports. This feature helps managers track project progress, resource allocation, and team performance metrics tailored to their specific requirements.
Does Hive have options for time tracking?
Hive includes time tracking functionalities, which allow users to record the time spent on individual tasks directly within the app. This feature is valuable for productivity analysis, billing, and managing workloads.
Can Hive integrate with CRM software?
Yes, Hive offers integration with various CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems. This integration helps streamline workflow between project management and customer management processes.
Does Hive offer any features for risk management?
While Hive does not have specific tools labeled as “risk management,” its features like task prioritization, dependency tracking, and milestone setting can effectively be used to manage and mitigate risks in projects.
What languages does Hive support?
Currently, Hive is available primarily in English. However, depending on user feedback and demand, additional language support may be considered in future updates.
Can I Customize Hive with Additional Apps?
Yes, Hive offers an App Library featuring a variety of premium and free apps to enhance productivity and workflow management. These apps include Analytics for tracking KPIs, Hive Automate for workflow automation, and Timesheets for time tracking. You can easily integrate these apps into your workspace to customize Hive according to your team’s needs. Most of these apps require a premium plan, but some, like Goals, are available as a free beta.
