Hive Review (2026)Three Add-Ons Make $12 Into $27

Pricing (2026)

✓ Pricing re-verified 18 Oct 2026

Free forever for up to 10 workspace members, with 1,000 AI credits a month by the pricing page and 200MB of storage (a new account we tested on 21 October 2026, with no subscription, showed 5,000 of 5,000 AI credits included, resetting a month later, and a default AI spending limit of $500 a day; whether the extra credits are a one-off starting allowance is not established); Starter $5 per user a month and Teams $12 per user a month on yearly billing, which the page states saves 33% against monthly; Enterprise is custom.

Read the Starter row before you pay for it: it lifts storage to unlimited and AI credits to 3,000 a month, but it keeps the same 10-member cap as Free and adds a 10-project cap. Only Teams, at $12 with 5,000 AI credits, gives unlimited workspace members. The add-ons are the part to budget: proofing and approvals, timesheets, team resourcing, advanced dashboards, SSO and enterprise controls, and external users each cost $5 per user a month on top, which their own calculator confirms.

Two further add-ons, CRM and Finance, are listed on the page with no price at all. The external-user add-on includes 5 external licences per seat. Plans change, so check the live price on their site before you buy.

Category context: Operations & Workflow. Across the 53 tools in this category that we researched with a public US-dollar price, the median entry price is $29 a month (lowest paid plan as listed, per seat where the vendor prices per seat). Hive’s entry price of $5 a month sits below that median. Compare pricing conditions in the Software Cost Atlas →

What the price did

We read Hive’s own pricing page on a schedule and keep every reading, so this is our record of the page. It is not a forecast, and not someone else’s summary. A change appears here only after we confirmed the new price on the page itself.

What the pricing page doesn’t say

The catch

List your must-have modules first and compare the DRESSED price against all-inclusive rivals; for teams needing only core PM, though, Hive is cheap and pleasant. In our test on 21 October 2026 two defaults stood out: onboarding lets everyone on your email domain join the workspace automatically unless you untick it, and completed tasks disappear from the List view behind a filter.

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What Hive does

Project management and team collaboration in one workspace. Plan projects, assign tasks and centralize communication so work keeps moving.

What buyers report about Hive

Hands-on: tested 2026-10-21Reported by buyers: Capterra, GetApp, SelectHub and Cloudwards, read August 2026

Themes from the buyer-review sites listed at the foot of this page, read in August 2026. We tested Hive ourselves on 2026-10-21, but one test is a narrow sample, so here is what other buyers report. We summarise it here because the complaints are usually the part a vendor page leaves out.

When the paid plan is worth it

The free tier covers up to ten members, about $120 a month of product at Teams pricing, so the first question is whether you have outgrown free at all. What paying $5 for Starter does not buy: the same ten-member cap stays, plus a ten-project one. Only Teams at $12 gives unlimited workspace members. Both are yearly rates; the page states yearly saves 33% against monthly. The seat price is honest; the add-on grid is the business model.

Proofing and approvals, timesheets, team resourcing, advanced dashboards, SSO and enterprise controls, and external users each cost $5 a user a month on top. One add-on takes a $12 seat to $17, three take it to $27, four to $32, and all six to $42: three and a half times the headline. Two more, CRM and Finance, carry no price at all, so $42 is a floor rather than a ceiling.

So the comparison that decides this is not Hive's $12 against a rival's $20. It is Hive's DRESSED price against an all-inclusive tool: write down the modules you cannot work without, add $5 a seat for each, and compare that. For a team needing only core project management (Gantt, Kanban, forms, chat) Hive is cheap. For an agency needing proofing, timesheets and resourcing, it is $27 a seat and the flexibility has become a surcharge.

The external-user add-on includes five external licences per seat, so it does not scale one for one with the clients you invite.

What we found running Hive ourselves

Hands-on · 2026-10-21

The first findings are at the top of this page. The rest:

• Ticking off one task removed it from the List view (the count went from 3 to 2), because a default filter hides completed actions. A buyer who does not know this will think the task is gone.
• The Gantt view worked without a paywall and placed the three tasks on 22, 23 and 24 October.
• AI usage showed 5,000 of 5,000 credits remaining (5,000 included, 0 purchased, resetting on 21 November), while the pricing page gives Free '1,000 AI credits / month'. Billing showed a default daily limit, 'Pause AI after $500 per day', with auto top-up off until a card is added.

Claim vs. what we measured

We set a claim from Hive's own pages next to what we saw in our test, on the plan named. The status says whether the two describe the same thing and match; it is not a verdict on the product. Confirmations are listed too.

What the vendor says	What we measured	Status	What it means if you buy
"1,000 AI credits / month" on the Free planSource: hive.com, read 17 Oct 2026	Measured 2026-10-21: Usage & billing > AI usage in a new account without a subscription: '5.000 of 5.000 remaining', '5.000 included · 0 purchased', 'Resets Nov 21'.Our test, 21 Oct 2026; Free, new workspace, no card, no subscription	Not comparableNot the same quantity as far as we can tell. The 5,000 may be a one-off starting balance for a new account; we saw one month, not the month after the reset.	Budget AI use on the published 1,000 credits a month; treat the higher first balance as unconfirmed until it survives a reset.

Exit test: can you take your data out?

On 23 October 2026, in the same account and still without a subscription, we imported 10 made-up tasks with known IDs from a CSV file: one task depending on another, one subtask, a completed and an in-progress task, a title with a comma and quotation marks, an end date of 29 February 2028, a task across the year end, a Unicode title and a task without dates. We added a text attachment to one task, exported the project and imported Hive's own export into a new project. Test date: 23 Oct 2026. We describe the friction rather than score it; this is one run with synthetic records, not a verdict on Hive.

What we checked	What we saw
Importing our test file	Import project > Tasks spreadsheet (CSV or Excel; Asana, Monday, MS Project, Smartsheet, Trello and Basecamp are also offered) took four steps. All columns were matched automatically except our Labels column, which became a custom field. No errors: all 10 tasks came in with the right status, the dependent task showed 'Blocked', the subtask sat under its parent, and the leap day and the Unicode title were intact.
Came along in the export	All 10 rows, with titles, Unicode, commas and quotation marks intact Start and end dates, now with a four-digit year; 29 February 2028 correct Status and completion date The subtask's parent, as a name plus a Hive ID (columns Parent and Parent ID)
Lost in the export	Which task blocks the dependent one: the export only says 'Blocked' The attachment itself: the export only says 'Attachments present: true'
Awkward but not lost	Two columns with the same name, 'Labels' (Hive's own, empty, and our custom field); Hive IDs instead of a WBS number; and the creator's name in every row.
Export route	A button in the app (More > Export): no support request and no waiting. The file (2.9 kB, 35 columns) arrived after about 10 seconds. Export through the API was not tested.
Export format	CSV or Excel (.xlsx), with options to hide assignees, leave out custom fields, include sub-actions and limit the date range. The parent comes along as name plus ID; dependencies do not; attachments only as yes or no.
Re-importing the export	Hive's own export does not fit Hive's own import. The import screen has no Parent or ID field, and every one of the 10 rows was flagged because the assignee column reads 'Unassigned' ('Rows with errors will be ignored when submitting'). After we remapped that column to a custom field, all 10 rows came in with titles, Unicode, dates and status right, but the subtask was now a separate task, the dependency was gone and the attachment was missing. The export columns also produced about 25 unneeded custom fields.
Cancelling	Not tested: there was no subscription to cancel.

What the exit test does not show:

• Export through the API, and its limits
• Importing into a competitor such as Asana or Monday
• Downloading attachments in bulk
• Comments, time tracking and multiple users
• Cancelling a paid subscription

How this compares: across our exit tests of 102 tools, 57 gave us an export file. Hive gave us a file, but some of our test data was missing or changed in it. Report 08: can you get your data out?

Mail in the first 14 days

8 emails in the 14-day window; first email after signup: unknown (exact signup time not recorded); 0 with an explicit offer.

Retained inbox and junk only; removed or archived mail is outside this observation. Ambiguous supplier attribution is excluded. Day numbers use elapsed 24-hour periods since the recorded signup date at midnight Europe/Amsterdam; the signup hour is unknown. Offer flags quote literal subject/body text. Replies in our own correspondence (support tickets, our comment requests) are excluded; one-time codes, our own address, our account name and our name are replaced in brackets.

Measured mail timeline

Day	Time (UTC)	Sender	Literal subject	Folder	Offer evidence
Day 0	2026-10-21 06:26:17 UTC	Hive team / notifications.hive.com	Your Hive verification code: [code]	inbox
Day 0	2026-10-21 07:01:22 UTC	Hive team / hive.com	Introducing Hive	inbox
Day 1	2026-10-22 06:00:58 UTC	Hive team / notifications.hive.com	Today in Hive (Thursday, 22 Oct)	inbox
Day 1	2026-10-22 06:15:50 UTC	Hive team / notifications.hive.com	New notifications since 10:19 PM (October 21, 2026)	inbox
Day 1	2026-10-22 07:01:19 UTC	Hive team / hive.com	Introducing Hive	inbox
Day 2	2026-10-23 15:01:11 UTC	Hive team / notifications.hive.com	Here's what you accomplished this week!	inbox
Day 3	2026-10-24 06:00:47 UTC	Hive team / notifications.hive.com	Today in Hive (Saturday, 24 Oct)	inbox
Day 3	2026-10-24 06:15:44 UTC	Hive team / notifications.hive.com	New notifications since 9:09 PM (October 23, 2026)	inbox

Screenshots from our test (click to enlarge)

What this test does not show:

• Task descriptions and My Actions on the Home page
• The Status and Table layouts
• Storage (200MB) and the 10-member cap
• Buzz and the other AI features, mail, forms and time tracking
• Whether the 5,000 AI credits come back every month or are a one-off starting allowance

Most of our reviews are researched rather than run. How we review explains which is which, and why we do not pretend otherwise.

How to actually use Hive

List your must-have modules before you look at the seat price, because the add-on grid is the business model. Switch on three and a $12 Teams seat becomes $27; four makes it $32. Compare that dressed price against all-inclusive rivals rather than the headline. À la carte is good value for a team wanting two modules and punishing for one needing the full toolkit, and which you are is knowable in advance.

Use the free tier to find out. It is free forever for up to ten members, and note that Starter at $5 keeps that same ten-member cap and adds a ten-project one, so that first upgrade buys credits and storage, not room to grow; only Teams at $12 gives unlimited members. Note that the external-user add-on includes five external licences per seat, which matters if you work with clients, and that yearly billing is a third cheaper than monthly.

Three things from our own test on 21 October 2026. Onboarding ticks 'Allow users with @<your domain> domain to join the workspace automatically' by default, so untick it if colleagues should not join on their own. Completed tasks vanish from the List view because a default filter hides them, so a ticked-off task is not gone. And the Gantt view worked on a new account without a paywall.

Hive vs ClickUp, side by side

Each column shows the vendor’s own published entry price, read on the date shown. Entry prices can cover different services or units, so check what each one buys. We do not average them into a score.

Hive →

What it costs

Free (up to 10 members); Starter $5 per user a month, yearly billing

Price read on

18 Oct 2026

The catch

List your must-have modules first and compare the DRESSED price against all-inclusive rivals; for teams needing only core PM, though, Hive is cheap and pleasant.

Best for

project teams that want flexible PM (Gantt, Kanban, forms, chat) and only pay for the modules they actually use

ClickUp →

What it costs

Free Forever; paid from $7 per user per month billed yearly ($10 monthly)

Price read on

30 Sep 2026

The catch

The everything-app breadth is also the downside: it's feature-dense with a real learning curve, and teams can drown in options.

Best for

teams that want one highly customizable app for tasks, docs, goals and reporting and will invest in setting it up

Both names above are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. Neither changes what this table says.

The natural comparison is Asana or ClickUp: the PM heavyweights: ClickUp bundles more per dollar, Asana wins polish; Hive wins if your module list is short. Weigh it against monday.com on the job you actually need done.

Visit Hive →

Frequently asked questions

Can you export your data from Hive?

Exit check 2026-10-23; route excerpt: A button in the app (More > Export): no support request and no waiting …; came along (excerpts): All 10 rows, with titles, Unicode, commas and quotation marks intact / Start and end dates, now with a four-digit year … / Status and completion date / The subtask's parent, as a name plus a Hive ID (columns Parent and Parent ID); lost (excerpts): Which task blocks the dependent one: the export only says 'Blocked' / The attachment itself: the export only says 'Attachments present: true'; re-import: tested.

What does Hive cost?

Free for up to 10 members, then $5 per user a month on Starter and $12 on Teams, billed yearly (33% off monthly). Enterprise is quoted. Read on 17 August 2026.

Why do people report paying much more than $12 a seat?

Because of the modular add-ons. Proofing and approvals, timesheets, resourcing, advanced dashboards, SSO and external users are each roughly $5 per user a month on top of the plan. An agency that needs proofing, timesheets and resourcing is at about $27 a seat, not $12: list the modules you need before comparing with an all-inclusive competitor.

Is the free tier a real plan?

Yes, up to 10 members and marked free forever rather than a trial. That makes it usable for a small team doing task management; what it will not give you is the proofing, timesheet and resourcing layer that makes Hive an agency tool. In our test on 21 October 2026 a new account without a subscription offered the Gantt and Calendar layouts without a lock and showed 5,000 AI credits rather than the 1,000 on the pricing page.

Who counts as a paid seat, and does removing someone lower the bill?

Per Hive's billing FAQ (read 18 October 2026), a seat is filled the moment you invite a user, and adding people mid-term is charged pro rata. Removing a user does not reduce the licence count: on a monthly subscription you lower it yourself in the billing portal and the change applies from the next billing cycle; on a yearly or Enterprise subscription you have to email finance@hive.com. A licence is not tied to a person, so remove the leaver before inviting the replacement or you can end up paying for both. Removing a user also deletes projects that were private to them and your direct messages with them.

Can I buy an add-on for only part of the team?

Not according to Hive's add-on guide (read 18 October 2026). Add-ons are offered on Hive Teams, every team member gets access, and each one is added to every licence: the guide's own example is $12 Teams annual plus the $5 External Users add-on, making $17 per user. Each add-on can be tested for 14 days and switched off at any time. The External Users add-on gives 5 external users per paying licence, and they must use a different email domain from your full-access users; people you send a proof to for approval do not need a Hive account and are not charged.

How do I cancel, and how long can I still reach my data?

The pricing page FAQ (read 18 October 2026) says cancellation goes by email to finance@hive.com rather than through a button. The billing FAQ says your data stays available until the end of the paid term. Hive has a help article on extracting data, which we did not read for this page, so export formats are not confirmed here.

Is this a hands-on review of Hive?

Yes. We tested Hive ourselves on 2026-10-21; the section above says what we tested, what we found and what we did not test, and where a figure comes from the vendor's own documentation instead. Most of our reviews are researched rather than run; we say which is which. We name what each tool is good and bad at, and we earn a commission only if you sign up, at no cost to you.

Others in this category

Reviewed operations & workflow tools that share ground with Hive. They are comparable in what they do, not drop-in swaps:

ClickUpSmartSuitePDWareWrikeTeam Pulseall 87 reviews →