Accelo vs. Hive

Information contained in this post is based on publicly available documentation as of the most recent publish date. Products and features are continually updated and we will make an effort to update the information in this post to reflect those changes.

Endless internet searches for the best project management tool can only take you so far. If you’re frustrated with the research process or just want some guidance, we’re here to help.

Whether looking to reduce manual tasks within your client work or gain better access to business data, there’s a solution.

Hive, or a Hive alternative like Accelo, could be what you need in your tech stack. 

What is Hive?

Hive is a project management platform that helps teams manage projects and tasks with flexible project templates, native email, resourcing, group messaging and file sharing. 

The platform’s built-in collaboration tools help project managers, creative teams and leadership work together to find success in project planning and project delivery, while the intuitive interface supports multiple project management styles, from traditional to more agile project methods.

Hive offers multiple project views including Gantt, Kanban, calendar, table and portfolio view

Product Offerings

• Project management
• Team collaboration
• Time management
• Automated tasks and notifications
• Reporting and analytics

Pricing

Hive offers three pricing plans depending on the size of your business and the functionalities your team needs. Professional services teams that need access to features like time tracking, reporting, resource management and workflow automation will need the Enterprise pricing level. The pricing breakdown is as follows:

• Free: Limited features for up to 10 users
• Teams: $12 per user per month (unlimited users)
• Enterprise: Pricing is not publicly available and must be requested

Notable Integrations

Hive integrates with more than 1,000 tools, including:

• Dropbox
• Slack
• Jira
• Google Drive
• Zoom

Strengths

• Integrated proofing and approvals process with the option to include external approvers
• A native messaging app that includes voice, video and text chat options
• Built-in analytics dashboards that offer a high-level overview of project timelines, task status, assignee workload and more

Hive’s action cards help organize project action items that need to be completed 

Weaknesses

• There are a limited number of native integrations available and Zapier is required for many common and popular integrations like HubSpot, Freshbooks, Zendesk and Pipedrive
• Some users shared that the platform can be glitchy, particularly the email feed and reporting functions
• Hive is known as a reliable project management tool, but it needs multiple integrations to fully support the breadth of most client work — creating a more complicated and costly tech stack for client-based businesses

What Users Have To Say About Accelo vs. Hive

To better understand the two platforms and how they compare, we looked at feedback from Hive and Accelo users.

Hive users spoke highly of the project management capabilities available, but did mention the need for add-ons to use some of the more unique features. Accelo users shared positive project management experiences, many noting the value of having all their client work centralized in one platform.

Users of both platforms shared positive feedback about the customer support provided. One Hive user shared that while the platform can be glitchy, support is good about addressing issues and offering resolutions.

Accelo users shared feedback appreciating the extremely responsive support team and the fact that they can tell Accelo is truly listening to their users. No surprise, Accelo has received G2’s Best Relationship badge in the Professional Services Automation category for the past four quarters — a reflection of the commitment to customer care.

Hive Alternative

Although Hive is a popular choice for teams seeking project management software, any professional services firm will need additional software to manage the other functions of their client-based business. Finding individual tools that work together is possible, but costly, and there is a tool much better suited for the job — client work management platform Accelo.

Accelo is an end-to-end solution that connects your CRM, sales, projects, tickets, retainers, billing and reports into one centralized platform. 

With tools to support internal and client communication, time tracking and automations, Accelo improves connectivity and visibility with one system. 

Accelo's platform is a solution for managing the full lifecycle of client work

Project Management Software Built for Client Work

Project management software can do more than just keep you feeling on track. It can make it easier to keep your clients feeling informed and supported.

Because Accelo is built specifically for client work, it offers unique features that support strong client communication with minimal effort from your team. One of these features is the client portal, which provides your client 24/7 access to project status — reducing the manual updates from your employees and building trust through transparency. You always have control of what clients can view.

While Hive offers different ways to collaborate on projects, it’s primarily focused on internal communication and there’s no client portal.

Improve Billing With Time-Tracking Tools

Having a truly accurate record of billable vs. non-billable time makes Accelo’s automated time tracking so valuable. Task time automatically tracks within the platform, accurately recording productivity and employee availability without any added manual work for your team. 

Because Accelo connects your projects, tickets, billing and retainers, your time data connects to all aspects of your business. Having this single source of truth for your entire business improves productivity, employee utilization and profitability potential.

Even though Hive offers time-tracking capabilities, without being tied to a CRM or billing system you need to accurately determine what billable time was spent on each client then handle billing. 

Supporting Team Collaboration Beyond Project Management

Accelo offers an innovative collaboration solution by collecting updates and communication history in one centralized place — the Activity Stream. The stream uses email capture to display the entire history of communication between your team and the client and shows all actions taken on the client account. The ultimate visibility tool.

Users can find updates for project tracking, check if a ticket was resolved, see if a bill has been paid and reference past conversations to prevent miscommunication with clients or internally.

Collaboration may be one of Hive’s main draws, but without connecting to the other functions of your client work, your team will be missing out on important client updates.

Trial Accelo

From smaller jobs to large projects, you can streamline your entire client journey and get a single source of truth for your business using Accelo. 

Sign up for a free trial to see how the client work management solution works or request a demo to see what features meet your exact needs.

About the Author

Kit Lewis is a Content Manager at Accelo, where she manages content projects, social media and content reporting. With a decade of writing for industries ranging from education to tech, past experience supporting client work and a commitment to building efficient systems, she is passionate about creating valuable content to help professional services teams.