SoftwareGlimpse

Hive vs monday.com

Hive fits smb teams starting free (≤10) before teams; monday.com fits teams standardising on a mainstream work os.

Independently recommendedLast updated Aug 17, 20265 evidence sources6 screenshotsHow we compare
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Hive logo

Hive

7.6/10

Work management platform with free plan (≤10 members) and Teams from $12/user/mo annual — strong monday.com peer.

Best for

  • • SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams
  • • Buyers comparing monday who want a lower paid floor

Starting from $5.00/user/mo

Free plan available

Visit Hive
Read review

VS

Our verdict

Our verdict

monday.com is the stronger overall fit

Choose monday.com when mainstream Work OS breadth, ecosystem depth and brand default matter (overall 8.6); choose Hive when a lower paid entry and generous Free (≤10) matter more (overall 7.6). Both are work-OS peers — not timeline specialists or adjacent PDF/remote tools.

Hive is better for

  • ✓ Starting pricing
  • ✓ Seat / licence minimum
  • ✓ Free plan
  • ✓ Value for money

monday.com is better for

  • ✓ Automations
  • ✓ Ease of use
  • ✓ Work planning depth
  • ✓ Automation & workflows

Tie

  • • Timeline / Gantt

Choose Hive if: SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams

Choose monday.com if: Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS

See detailed comparison ↓
Stronger overall fit
monday.com logo

monday.com

8.6/10

Work OS / work management platform with boards, timelines, automations and AI credits — Basic from $9/seat/mo annual (3-seat minimum).

Best for

  • • Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS
  • • Buyers who need deep integrations and timeline/workload views

Starting from $9.00/user/mo

Free plan available

Visit monday.com
Read review

Quick verdict

Start here — then dig into the evidence below.

Choose Hive if…

  • SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams
  • Buyers comparing monday who want a lower paid floor
  • You prioritize starting pricing
  • You prioritize seat / licence minimum

Choose monday.com if…

  • Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS
  • Buyers who need deep integrations and timeline/workload views
  • You prioritize automations
  • You prioritize ease of use

Overall recommendation

Choose monday.com when mainstream Work OS breadth, ecosystem depth and brand default matter (overall 8.6); choose Hive when a lower paid entry and generous Free (≤10) matter more (overall 7.6). Both are work-OS peers — not timeline specialists or adjacent PDF/remote tools.

Key trade-off

Hive trades toward starting pricing; monday.com trades toward automations.

Winner by category

Only dimensions with researched evidence for this pair.

DimensionWinnerWhy
Starting pricingHive winsmonday.com Basic $9/seat/mo annual (3-seat minimum) plus AI credit bundles; Hive Starter $5/user/mo annual (≤10) or Teams $12 unlimited. Hive undercuts monday’s paid floor for small teams.
Seat / licence minimumHive winsmonday.com paid plans enforce a 3-seat minimum; Free is ≤2 seats. Hive Free/Starter allow up to 10 members before Teams unlimited — friendlier for micro teams.
Free planHive winsBoth publish free plans. monday.com Free: ≤2 seats, ≤3 boards. Hive Free: ≤10 members with storage/AI credit caps.
Timeline / GanttTieBoth support timeline/Gantt-style planning on work-management plans. monday.com markets timeline + workload views heavily; Hive covers Gantt/timeline inside projects.
Automationsmonday.com winsBoth ship native automations/workflows. monday.com is the broader published Work OS automation narrative; Hive pairs automations with optional ~$5 add-ons.
Ease of usemonday.com winsmonday.com leads on ease of use (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Work planning depthmonday.com winsmonday.com leads on work planning depth (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Automation & workflowsmonday.com winsmonday.com leads on automation & workflows (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Collaborationmonday.com winsmonday.com leads on collaboration (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Integrationsmonday.com winsmonday.com leads on integrations (7/10 vs 9/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing.
AI featuresmonday.com winsmonday.com leads on ai features (7/10 vs 8/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing.
Reportingmonday.com winsmonday.com leads on reporting (7/10 vs 8/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing.

Side-by-side feature matrix

Normalized availability from product research — empty rows are not shown.

Work planning

FeatureHivemonday.com
Task boards & work viewsStrongStrong
Timeline / GanttStrongStrong
Workload & resource managementStrongStrong
Time trackingStrongModerate

Execution

FeatureHivemonday.com
Automations & workflowsStrongStrong
Docs & collaborationStrongStrong
AI assistanceStrongModerate

Platform

FeatureHivemonday.com
Integrations ecosystemStrongStrong
Reporting & dashboardsStrongStrong

Adjacent productivity

FeatureHivemonday.com
Document / PDF productivityLimitedLimited
Remote access / screen shareLimitedLimited
Desktop workspace organizerLimitedLimited

Pricing comparison

Pricing evidence last checked Sep 9, 2026.

Hive logo

Hive

From $5.00/user/mo

Free plan availableFree trial available
  • Free$0.00/user/mo
  • Starter$5.00/user/mo
  • Teams$12.00/user/mo
  • EnterpriseCustom
monday.com logo

monday.com

From $9.00/user/mo

Free plan availableFree trial available
  • Free$0.00/user/mo
  • Basic$9.00/user/mo
  • Standard$12.00/user/mo
  • Pro$19.00/user/mo
  • EnterpriseCustom

Seat-count estimates

Labeled estimates from verified starting per-seat pricing — not invoices.

SeatsHivemonday.com
5~$25.00/mo (5 × starting seat)~$45.00/mo (5 × starting seat)
10~$50.00/mo (10 × starting seat)~$90.00/mo (10 × starting seat)
25~$125.00/mo (25 × starting seat)~$225.00/mo (25 × starting seat)
50~$250.00/mo (50 × starting seat)~$450.00/mo (50 × starting seat)

Estimate from verified starting per-seat pricing — actual total depends on plan, annual discounts, and add-ons.

monday.com Basic/Standard/Pro $9/$12/$19 per seat/mo annual (3-seat min) + AI credits. Hive Free; Starter $5; Teams $12 annual. Research 2026-08-17 — confirm live AI/add-on packaging.

Open cost calculator →

Best for

Scenario picks from researched strengths — not a universal ranking.

  • → Hive

    Best for starting pricing

    monday.com Basic $9/seat/mo annual (3-seat minimum) plus AI credit bundles; Hive Starter $5/user/mo annual (≤10) or Teams $12 unlimited. Hive undercuts monday’s paid floor for small teams.

  • → Hive

    Best for seat / licence minimum

    monday.com paid plans enforce a 3-seat minimum; Free is ≤2 seats. Hive Free/Starter allow up to 10 members before Teams unlimited — friendlier for micro teams.

  • → Hive

    Best for free plan

    Both publish free plans. monday.com Free: ≤2 seats, ≤3 boards. Hive Free: ≤10 members with storage/AI credit caps.

  • → monday.com

    Best for automations

    Both ship native automations/workflows. monday.com is the broader published Work OS automation narrative; Hive pairs automations with optional ~$5 add-ons.

  • → monday.com

    Best for ease of use

    monday.com leads on ease of use (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.

  • → monday.com

    Best for work planning depth

    monday.com leads on work planning depth (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.

The differences that actually matter

Pair-specific analysis for Hive vs monday.com — not generic category copy.

  • Starting pricing

    Hive ahead

    On starting pricing, Hive is ahead. Hive: monday.com Basic $9/seat/mo annual (3-seat minimum) plus AI credit bundles; Hive Starter $5/user/mo annual (≤10) or Teams $12 unlimited. Hive undercuts monday’s paid floor for small teams.. monday.com: Trails Hive on this criterion. Feature evidence also diverges on Time tracking (Hive: Strong; monday.com: Moderate); AI assistance (Hive: Strong; monday.com: Moderate).

  • Seat / licence minimum

    Hive ahead

    On seat / licence minimum, Hive is ahead. Hive: monday.com paid plans enforce a 3-seat minimum; Free is ≤2 seats. Hive Free/Starter allow up to 10 members before Teams unlimited — friendlier for micro teams.. monday.com: Trails Hive on this criterion.

  • Timeline / Gantt

    Tie

    Hive and monday.com are close on timeline / gantt. Both support timeline/Gantt-style planning on work-management plans. monday.com markets timeline + workload views heavily; Hive covers Gantt/timeline inside projects.

  • Work planning depth

    monday.com ahead

    On work planning depth, monday.com is ahead. Hive: Trails monday.com on this criterion. monday.com: monday.com leads on work planning depth (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation..

  • Automations

    monday.com ahead

    On automations, monday.com is ahead. Hive: Trails monday.com on this criterion. monday.com: Both ship native automations/workflows. monday.com is the broader published Work OS automation narrative; Hive pairs automations with optional ~$5 add-ons..

  • Integrations

    monday.com ahead

    On integrations, monday.com is ahead. Hive: Trails monday.com on this criterion. monday.com: monday.com leads on integrations (7/10 vs 9/10) from vendor documentation as of the research date — not lab testing..

Pros and cons

Product-specific for this pair — derived from researched outcomes and editorial notes.

Hive logo

Hive

Pros

  • Stronger on starting pricing
  • Stronger on seat / licence minimum
  • Stronger on free plan
  • Stronger on value for money

Cons

  • Trails on automations
  • Trails on ease of use
  • Trails on work planning depth
monday.com logo

monday.com

Pros

  • Stronger on automations
  • Stronger on ease of use
  • Stronger on work planning depth
  • Stronger on automation & workflows

Cons

  • Trails on starting pricing
  • Trails on seat / licence minimum
  • Trails on free plan

Implementation & learning curve

Based on researched setup / ease criteria for this pair.

Hive

  • Trails on ease of use relative to monday.com

monday.com

  • Stronger on ease of use: monday.com leads on ease of use (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.

Integrations

Overlaps and exclusives from product integration data when available.

Hive: Strong. monday.com: Strong.

Who should not choose each product

Decision quality improves when we say who should walk away.

Don't choose Hive if…

  • You need monday.com's stronger automations more than Hive's strengths
  • You need monday.com's stronger ease of use more than Hive's strengths
  • You need monday.com's stronger work planning depth more than Hive's strengths
  • Your primary fit looks closer to: Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS

Don't choose monday.com if…

  • You need Hive's stronger starting pricing more than monday.com's strengths
  • You need Hive's stronger seat / licence minimum more than monday.com's strengths
  • You need Hive's stronger free plan more than monday.com's strengths
  • Your primary fit looks closer to: SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams

Alternatives worth considering

When neither product is the right fit.

  • Office Timeline logoOffice Timeline

    PowerPoint-native timeline / Gantt specialist (now Lucen Timeline) — Free add-in; Lite from $9/user/mo annual.

  • Asana logoAsana

    Cross-functional work management with goals, workflows and AI Studio — Starter from $10.99/user/mo annual.

  • ClickUp logoClickUp

    All-in-one configurable Work OS (tasks, docs, dashboards, ClickUp Brain) — Unlimited from $7/user/mo annual.

  • Wrike logoWrike

    Enterprise/agency work management with proofing, intake and resourcing — Team from $10/user/mo annual.

Final verdict

Scenario-level close — not a repeat of the intro.

Hive wins when…

SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams

monday.com wins when…

Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS

  • Best for starting pricingHive
  • Best for seat / licence minimumHive
  • Best for free planHive
  • Best for automationsmonday.com

Which one should you choose?

Choose Hive if:

  • SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams
  • Buyers comparing monday who want a lower paid floor

Choose monday.com if:

  • Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS
  • Buyers who need deep integrations and timeline/workload views

Product screenshots

Real product UI from our media library — no placeholders.

Hive

  • Workspace overview from the official Hive homepage.
  • Project board UI from hive.com/product.
  • Timeline view marketed on the official Hive product page.

monday.com

  • Work board UI from the official monday.com homepage.
  • Board columns and item updates marketed on monday.com.
  • IT tickets board capture from monday.com homepage marketing.

FAQ

Is Hive better than monday.com?
monday.com is the stronger overall fit. Choose monday.com when mainstream Work OS breadth, ecosystem depth and brand default matter (overall 8.6); choose Hive when a lower paid entry and generous Free (≤10) matter more (overall 7.6). Both are work-OS peers — not timeline specialists or adjacent PDF/remote tools.
Which is easier to use?
monday.com leads on ease of use (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved product scores grounded in vendor documentation.
Which project management fits which team?
Hive: SMB teams starting Free (≤10) before Teams monday.com: Teams standardising on a mainstream Work OS
Does Hive or monday.com have a free plan?
Hive: Free plan available. monday.com: Free plan available.
How does Hive vs monday.com pricing compare?
Hive starts from $5.00/user/mo. monday.com starts from $9.00/user/mo. Confirm live vendor pricing before purchasing.
How did SoftwareGlimpse compare these products?
We map both products to the same category criteria, then evaluate trade-offs using verified product, pricing and feature evidence. Affiliate relationships never change outcomes.

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