10 Best Hive Alternatives in 2026 for Project Management Teams

The short answer: the best Hive alternatives in 2026 are Asana for structured cross-team work, monday.com for visual no-code workflows, ClickUp for an all-in-one workspace, Wrike for enterprise resourcing and proofing, Smartsheet for spreadsheet-style programs, Teamwork.com and Kantata for client and services work, Notion for docs-heavy teams, Zoho Projects for budget buyers, and Airtable for data-driven workflows. Choose based on the one thing Hive is not doing for you today.

This guide covers Hive, the project management platform, which is popular with marketing and operations teams for its flexible views, action cards, time tracking, notes and email integration. It is not about the other software products that share the Hive name, such as people-analytics or video-streaming tools.

Why do teams look for Hive alternatives?

Ecosystem size. Teams with many existing tools sometimes want a larger integration marketplace or more third-party templates and consultants.
Enterprise governance. Larger organisations may need deeper admin controls, portfolio reporting or resource management across departments.
Specialist workflows. Software teams want native sprints and code integration; agencies want billing and profitability; PMOs want program-level controls.
Adoption. If some teams never adopted Hive, a tool with a different interface style (grid, docs or simple boards) may fit them better.
Cost structure. Hive prices per user, with some capabilities on higher tiers or as add-ons. See Hive pricing to compare.

Hive alternatives compared

Tool	Best for	Pricing model	Free plan	Where it beats Hive
Asana	Cross-team projects	Per user, tiered	Yes	Goals, portfolios, large ecosystem
monday.com	Visual workflows	Per seat, seat bundles	Yes	No-code automation and dashboards
ClickUp	All-in-one	Per user, tiered	Yes	Docs, whiteboards and many views
Wrike	Enterprise and agencies	Per user, tiered plus quote	Yes	Resource planning and proofing at scale
Smartsheet	PMOs and operations	Per user, tiered plus quote	Limited	Grid interface and program controls
Teamwork.com	Client services	Per user, tiered	Yes	Billing and profitability
Kantata	Professional services firms	Per user, quote	No	Resource and financial planning
Notion	Docs-heavy teams	Per member, tiered	Yes	Wiki and docs depth
Zoho Projects	Budget SMBs	Per user, tiered	Yes	Low cost, Zoho suite
Airtable	Data-driven workflows	Per seat, tiered	Yes	Relational data and custom apps

Pricing models only; check each vendor for current plans.

The 10 best Hive alternatives in 2026

1. Asana: best for structured cross-team work

Asana is the most common destination for teams leaving Hive. It offers list, board, timeline and calendar views, rules, forms, goals and portfolios, and a large integration ecosystem. See Asana pricing and our Asana alternatives.

Pick it for: consistent structure across many teams.
Be aware: native time tracking is limited compared with Hive.

2. monday.com: best for visual, no-code workflows

monday.com gives teams colour-coded boards, an automation builder and dashboards that non-technical users can configure. It suits marketing and operations teams that want to own their process. See monday.com pricing explained and our monday.com alternatives.

Pick it for: visual status tracking and automation.
Be aware: seats are sold in bundles.

3. ClickUp: best all-in-one workspace

ClickUp overlaps heavily with Hive (multiple views, time tracking, notes) and adds docs, whiteboards, goals and a wide range of custom fields. See ClickUp pricing.

Pick it for: maximum features per plan.
Be aware: needs an owner to keep the workspace tidy.

4. Wrike: best for enterprise resourcing and proofing

Wrike offers workload management, request forms, approvals, proofing and cross-department reporting. It suits marketing departments and agencies that outgrow Hive’s resourcing. See Wrike pricing and Wrike alternatives.

Pick it for: capacity planning across many people.
Be aware: steeper learning curve.

5. Smartsheet: best for PMOs and operations

Smartsheet combines a spreadsheet grid with Gantt, forms, automation and dashboards, and adds program-level controls for PMOs. See Smartsheet pricing.

Pick it for: repeatable programs with standard reporting.
Be aware: less suited to creative work.

6. Teamwork.com: best for client services

Teamwork.com focuses on client work, with time tracking, budgets, billing and profitability reports. See Teamwork.com pricing.

Pick it for: agencies billing by time or retainer.
Be aware: less suited to internal-only teams.

7. Kantata: best for professional services firms

Kantata is a professional services automation platform with resource planning, project delivery, time and expense, and project financials. See Kantata pricing.

Pick it for: consultancies tracking utilisation and margin.
Be aware: more than a small in-house team needs.

8. Notion: best for docs-heavy teams

Notion combines documents, a wiki and databases. Teams that used Hive Notes heavily and want richer documentation often prefer it. See Notion pricing.

Pick it for: teams that write specs, briefs and processes.
Be aware: lighter on workload and time tracking.

9. Zoho Projects: best budget option

Zoho Projects offers Gantt charts, time tracking, issue tracking and automation at a low per-user cost. See Zoho Projects pricing.

Pick it for: SMBs on a budget, especially Zoho users.
Be aware: smaller third-party ecosystem.

10. Airtable: best for data-driven workflows

Airtable is a relational database with interfaces and automations. Content calendars, campaign trackers and asset libraries often fit its model well. See Airtable pricing.

Pick it for: workflows centred on records and linked data.
Be aware: classic PM views need setup.

Hive vs Wrike: which is better?

Wrike is stronger for large organisations that need resource management, proofing, request intake and granular admin controls. Hive is typically quicker to adopt and suits small and mid-size marketing and operations teams that want flexible views and built-in time tracking without heavy setup.

Hive vs Smartsheet: which is better?

Smartsheet suits PMOs and operations teams that think in grids and need standardised programs and dashboards. Hive suits teams that prefer boards, cards and flexible views with built-in collaboration. If your reports go to finance or leadership in spreadsheet form, Smartsheet usually fits better.

Hive vs ClickUp: which is better?

Both offer many views, time tracking and notes. ClickUp goes further on docs, whiteboards, custom fields and configuration; Hive is usually simpler to set up and navigate. Teams with a dedicated admin tend to prefer ClickUp; teams that want less configuration tend to prefer Hive.

Which Hive alternative fits your team?

In-house marketing team of 5 to 30 people: Asana or monday.com for structure and dashboards; ClickUp if you also want docs and whiteboards in the same tool.
Marketing department with heavy creative review: Wrike, because proofing, request forms and workload views live in one place.
Agency billing clients by time: Teamwork.com for smaller agencies, Kantata for larger professional services firms that plan utilisation and margin.
PMO running many similar projects: Smartsheet, for templated programs and roll-up reporting.
Startup or product team that writes a lot: Notion, with a simple task database linked to specs.
Content operations or campaign libraries: Airtable, where each asset or campaign is a record with linked fields.
Cost-sensitive SMB: Zoho Projects, especially if you already use Zoho CRM or Books.

What should you test during a trial?

A two to four week pilot tells you more than any feature grid. Pick one live project that involves at least two teams and run it end to end in the new tool. Track a few practical signals:

Update rate: do people update tasks without being chased? If not, the tool is too heavy or too hidden.
Time to answer a status question: can a manager see what is late and who is overloaded in under a minute?
Intake: can requests from other teams arrive through a form and land in the right place with the right fields?
Reporting: can you rebuild the two or three reports leadership actually reads?
Integrations: do Slack or Teams, email, calendar and file storage work the way your team expects?

Write the results down and compare them with the same questions asked about Hive today. The alternative should clearly win on the problem that made you look in the first place.

How do you migrate away from Hive?

A tool switch is mostly a data and habit problem, not a software problem. A phased plan keeps work moving while the team adjusts.

Audit before you export. Archive finished and abandoned projects so you only move live work. This is also the moment to agree on naming, statuses and custom fields for the new tool.
Export the data. Export projects and actions from Hive to CSV, and save notes you want to keep.
Map fields. Decide how projects, action statuses, labels and custom fields will be represented in the new tool before importing, and run a test import with one project.
Rebuild what does not transfer. Automations, templates, notes and integrations usually need rebuilding, as do time-tracking categories. Start with the few automations and templates people use every day.
Move one team first. Run the pilot team for two to four weeks, fix the template, then move the rest in waves.
Set a cut-off date. Make the old tool read-only once the last team moves, and keep an export for records.

How to choose a Hive alternative

Write down the gap. Integrations, governance, agile features, client billing or docs each point to a different tool above.
Check time tracking. If your team relies on Hive’s built-in time tracking, confirm the alternative’s native options or plan for a separate tool. See our best time tracking software guide.
Test email and chat workflows. If you use Hive’s email integration, test how the alternative handles tasks from Gmail or Outlook.
Price at real headcount. Compare per-user tiers, seat bundles and add-ons, including guests.
Pilot before migrating. Move one team and one live project first, then roll out.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Hive project management?

Asana is the best general alternative for most teams. monday.com suits visual no-code workflows, ClickUp suits teams that want maximum features, and Wrike suits enterprise teams that need resource planning and proofing.

Who are Hive’s main competitors?

Asana, monday.com, ClickUp, Wrike, Smartsheet, Teamwork.com and Notion are the most common. Kantata competes for professional services firms, and Zoho Projects for budget-focused SMBs.

Is there a free Hive alternative?

Yes. Asana, ClickUp, Trello, Notion, Zoho Projects and Airtable all have free plans, each with different limits on users, storage or features.

Which Hive alternative has built-in time tracking?

ClickUp, Teamwork.com, Wrike, Zoho Projects and Kantata include time tracking, although availability varies by plan. Asana and monday.com offer lighter native options and many integrations.

Is Hive good for marketing teams?

Yes, Hive is popular with marketing teams for its flexible views, time tracking and email integration. Larger marketing departments that need proofing and resource planning at scale often compare it with Wrike.

How do I migrate from Hive?

Export your projects and actions, clean the data, and import it through CSV or the new tool’s importer. Notes, automations and integrations usually need to be rebuilt, so start with one team.