The best Hiver alternatives in 2026 are Gmelius and Drag inside Gmail, and Front, Missive or Help Scout once the team is ready to leave the mail client. Sektra fits teams on Gmail or Outlook whose inbound is named clients, because it syncs with both mail clients and keeps a record of what was promised.
Hiver adds shared inbox controls to the Gmail interface and to Outlook shared mailboxes on Microsoft 365, so nobody learns a new application. Growth is $25 per user per month billed annually and caps at 10 users, Pro is $55 and Elite is $85. Every plan starts at two seats and there is no free plan, verified October 2026.
Teams looking for a Hiver alternative split on one question first: is the reason the stay-in-the-mail-client design itself, or something Hiver does inside that design?
In Gmail: Gmelius for sequences and boards, Drag for a board view at $12 to $24, Keeping for a small support desk from $14. Standalone: Front for routed operations, Missive for email, messaging, chat and tasks in one app, Help Scout for a support desk with a knowledge base. Sektra syncs with Gmail and Outlook so nobody has to move, and keeps a record of what each client was promised. Prices verified October 2026.
What is Hiver?
Hiver is a shared inbox and help desk layer. Assignment, statuses, notes, if-then automations, SLAs, CSAT surveys and analytics render in Gmail. The Omni product connects Outlook shared mailboxes through Microsoft 365, with live chat, WhatsApp and a voice add-on at $30 per voice seat. AI agents, AI Copilot and a knowledge builder are included from Growth. The unit of work is the conversation, and the scope is the queue.
Why teams look for a Hiver alternative
- Part of the team is on Outlook, and Hiver's Outlook support covers shared mailboxes on Microsoft 365 through one connecting account, with the sync tied to that person.
- The team thinks in pipelines and wants a board view that Hiver does not carry.
- The two-seat minimum, the 10-user cap on Growth, or the $55 step to Pro for SLAs and CSAT.
- Inbound moves between departments and needs routing, or arrives on channels beyond email and chat.
- The same clients write for years, and a queue tool keeps nothing about them once the thread is closed.
What are the best Hiver alternatives in 2026?
| Tool | Where mail lives | Channels | Built for | Price range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gmelius | Gmail | Shared inboxes, boards and sequences in Gmail | $19 to $40 per user per month billed annually; shared inboxes from Growth at $25 | |
| Drag | Gmail | Board view of shared inboxes in Gmail | $12 to $24 per user per month billed yearly; no seat minimum | |
| Keeping | Gmail | Small support desk in Gmail | $14 to $49 per user per month billed annually; two-user minimum | |
| Front | Front's own app | One channel type on Starter; email, SMS, social and WhatsApp from Professional | Routed customer operations across teams | $25 to $105 per seat per month billed annually |
| Missive | Missive's own app, connected to Gmail, Outlook and others | Email, SMS and social; WhatsApp Business through Meta | Small teams that want chat and tasks beside email | $14 to $36 per user per month billed yearly |
| Help Scout | Help Scout's inbox | Email, the Beacon chat widget, a help center | Support queues with a knowledge base | Free for 5 users; $25 to $75 per user per month on monthly billing |
| Sektra | Gmail, Outlook, IMAP and WhatsApp Business, synced two-way | Email and WhatsApp | Named-client teams that need a record of promises | See the pricing page |
If the team wants to stay in Gmail
1. Gmelius: shared inboxes with sequences and boards
Gmelius is the closest like-for-like. Shared inboxes, shared labels, notes and assignment render in Gmail, plus email sequences, automation rules and kanban boards that Hiver does not carry. Meli is $19 per user per month billed annually, without shared inboxes. Growth at $25 adds shared inboxes and boards, Pro is $40, and Enterprise starts at 50 users. The trial is seven days, verified October 2026.
It is a Gmail extension, so Outlook users are outside it, and it keeps no record of a client beyond the threads and cards. Sektra syncs with Gmail and Outlook and lists who owes the next reply in the morning digest, so follow-ups are not lost.
2. Drag: a board view in Gmail from $12
Drag turns shared inboxes in Gmail into boards for teams that think in pipelines. Starter is $12 per user per month billed yearly ($16 monthly), Plus $18 and Pro $24, with unlimited users, no seat minimum and a seven-day trial, verified October 2026. Emails stay in Gmail, and the page lists no Outlook support.
It carries less workflow, reporting and AI than Hiver by design, with a card per conversation. Sektra keeps a record per client, with every AI feature in the plan.
3. Keeping: a small support desk in Gmail
Keeping is the most support-shaped of the Gmail tools, with tickets, statuses, response tracking and reporting in the Gmail interface. Essentials is $14 per user per month billed annually ($19 monthly), with a 10-agent cap and two shared mailboxes. Advanced is $24 with no caps, and a HIPAA plan is $49.
Every plan has a two-user minimum and a 14-day trial, and Keeping states that it works exclusively with Gmail and Google Workspace, verified October 2026. The ticket is its unit. Sektra keeps the ticket basics and adds what was promised and what is still open per client.
If you are ready to leave the mail client
4. Front: operations across channels
Front is a standalone app the whole team moves into, built for inbound that moves between departments on rules. It has SLA escalation, cross-team analytics, and channels beyond email in one queue.
Starter is $25 per seat per month billed annually, for one channel type and up to 10 seats. Professional is $65 with omnichannel and up to 50 seats, and Enterprise is $105. Copilot is a $20 per seat add-on below Enterprise, verified October 2026.
The rules need an owner, and the AI line sits outside the seat price below Enterprise. Hiver vs Front covers the pair in detail. Sektra assigns by rule, round robin or current workload with nothing to configure, and lets anyone not yet on it keep working in Gmail or Outlook.
5. Missive: everything in one window for small teams
Missive folds email, SMS and social accounts together with team chat and tasks, and connects WhatsApp Business through Meta. Starter is $14 per user per month billed yearly for up to 5 users, Productive $24 for up to 50, Business $36, with a 30-day trial, verified October 2026.
Missive asks the whole team to move in, which is the opposite of Hiver's bet, and shared context leaks when part of the team stays in Gmail or Outlook. Sektra syncs with Gmail and Outlook and adds WhatsApp, so the people who have not moved keep working where they are. Missive alternatives covers that field.
6. Help Scout: a support desk with a knowledge base
Help Scout is built for a support function: volume, one-off requesters and a knowledge base that could answer part of it. Conversations read like email, and AI Assist, AI Summarize and AI Drafts are on every paid plan.
The free plan covers 5 users with 1 inbox; Standard, Plus and Pro are $25, $45 and $75 per user per month on monthly billing with 16 percent off annual. AI Answers is an add-on at $0.75 per resolution with a monthly cap, verified October 2026.
It closes a conversation and moves on. Sektra keeps what was promised in it, with AI drafting in the plan and no per-resolution fee.
If the queue is fine but the client keeps getting forgotten
7. Sektra: the record a queue does not keep
We build Sektra. Every tool above, Hiver included, treats the conversation as the unit. It arrives, is assigned, is resolved, and leaves the queue. For a support address that is the whole job. For named clients it leaves a gap. The promise made in an archived thread goes with it. The client who wrote every week and then stopped produces no message for any inbound-triggered tool to react to.
Sektra is a separate workspace that syncs two-way with Gmail, Outlook (including shared mailboxes), IMAP and WhatsApp Business. The mail stays where it is, and anyone not yet on Sektra keeps working in their mail client. The basics Hiver has are there: assignment, notes and mentions on the thread, intent tags, and a typing indicator that reads "A teammate is typing a reply".
Underneath sits the memory layer, a record per client of every commitment with its date, every open question, the people and the history, built from the mailbox on connect. Set a silence watch with the day count you choose and Sektra tells you the day a client goes quiet. The assistant drafts from that record and a person always sends.
Every AI feature is part of the plan, and plans are on the pricing page. Sektra vs Hiver has the row-by-row view, including the SLA and CSAT rows. The product page covers the memory layer, and customer success teams shows the inbound it is built for.
Does Hiver work with Outlook?
Yes, for shared mailboxes on Microsoft 365, through Hiver's Omni product. One member of the shared mailbox with read, manage, send-as and send-on-behalf permissions authorizes Hiver in Microsoft Entra and becomes the source user. If that person leaves or loses access, sync and sending stop until another member reauthenticates. Hiver imports up to 10,000 emails from the previous two weeks on connect, and folders created afterward are not imported.
Of the alternatives, Front, Missive and Help Scout connect Microsoft 365 accounts into their own apps, while Gmelius, Drag and Keeping are Gmail only. Sektra connects Outlook, including shared mailboxes, through Microsoft sign-in and syncs two-way; the Outlook shared mailbox guide has the steps.
Hiver alternatives by the reason you are switching
- Outlook: Front, Missive and Help Scout connect Microsoft 365 into their own apps. Sektra syncs with Outlook and Gmail and keeps both teams in their mail client.
- A board view: Drag and Gmelius in Gmail. Sektra ranks threads by what it would cost to leave them, with a record per client behind each one.
- Lower cost: Drag from $12 and Keeping from $14 in Gmail, or Help Scout's free plan for five users. Sektra's plans are on the pricing page.
- More workflow: Front, with a rules owner. Sektra covers assignment and notes with nothing to configure.
- The client keeps getting forgotten: Sektra.
Which Hiver alternative should you pick?
- Gmelius, if sequences and boards belong next to the shared inbox and everyone is on Gmail.
- Drag or Keeping, if the scope is small and the price matters most.
- Front, if inbound moves between departments and someone will own the rules.
- Missive, if a small team wants chat and tasks beside email and will move in together.
- Help Scout, if the inbound is support volume with a knowledge base at the center.
- Sektra, if the same clients write for years and the misses that cost you are forgotten promises and quiet accounts.
Because Hiver leaves the mail in Gmail or Outlook, any of these can run alongside it on the same mailboxes. Two weeks on real mail will tell you more than this article can.
