Top 10 Hiver Alternatives for 2023

Are you looking for an Hiver alternative to improve customer service? Well, your search ends right here! 

Hiver is an easy-to-use and affordable help desk tool that can help you get started quickly. It can work right inside your Gmail inbox and offers an interface that your team will already be familiar with. But there is more to the story. 

Hiver is a Gmail-only tool meaning that it will not work if you use any other email client. Although email is an important customer service channel, it is not the “only” one. When customer expectations are at an all-time high, how will you assist customers in real-time via live chat or encourage self-service with a knowledge base? 

Let’s be honest, people are looking for the right alternatives to Hiver because it does not allow you to offer 360° support. If you are sailing in the same boat, we have some good news for you! 

After scrolling through dozens of software review platforms, product feature pages and using the tools ourselves, we have compiled a comprehensive list of the best alternatives. But before we jump to conclusions, here is a small feature and price comparison of the leading Hiver alternatives. 

Hiver Alternatives Feature & Price Table

What is Hiver?

Hiver is a Gmail-based help desk software that is specifically designed for G Suite users. The best part is that you will get an interface that you are already familiar with — meaning less time and money needed for training your employees. With Hiver, your agents can easily access, assign, and track emails that land in your shared customer service accounts. For team collaboration within Gmail, agents can even write notes to teammates and have quick discussions.  

So, how much will Hiver cost your company? Well, Hiver offers four plans — Lite ($12/user/month), Growth ($24/user/month), Pro ($37/user/month), and Elite ($57/user/month). Users can even enjoy a 14-day free trial. 

Why Look for Hiver Alternatives? 

You will be surprised to know that there are thousands of teams and businesses like you who are looking for products similar to Hiver. But what can be the possible reasons? 

Well, Hiver has its own set of flaws that are hard to ignore. After carefully analyzing and using this tool for weeks, we have jotted down some major Hiver that deserve your attention. 

• Works Only for Gmail Users: Hiver is a Gmail-only email management software that will work only if you have a Gmail account. So the bad news here is that if you use any other email client, you will have to exclude Hiver from your list of potential customer service tools. 

• No Live Chat: In a world where more and more customers demand real-time assistance, Hiver disappoints yet again. It is an email-only shared inbox tool that allows you to track and prioritize customer emails. However, there is no feature that helps you create live chat widgets and connect with your customers in real-time. 

• No Knowledge Base: Unlike most help desk tools, Hiver does not allow you to create your own help center or knowledge base. With a well-curated knowledge base, you can encourage self-service, train new recruits, and reduce your support ticket volume. 

• Lacks Native Integrations: Most help desk systems offer native integration options with business tools such as CRM, project management, survey, sales & marketing, etc. However, Hiver does not offer any native integrations as it works over Gmail. 

• Reporting Lacks Depth: A lot of users have complained online that Hiver lacks in-depth reporting capabilities. You can only generate reports based on email conversations and users/agents. There is no way to see your ticket backlogs or export reports for presentations. 

The Features Hiver Alternatives Must Have

Your search for the best alternative to Hiver will never be successful unless you know which features to look for. 

To make comparison easier, we have jotted down some must-have features that every Hiver competitor should have. Let’s take a look at them right away. 

• An easy-to-use interface so that agents don’t have to spend weeks training for the tool 

• Robust email management features so that customer service emails can never slip through the cracks

• Ticket tracking and prioritization so that agents can manage their work better and respond to customers faster

• Automation features to help your support team rise above manual tasks and processes

• Reports & analytics to help customer service managers make data-backed decisions

Our Selection Criteria for Hiver Alternatives

If you have been searching for any software system lately, you will surely know that there is tough competition in the market. There are hundreds of tools for every software category, and picking one can seem like an uphill task. 

We have created strong selection criteria to make sure only the best tools make it to our list. 

• Email Ticketing Features: All Hiver alternatives should offer basic email ticketing features such as filters, tags (or Labels), email templates, ticket prioritization, etc. 

• Listed on Top Software Review Platforms: The Hiver competitors must be listed on the leading software comparison review portals such as TrustRadius, Getapp, SoftwareWorld, and Capterra. 

• Genuine User Reviews: When you are comparing tools online, the reviews submitted by genuine users can help you identify the common pros of a tool. For this reason, every tool should have a minimum of 10 user reviews on the leading software comparison platforms. 

10 Best Help Hiver Alternatives You Should Consider

Now that we have understood the various merits and drawbacks of Hiver let’s explore the top Hiver alternatives that deserve your attention in 2023.

1. ProProfs Help Desk

ProProfs Help Desk is undoubtedly the best alternative to the Hiver tool as it combines the features of email ticketing with other support channels such as live chat, knowledge base, chatbots, help center, web forms, and more. This will equip your team with all the features they need to stay on top of every conversation and connect with customers on their favorite channels. 

With the shared inbox feature, you can club multiple shared inboxes such as support@, info@, returns@, billings@, etc., in one place. ProProfs also makes it easier for support agents to collaborate using internal notes, prioritize urgent tickets, and share automated emails for customer feedback. Moreover, you can even develop powerful chatbots in just a couple of minutes and assist your audience 24×7. 

Top Features of ProProfs Help Desk: 

• Use Labels (such as Bug 21, Refund, etc.) to easily categorize your support tickets
• Create chat or email canned responses for lightning-fast replies
• Track first response time, ticket resolution time, ticket backlogs, and other metrics
• Monitor your customer experience with the help of CSAT and NPS surveys
• Break complex tickets into multiple child tickets and assign them to different teams

Why We Picked It:

• Comes as a complete customer support suite with survey, live chat, knowledge base, and other capabilities
• Extremely affordable and flexible pricing plans

ProProfs Help Desk Plans Include: 

Try it free for 15 days

Starts at $20/agent/month (billed annually).

2. HubSpot Service Hub

Hubspot is another noteworthy alternative to Hiver that offers a powerful Universal Inbox. Different internal teams such as sales, marketing, and customer service can manage their respective conversations using this versatile inbox. The tool even offers complete work transparency so that agents can see who is working on which ticket and check if someone has followed up on a ticket or not. 

HubSpot Service Hub allows you to create personalized help videos for customers and add them to emails or support tickets. Users can even share customer-focused surveys to monitor the customer experience. 

Top Features of HubSpot Service Hub: 

• Automatically create tickets from email, chat, or form inquiries
• Track key support metrics like ticket volume, agent response time, and many others
• Prioritize customer issues so your team can tackle the most critical issues first
• Use ticket history to get all the right context needed for personalized support
• Improve live chat efficiencies by creating powerful chatbots

Why We Picked It:

• You can easily create, modify, and share forms as well customer surveys
• Integrating with HubSpot’s other tools will help you enhance the customer experience

HubSpot Service Hub Plans Include: 

Free: Forever free plan

Starter: $45/month (2 users)

Professional: $360/month (5 users)

Enterprise: $1200/month (10 users)

3. Zendesk 

Zendesk is one of the most popular Hiver alternatives and customer support software that is used by thousands of companies worldwide. But what makes this tool a top choice? Well, you can meet your customers on the channels they love, empower customers to resolve their issues at their own pace, and add a personal touch to every interaction. 

Moreover, Zendesk allows you to create a robust community forum so that prospects and customers can interact with each other, discuss common problems, and share solutions. Zendesk even offers pre-built integrations so that you can make the most of the tools that you already use. 

Top Features of Zendesk: 

• Add live chat to your website or mobile app and assist customers in real-time
• Interact with customers on WhatsApp or Facebook and provide instant support
• Rewards community members with badges and appreciate their contributions
• Allow agents to update your knowledge base articles and other content
• Create a unified view of the customer and deliver personalized interactions

Why We Picked It:

• Comes with powerful automation features that will help you automate manual tasks 
• Multiple customization options to build your help desk your way

Zendesk Plans Include:  

Suite Team: $49/agent/month

Suite Growth: $79/agent/month

Suite Professional: $99/agent/month

4. Freshdesk 

Freshdesk is a free alternative to Hiver that is offered as a complete omnichannel suite. You can impress your audience by being available on their channel of choice – live-chat, web, mobile, and phone support. With this tool, you can even proactively understand customer pain points and meet their growing expectations. 

Unlike Hiver, Freshdesk allows you to keep a tab on your remote customer service agents. You can easily gain back control of the field team by managing their availability, proximity, as well as skill sets. Moreover, you can offer your customers real-time updates with the help of chatbots and automated email notifications. 

Top Features of Freshdesk: 

• Set deadlines for ticket response and track SLA violations
• Prevent the reopening of tickets when customers reply with a thank you   
• Share the ownership of tickets with more than one agent for better collaboration
• Engage with your prospects over WhatsApp and resolve their queries 
• Track time spent by agents in the field with the Freshdesk mobile apps

Why We Picked It:

• Freshdesk offers an in-built phone system that will help you manage high call volumes
• Keep your customer service data highly secure

Freshdesk Plans Include: 

Sprout: Forever free with limited features

Blossom: $15/user/month

Garden: $35/user/month

Estate: $49/user/month

Forest: $99/user/month

5. Help Scout

Help Scout is another help desk software like Hiver that deserves to be on your list. Agents can interact with customers through email, live chat, help center, and leverage advanced collaboration features to work on complex issues together. 

With its shared inbox capabilities, you can easily create multiple inboxes for different teams, email addresses, and brands. To save time and enhance productivity, you can even create a library of saved replies and insert them into your email or chat responses. Ticket categorization is also quite effortless with this tool. 

Top Features of Help Scout:

• Easily toggle between email and chat conversations and share faster responses
• Increase agent productivity with the help of 75+ easy-to-use keyboard shortcuts
• Offer support on the go with native Android and iOS apps
• Easily add text, images, hyperlinks, and videos to help articles
• Track happiness score, total conversations, and other help desk metrics

Why We Picked It:

• Incredibly easy-to-use and set up
• You can easily track the entire email lifecycle from the moment an email is received to the time it is marked as resolved

Help Scout Plans Include: 

Standard: $20/user/month

Plus: $35/user/month

Company: You need to contact their sales team for the exact quote. (customizable plan)

6. LiveAgent 

LiveAgent is another leading Hiver alternative that helps you connect with your customers on the channels they love the most. In addition to traditional channels like phone and email, you can interact with your audience on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, or Viber. 

LiveAgent offers intelligent automation rules that will improve your workflow and enhance agent productivity. For instance, you can choose to automatically route tickets to relevant team members and reduce your response time at the same time. You can create a multi-brand knowledge base and provide support to your customers even after business hours. 

Top Features of LiveAgent: 

• Assign and transfer tickets between support agents and internal departments
• Track the time spent by each agent to resolve their respective tickets
• Share proactive chat invitations with customers as they are browsing your website
• Customize your chat windows and adjust their placement on the left or right side of your webpages
• Create feedback widgets or forms for customers in multiple languages

Why We Picked It:

• See what customers are typing before they hit send with the message sneak-peek feature
• You can create custom forms and capture feedback from your target audience

LiveAgent Plans Include:

Free: Forever free plan with limitations

Ticket: $15/agent/month 

Ticket + Chat: $29/agent/month

All-Inclusive: $39/agent/month

7. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is an omnichannel help desk software that helps you respond to customer inquiries on multiple channels without breaking a sweat. Zoho’s Artificial Intelligence called Zia, shares relevant help articles or FAQ pages directly from your help center with customers. It can even automatically tag your tickets, so that ticket organization becomes easier. 

To encourage self-service and allow customers to find answers on their own, you can create a knowledge base or user community. Once created, you can then easily embed them into your website, SaaS product, mobile app and enhance the support experience. 

Top Features of Zoho Desk: 

• Build an online community around existing customers, prospects, and other visitors
• Embed web forms on your website for customers to submit their requests
• Keep customers and agents updated by setting notification rules
• Keep track of time spent by agents on tickets and other important tasks
• Save time and enhance efficiency with the help of ready-to-use email templates

Why We Picked It:

• Integrate with Zoho CRM and allow agents to get all the customer information they need
• You can map your help center to your own domain and make it easier for customers to find relevant answers

Zoho Desk Plans Include: 

Free: Forever free plan

Standard: $12/agent/month

Professional: $20/agent/month

Enterprise: $35/agent/month

Read More – Zoho Desk Alternatives

8. Helpwise

Helpwise is another impactful tool that offers shared inboxes for email and helps you manage conversations on SMS, WhatsApp, social media, etc. With advanced ticketing features, you can easily divide the workload of your team, track their work in real-time, and reach inbox zero faster. 

With Helpwise, you can get rich reports and insights on your email frequency, response rates, and agent performance. This makes monitoring and improving your team’s performance much easier. You can easily access this tool from your web app or mobile apps. 

Top Features of Helpwise:

• Categorize support tickets on the basis of priority or other information using Tags
• Use saved replies to answer common queries quickly
• Improve collaboration by sharing internal notes with team members
• Use a live chat widget to provide instant information and increase your sales
• See when someone is working on an email to avoid duplicate replies

Why We Picked It:

• You can schedule emails to be sent to customers at a later time or date
• Helpwise makes it easier for you to manage hundreds of SMS messages 

Helpwise Plans Include: 

Standard: $12/user/month

Premium: $20/user/month

Enterprise: You need to make a request on their website (minimum 100 users)

9. Front 

Front is another leading Hiver competitor that is easy-to-use and offers an email-like interface. Instead of tirelessly forwarding emails, your customer service agents can work together using team collaboration features. 

With Front, you can easily set permissions or roles for each team member so that you always know who can access what in your shared inbox. You can automate message distribution, share SLA alerts with agents when a breach is near, and organize all your support messages in inboxes instantly.

Top Features of Front: 

• Manage email, live chat, SMS, and social media in one place
• Automatically route incoming emails to keep your inbox organized
• Monitor message volume, team response time, and other trends with the help of customizable reports
• Create SLA rules and empower your team to respond on time
• Create ready-to-use email templates for faster and consistent messaging

Why We Picked It:

• Fast and real-time notifications will always keep your team updated
• Front offers an advanced search box that makes finding relevant conversations effortless

Front Plans Include: 

Starter: $19/person/month

Prime: $49/person/month

Enterprise: $99/person/month

10. Dragapp

Just like Hiver, Dragapp is more of an email management tool than a full-fledged help desk software. To save training time and avoid any complications, you can simply turn your Gmail into a help desk platform. You can easily manage your shared inboxes such as support@, info@, and avoid any conversation from slipping through the cracks. 

To ensure that every message has an owner, Dragapp allows you to automatically assign incoming emails based on keywords, email sender, or email receiver. Team members can easily collaborate with each other on email drafts by using @ mentions. 

Top Features of Dragapp: 

• Create email templates for different situations and share them with your teammates
• Monitor team performance with the help of customizable reports
• Create events or reminders for your tasks by integrating with Calendar
• Create and send automated email follow-ups with your customers
• Know when the customers are viewing, clicking, and replying to your emails

Why We Picked It:

• Dragapp is quite affordable and can be a good option for small startups
• You can schedule email follow-ups and save your agent’s valuable time

Dragapp Plans Include: 

Free: Forever free plan

Plus: $8/user/month

Pro: $12/user/month

Comparison of Best Alternatives of Hiver

Final Verdict: Which Alternative to Hiver Should You Go For? 

Hiver is a popular Gmail-based help desk tool that can help your team: 

• Assign an owner to every incoming customer email
• Categorize and prioritize emails with the help of tags
• Turn your most frequently used emails into templates
• Set business hours and manage your SLAs

However, despite these astounding features, some serious drawbacks such as Gmail-only compatibility and lack of important features such as live chat, knowledge base, native integrations, in-depth reporting, etc., make users search for the right alternatives to Hiver. All the alternative tools discussed in this Hiver comparison blog are useful, trusted by thousands of users, and have been a popular choice among businesses of all sizes. 

If you wish to go for a customer support suite that is equally affordable and offers an omnichannel approach to customer service, you must go for ProProfs Help Desk. If you are looking for a simple Gmail-based support tool, then Dragapp can be a good option. Similarly, if you want to monitor your service via surveys and forms then Live Agent can be a good bet too.