Hiver

• What it is: A shared inbox and help desk that works natively inside Gmail and Outlook.
• Best for: Support, ops, and finance teams on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
• Standout: Help-desk workflows (assignments, SLAs, notes) without leaving the inbox.
• Pricing: Free plan, then per-user Lite (~$24), Growth (~$29), Pro (~$45), and custom Elite; 7-day trial.
• Rivals: Front, Help Scout, Gmelius.

What is Hiver?

Hiver is a shared-inbox and customer-service platform that runs as a layer on top of Gmail and Outlook rather than as a separate ticketing app. Teams managing shared addresses such as support@, billing@, or orders@ get help-desk capabilities, including ticket assignment, status tracking, internal notes, collision alerts, SLA timers, and analytics, without ever leaving the email interface they already use every day. Because it lives inside the inbox, onboarding is unusually fast: agents keep their familiar Gmail or Outlook workflow and simply gain new buttons and a sidebar.

That native approach is Hiver biggest strength and its boundary. For teams committed to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, it delivers the structure of a help desk with almost no learning curve, which drives quick adoption and consistent use. The trade-off is that it is tied to those email platforms, and organizations that want a fully standalone omnichannel help desk with deep customization may eventually prefer a dedicated platform. For inbox-centric support, ops, and finance teams, though, that constraint is usually a feature, not a limitation.

Key features

Hiver pricing explained

Hiver offers a free plan with basic shared-inbox features, then per-user paid tiers. Lite (around $24/user/mo) covers core shared inboxes and collaboration, Growth (around $29) adds more automation and analytics, and Pro (around $45) layers on advanced SLAs, multichannel options, and deeper reporting. Elite is custom-priced for larger teams that need the most advanced controls. Plans start at a 2-seat minimum and scale in seat increments, and annual billing runs up to 20 percent cheaper than monthly. An optional Hiver AI add-on (around $20/user/mo) is available across paid tiers, and a 7-day free trial lets you test premium features. Because exact tier inclusions and prices change, confirm current pricing at signup.

Hiver vs Front vs Help Scout

Is Hiver worth it?

For teams that already work in Gmail or Outlook and manage shared inboxes, Hiver is worth it. It brings genuine help-desk discipline (ownership, SLAs, collision alerts, analytics) while keeping everyone in the email tool they already know, which makes adoption fast and sticky. The free plan and 7-day trial let you validate the fit at no risk. The main reasons to skip it are if you do not use Gmail or Outlook, or if you specifically want a standalone omnichannel help desk. Otherwise, Hiver is one of the cleanest ways to turn a shared inbox into an organized support operation.