Top 6 Alternatives to Hiver in 2024 (CS Help Desk)

One of the challenges customer support and customer success teams are consistently faced with is wading through a sea of emails in a bid to attend to customers’ inquiries, issues, and/or requests. Managing this high volume consistently can be a nightmare, leading to missed messages, duplicate responses, and a frustrated team of individuals often unable to adequately make important decisions quickly, and without hampering the chances of the collective. While several solutions have been suggested, team collaboration/helpdesk software platforms (like Hiver and others) to deliver brilliant customer service and maintain a streamlined, non-cluttered workflow for your support teams tops the list.

Team collaboration software is a tool that enables individuals or teams to work together effectively, regardless of their physical location. It provides a digital platform where team members can communicate, collaborate, and share information in real time. Gone are the days when teams had to rely on emails, phone calls, or face-to-face meetings to collaborate on projects. With team collaboration software, you can bring your entire team together on a single platform, making it easier to share ideas, exchange feedback, and stay organized.

Hiver, for example, integrates with Gmail, adding valuable functionalities (such as assigning conversations to team members of a centralized email) which altogether makes collaboration a breeze. In this blog, we’ll explore the top 6 team collaboration platforms that are more-than-worthy alternatives to Hiver in 2024, comparing in-depth the best features of each, its limitations, and pricing.

First things first, however,

What is Hiver?

Hiver is a simple tool that contains precisely what service and support agents need. Its simplicity allows for a clean user interface, making workflows more manageable, even from a mobile device. Its cost-effectiveness makes it ideal for small businesses. It’s essentially a Gmail plugin that makes assigning conversations to team members of a centralized email a breeze. However, if you’re catering to queries for social media apart from Gmail inquiries, look for other centralized helpdesk options.

Hiver comes with several powerful features that make it easier for teams to collaborate on one email account. Fewer emails slip through the cracks, and no two people work on the same ticket at once. Plus, you’ll get an insightful dashboard to see how your support team performs.

Why might Hiver be the right fit for your team's collaboration needs?

• It provides a Google workspace for agents to collaborate across multiple channels like email, live chat, chatbot, voice communication, and knowledge base.
• Hiver’s shared inbox solution assists your agents in assigning and responding to support queries.
• Hiver’s Kanban boards offer workflow visualization for project management, allowing teams to set their projects’ status and monitor the progress of tasks.
• AI automation, anti-email duplication measures, and mobile compatibility.

Why do you need a Hiver Alternative?

• It’s not ideal for companies that use social media platforms for their customer support communications.
• Hiver is a Gmail-focused platform (i.e., it’s built strictly to operate on Gmail and not any other email client).
• Hiver has no provision for setting up an internal knowledge base for your representatives.
• While Hiver allows you to assign support messages to certain agents, you can’t assign multiple reps to a conversation.

What are the Top 6 Customer Support Alternatives to Hiver in 2024?

1. Distrobird
2. Front
3. Freshdesk
4. Help Scout
5. Drag
6. Gmelius

1. Distrobird

Distrobird is a cloud-based customer and sales engagement platform, designed to streamline sales and manage customer interactions. It is an all-in-one platform managing phone calls, SMS communications, and emails, along with product features like web chats, shared team inbox, and automated campaigns.

It also integrates seamlessly with various popular CRM and business tools, notably HubSpot, Gmail, Stripe, Microsoft Outlook, Twilio, Zapier, Clearbit, Zoho, Telnyx, Salesforce and NGP VAN.

Distrobird best features

• Distrobird’s free plan encompasses all of its features.
• An intuitive interface that facilitates seamless team onboarding and rapid deployment in minutes, not days.
• Effortlessly integrates with your current software setup, providing unmatched flexibility.
• It arranges your website activities in a chronological timeline, enabling your team to deliver the top-notch service that customers deserve.
• Contacts' data is automatically enriched, ensuring your team is well-informed about who they're communicating with and how to keep them satisfied.
• Utilizing Distrobird's rule engine, you can craft automated sequences tailored to customers at every stage of your pipeline.

Distrobird limitations

• Its free plan supports a maximum of 3 users and 4 teams.
• Currently, Distrobird does not have a mobile app.

Distrobird pricing

• Free plan for the Voice, Sequences, and Shared Inbox products.
• Startup plan for Shared Inbox: $8/month.
• Startup, Growth & Enterprise plans for both the Sequences and Voice products: $25, $50, & $75 respectively.

2. Front

Front is a collaboration software that helps teams (like support, sales, and account management) work together more effectively and deliver exceptional service at scale. It has features that help with communication, workflow automation, and analytics. Specifically, Front offers streamlined customer communication by combining the efficiency of a help desk and the familiarity of email, with automated workflows and real-time collaboration behind the scenes.  Front also has features to help with collision detection, so that teammates don’t accidentally send duplicate replies.

With Front, teams can centralize messages across channels, route them to the right person, and unlock visibility and insights across all of their customer operations. Additionally, Front integrates with other popular tools, such as Slack and Asana, which can help teams stay on top of their work.

Front best features

• Front’s multi-channel messaging feature helps teams work together and be more responsive to customers.
• Its multi-channel messaging option allows teams to see who is working on what conversation and eliminates the need to search for context.
• Live chat feature.
• Supports integrations with 3rd-party tools

Front limitations

• Front is quite expensive, especially for smaller businesses or individual users.
• The mobile application is not as comprehensive as the web application.

Front pricing

• Starter: $19 per (2-10 seats)
• Growth: $59 per seat per month (min. 2 seats)
• Scale: $99 per seat per month (min. 20 seats)
• Premier: $229 per seat per month (min. 50 seats).

3. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a cloud-based helpdesk system designed to empower businesses to deliver exceptional customer service. This modern and intuitive platform offers a robust set of features to streamline your support operations and delight your customers effortlessly. Freshdesk acts as a central hub, consolidating customer inquiries from various channels  (email, web, phone, chat, messaging, social media) into a unified ticketing system. This eliminates the hassle of juggling multiple platforms and ensures all customer interactions are tracked and addressed efficiently.

Furthermore, it integrates with a wide range of third-party tools,  extending its functionality and catering to your specific business needs.

Freshdesk best features

• Freshdesk allows businesses to manage customer requests and handle issues within its ticketing system.
• It supports multiple channels, like email, phone, and chat, while also providing self-service software.
• Teams can automate ticket assignments and set automatic email notifications to notify customers of changes to their requests.

Freshdesk limitations

• Freshdesk’s advanced features require a deeper understanding of their functionalities and configurations.
• Its reporting is limited due to a lack of custom attribution and correlation as well as omnichannel reporting.
• Lack of dedicated support to assist with Freshdesk implementation and usage.
• Businesses with complex data analysis needs may encounter limitations that hinder their ability to extract valuable insights from their support data.

Freshdesk pricing

• Free: $0 (up to 10 agents)
• Growth: $18 per agent per month
• Pro: $59 per agent per month
• Enterprise: $95 per agent per month

4. Help Scout

For over a decade, Help Scout has been making customer support and team collaboration easier by merging all communications within one digital space with a user-friendly interface. Furthermore, it also equips agents with tools to automate tasks, stay organized, and work together seamlessly. That way, you can make your helpdesk more efficient and connect with clients no matter how they reach out.

Unlike several other complex enterprise solutions, Help Scout prioritizes simplicity and speed. It requires minimal setup and allows businesses to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional customer service.

Help Scout best features

• Help Scout has a shared inbox that helps teams collaborate and manage customer emails effectively.
• Its beacon help widget integrates with websites to offer immediate support assistance.
• Automated workflows to improve response times and streamline processes.
• Reporting capabilities for tracking performance and customer satisfaction.

Help Scout limitations

• Social channels and unlimited report history are only available on the Plus and Pro plans.
• Few knowledge base templates, which may be a drawback for teams requiring more integrated solutions.
• Limited platform analytics.
• Help Scout has no free plan.

Help Scout pricing

• Standard: $20 per user per month.
• Plus: $50 per user per month.
• Pro: $65/month per user

5. Drag

If you're a Gmail user looking for a like-for-like team collaboration tool to Hiver, then Drag is a great option for you to consider. Drag goes beyond just email into transforming your mailbox into a collaborative hub. This means you can manage projects, communicate with your team in real-time, and access your email all in one place (i.e., without switching between different apps) - keeping everything organized and allowing for a smooth workflow experience for team members.

Furthermore, Drag also offers features like reporting and analytics, internal team notes, and easy search and sorting. These extras make Drag a well-rounded solution for managing your team's workflow.

Drag best features

• Shared inbox feature allows you to see collaborative inboxes from your own account.
• Avoid repetitive tasks with automated workflows.
• Drag allows you to measure the performance of your team, email volume, and more from the reports and analytics dashboard.
• Allows for both desktop and mobile synchronization.

Drag limitations

• It’s only available for teams using Google Workspace.
• The free plan of Drag App may have limitations on features and team size.
• Teams solely focused on basic shared inbox functionalities might find it more complex than necessary.

Drag Pricing

• Free: Free
• Starter: $10 per user/month
• Plus: $18 per user/month
• Pro: $26 per user/month

6. Gmelius

Gmelius offers a breath of fresh air, bringing collaboration directly to your Gmail with a shared inbox system, thereby fostering a smoother team experience. Gmelius makes this possible by allowing you to assign and delegate emails, ensuring everyone knows who's responsible for each message. Plus, collaboration on drafts becomes a breeze as you can track team performance and identify areas for improvement with built-in analytics.

Essentially, Gmelius transforms Gmail into a collaborative haven, empowering your team to work together more effectively.

Gmelius best features

• Gmelius lets you share unlimited inboxes, other features of Google such as labels and drafts, and even specific single conversations.
• By sharing Gmail labels, teams can synchronize conversations in real time and manage and organize company or client projects in Gmail.
• Gmelius lets your team focus on what matters by automating your company’s day-to-day processes.
• Gmelius’ team analytics give managers a detailed understanding at the team and individual levels.

Gmelius limitations

• Gmelius lacks a free plan and is pricier compared to Hiver.
• Limited customization to suit brand preference.

Gmelius pricing

• Growth: $24 per user per month
• Pro: $36 per user per month

Which Customer Support Help Desk Platform Is Right For You?

The right collaboration tool can make all the difference in improving your team's performance and streamlining your work processes. Luckily, there are several options available, including some free team collaboration software that can help take your team's productivity to the next level by ensuring everyone knows their responsibilities and keeps the project on track.

While all competitors on our list offer great customer service and help desk features, I recommend Distrobird as the best Hiver alternative for your company considering its strengths and fair pricing.

If you are looking for a comprehensive and affordable solution with a free plan, Distrobird is a great option. It offers all the essential features you need to manage your sales & customer engagement tech stack in one place - multi-channel sequences and campaigns, web messenger, outbound dialer, inbound call center software, shared team inbox, and conversation analytics - in a single solution. Distrobird is also easy to use and integrates with a variety of popular apps.

Whether you're a startup or an established business, Distrobird's scalable pricing plans make it a cost-effective choice. Create your free Distrobird account and see how it can transform your customer interactions!