The Hiver alternative for AI-first customer support

Hiver vs Aftersales: what is the short answer?

Choose Hiver if your team lives in Gmail or Outlook, works email requests across departments like finance, HR and operations, and wants AI features included in a flat seat price. Choose Aftersales if you want a dedicated support platform with a free plan, an AI Agent billed only when it resolves a conversation, and real-time issue detection across every channel.

Hiver is still trading under its own name. Its about page describes an "agentic customer service platform" with more than 10,000 teams and over $30M raised, and it now sells two products: Hiver Omni (a standalone omnichannel helpdesk) and Hiver in Gmail (a helpdesk inside Gmail). We found no sign of an acquisition, rename or shutdown on its site in October 2026.

Checked October 2026. Confirm current prices on each vendor's site.

Why do teams look for a Hiver alternative?

Teams usually look past Hiver when support stops being an email job. Hiver started as a shared inbox inside Gmail, and its strengths still show there: collaboration on email threads, notes, and handing requests between departments. Teams that now run high chat and messaging volume, or want AI to close routine conversations on its own, often compare it with platforms built around AI resolution.

The reasons we hear most often:

• Seat minimums and steps. Hiver plans start at 2 seats and grow from 2 to 5, then in blocks of 5 (10, 15, 20), according to the FAQ on its Hiver Omni pricing page. A team of 6 pays for 10.
• Key features sit on higher tiers. SLAs, CSAT surveys and API access start on Pro ($55). AI QA, AI Insights, skill-based routing, SSO and HIPAA start on Elite ($85).
• No free plan. Hiver offers a 7-day trial of Elite, then you choose a paid plan or the account is suspended.
• AI usage terms are not public. Hiver lists AI Agents on all plans but its pricing page does not say how much AI work is included or what happens at high volume, so finance teams have to ask on a demo call.
• Voice costs extra. Hiver's Voice add-on is $30 per voice seat per month with 1,000 minutes per seat.

What should you look for in a Hiver alternative?

Start with how much of your volume AI should resolve without a person, then check the price of each resolved conversation. A shared inbox with AI drafts helps reps go faster; an agent that verifies an order and issues a refund removes the ticket entirely. Those are different purchases.

• Resolution, not deflection. Ask whether the AI completes the task (refund, replacement, record update) or only answers questions and routes the rest.
• Predictable AI pricing. A published per-resolution price lets you model cost at 1,000 or 10,000 conversations before you sign.
• Guardrails you can set. Spend limits, escalation on sentiment or legal language, and clear handoff with context.
• Channels in one queue. Email, chat, WhatsApp, SMS, phone and social DMs without separate tools.
• Quality and reporting on every conversation, not a sample, so you can see issues as they start.
• Migration help. Hiver offers free migration; any alternative should match that.

Our shared inbox comparison and AI customer service software guide cover more options.

How does Aftersales compare to Hiver feature by feature?

The biggest differences are how AI is billed, where the product runs, and which tier unlocks enterprise controls. Hiver bundles AI into the seat; Aftersales charges per resolved conversation and nothing when Agent can't help.

Checked October 2026. Confirm current prices on each vendor's site.

Hiver details come from its Omni and Hiver in Gmail pricing pages and its AI Agents page. Hiver in Gmail has the same three plan prices but focuses on email and a help center rather than the full channel list.

When is Hiver the better choice?

Hiver is the better pick for several kinds of teams, and it is worth saying so plainly.

• Your team wants to stay in Gmail. Hiver in Gmail turns Gmail into a helpdesk. Aftersales is a separate platform, so reps work in a new tool.
• Support is one of many teams on the inbox. Hiver markets heavily to finance, HR, operations and account management teams sharing email. Aftersales is built for customer service.
• You want AI in a flat seat price. If your AI volume is high and Hiver confirms no usage cap for your plan, a bundled price can beat paying per resolution.
• You need SSO or HIPAA at a lower seat price. Hiver puts both on Elite at $85 per user; Aftersales puts SSO on Scale at $109 per seat and HIPAA on its custom-priced Enterprise plan.
• You need a certification Aftersales does not list. Hiver states it is ISO 27001 compliant on its pricing FAQ. Aftersales offers a GDPR DPA, US-only hosting and HIPAA support with a signed BAA on the Enterprise plan.
• Your stack includes tools like NetSuite or Asana. Hiver names these in its AI and integration pages. Aftersales connects other systems through its API or webhooks, so confirm specific connectors on a call.

What does Aftersales cost compared to Hiver?

For a 5-person team, Hiver's seat bill is lower; Aftersales costs more once you count resolutions, but you only pay for conversations Agent closes. Here is a worked example using list prices and annual billing. Assumptions: 5 reps, 2,000 conversations a month, AI resolving about half.

Aftersales Growth

• 5 seats x $69 = $345/month
• 1,000 Agent resolutions x $0.99 = $990/month
• Conversations Agent can't help with: $0
• Total: about $1,335/month, or $345 if you skip Agent and use the inbox only

Hiver Pro

• 5 users x $55 = $275/month
• AI Agents and AI Copilot: listed as included; usage limits not published
• Voice for 2 reps: 2 x $30 = $60/month (Aftersales Growth includes phone)
• Total: about $335/month, before any AI usage terms Hiver sets in your contract

Where the math changes

• 6 to 9 people: Hiver bills in blocks of 5 above 5 seats, so 7 reps pay for 10 users ($550 on Pro). Aftersales Growth for 7 is $483 before resolutions.
• Light AI use: a team on Aftersales Starter with 300 resolutions pays 5 x $24 + 300 x $0.99 = $417.
• Enterprise controls: 20 users on Hiver Elite cost $1,700; 20 seats on Aftersales Scale cost $2,180 before resolutions.

The number that matters is cost per resolved conversation. Aftersales customers reach a median 71% resolution after 90 days, and Northwind Outdoors cut cost per conversation by 41% (customer stories). See the resolution rate guide and the pricing page to model your own numbers.

How does Aftersales Agent handle a request Hiver would route to a rep?

Agent reads intent, entities, sentiment and language from the first message, follows the procedure you wrote, takes the action through a connected system, and either closes the conversation or hands off with everything it found. Example, for an online store:

1. Customer writes: "My order arrived broken, can you send another?"
2. Agent verifies the order in Shopify and checks it against your plain-language replacement procedure.
3. Agent acts inside guardrails. Under the value limit you set, it creates the replacement or issues a Stripe refund. Above it, it escalates.
4. Escalation rules apply throughout. Negative sentiment, legal language, a high customer tier or keywords you choose send the conversation to a rep, with the order data and steps already tried attached.
5. You pay once. A resolved conversation is one $0.99 resolution however many questions it held.

Reps pick up escalations in Inbox, where Copilot drafts replies that cite their sources, summarizes threads and translates across 31 languages. Side conversations go to Slack, and workflows can create a Jira issue, much like the cross-team handoffs Hiver users rely on.

Which Aftersales plan fits a team moving from Hiver?

Most Hiver Pro teams fit Growth at $69 per seat billed annually, because it adds unlimited team inboxes, workflows, round-robin, phone with transfers and recording, and 20 free Lite seats for colleagues in other departments who only need to view, comment or approve. Hiver Elite teams that need SSO should look at Scale; a BAA is on Aftersales Enterprise.

Checked October 2026. Confirm current prices on each vendor's site.

How do you switch from Hiver to Aftersales?

Most teams finish migration in an afternoon, and Aftersales runs the migration with you on Growth and Scale. A typical sequence:

1. Export from Hiver. Pull your saved replies (templates), tags and help articles, and list the automation rules you rely on.
2. Connect channels. Forward your support addresses and connect chat, WhatsApp, SMS and social accounts to Inbox.
3. Load Knowledge. Import help articles so Agent, Copilot and the help center answer from one source (Knowledge).
4. Rebuild rules as workflows. Recreate assignment, tagging and SLA rules in Workflows.
5. Write procedures for Agent. Start with your top three request types, import existing macros, and set spend limits and escalation rules.
6. Run both in parallel for a week. Point a share of traffic at Aftersales, compare resolution rate and CSAT in Insights, then move the rest.

Comparing other shared inbox tools too? Read our Front alternative and Help Scout alternative pages, or browse all alternatives.

Frequently asked questions