Softwr

Project Management · head to head

Hive vs Microsoft OneNote

Hive logo

Hive

Project Management

Project management built for speed

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Hive the free plan is capped at 200 MB of storage; Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • They diverge on capability: Hive covers Tasks, Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hive and Microsoft OneNote actually diverge.

Attributes where Hive and Microsoft OneNote differ
AttributeHiveMicrosoft OneNote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, DesktopWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows
CategoryProject ManagementProductivity
Founded20151975

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hive

  • Tasks
  • Gantt view
  • Kanban
  • Time tracking
  • Forms
  • Slack
  • Zoom
  • Google Drive

Only in Microsoft OneNote

  • Free-form page canvas
  • Notebook hierarchy
  • Indexed handwriting
  • Audio recording
  • Web clipper and Outlook capture
  • Shared notebooks
  • Cross-platform clients
  • Tags and cross-notebook search

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hive

  • Project and task management with multiple project viewsnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Coordinating work, proofing and resourcing for teamsnot Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote

  • Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not Hive
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Hive
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Hive
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Hive

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hive

  • The free plan is capped at 200 MB of storage
  • The Starter plan at $5 per user per month is limited to 10 projects
  • Eight capabilities are sold as $5 per user add ons on the Teams plan, including CRM, timesheets, proofing, resourcing, advanced dashboards, external users and SSO
  • Buying SSO plus a few of those add ons therefore costs more than the $12 base seat itself
  • AI credits are metered monthly at 1,000, 3,000 and 5,000 by plan

Microsoft OneNote

  • Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
  • Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
  • Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
  • There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hive

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1,000 AI credits per month
    • 200MB storage
    • Up to 10 workspace members
  • Starter$5/month
    • 3,000 AI credits per month
    • Unlimited storage
    • Up to 10 projects
  • Teams$12/month
    • 5,000 AI credits per month
    • Unlimited workspace members
    • Custom fields

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Hive if

  • You need tasks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
  • You also want gantt view.
Hive review

Choose Microsoft OneNote if

  • You need free-form page canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want notebook hierarchy.
Microsoft OneNote review

Questions people ask

Is Hive or Microsoft OneNote better?
Neither clearly leads. Hive starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hive or Microsoft OneNote?
Hive starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free.
Does Hive or Microsoft OneNote run on more platforms?
Hive runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop. Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
Can I use Hive for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Hive best used for?
Hive is most often used for project and task management with multiple project views, coordinating work, proofing and resourcing for teams. Of those, project and task management with multiple project views and coordinating work, proofing and resourcing for teams are not what Microsoft OneNote is typically brought in for.
What can Hive do that Microsoft OneNote cannot?
Hive covers Tasks, Gantt view, Kanban, Time tracking. Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hive: Is Hive free?

Hive offers a free plan with 1,000 AI credits per month, 200MB storage, and support for up to 10 workspace members. Paid plans start at $5 per user per month.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?

Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.

Hive: Does Hive offer annual billing discounts?

Hive offers 33% savings when choosing annual billing instead of monthly. Annual commitment discounts are available across all plan tiers.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?

The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.

Hive: What are Hive's add-on pricing options?

Optional add-ons are available at $5 per month each, including CRM, Finance, Proofing & Approvals, Timesheets, and Team Resourcing features.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?

Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.

Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?

Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.

Share

Related pages

More on Hive

More on Microsoft OneNote

Keep looking

Other head to heads