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Project Management · head to head

Hive vs OpsLevel

Hive logo

Hive

Project Management

Project management built for speed

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit HiveFull review
OpsLevel logo

OpsLevel

Developer Tools

Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and production readiness

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit OpsLevelFull review

The short version

  • Hive is a productivity platform.
  • Hive starts at $5/mo; OpsLevel prices on request.
  • Only Hive lists gantt view; only OpsLevel lists service catalogue.
  • Where Hive falls short: the free plan is capped at 200 MB of storage.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hive and OpsLevel actually diverge.

Attributes where Hive and OpsLevel differ
AttributeHiveOpsLevel
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFreemiumQuote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Windows, macOSWeb
CategoryProject ManagementDeveloper Tools

Not yet recorded: founded for OpsLevel.

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 OpsLevel

  • Service catalogue
  • Scorecards and rubric
  • Checks
  • Campaigns
  • Self-service actions
  • Slack and Teams integration
  • Catalogue auto-enrichment
  • Deployment on request

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 OpsLevel
  • Coordinating work, proofing and resourcing for teamsnot OpsLevel

OpsLevel

  • A platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an auditnot Hive
  • Driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progressnot Hive
  • Giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform teamnot Hive
  • An organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning teamnot 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

OpsLevel

  • OpsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle
  • The Standard plan caps at 50 users, which is below the size at which service ownership becomes a real problem, so most genuine buyers land on Enterprise and its unpublished pricing
  • Scores are only as honest as the metadata teams maintain; where ownership records go stale the rubric produces confident numbers about a catalogue that no longer reflects reality, and leadership acts on them
  • It reports on quality rather than producing it, so it can generate friction between platform teams who set the rubric and product teams who see it as a scoreboard imposed on them without extra headcount to fix the findings
  • As a hosted product it needs read access to source control, cloud accounts and observability tooling, which is a meaningful vendor review in regulated environments; on-premises exists but only on the Enterprise tier

Pricing, plan by plan

Hive

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

OpsLevel

On request
  • StandardOn request
    • Up to 50 users
    • Unlimited catalogued components
    • Scorecards, campaigns and the global rubric
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom integrations
    • Customisable dashboards

Which should you pick?

Choose Hive if

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

Choose OpsLevel if

  • You need service catalogue.
  • You also want scorecards and rubric.
OpsLevel review

Questions people ask

Is Hive or OpsLevel better?
Neither clearly leads. Hive starts at Free and OpsLevel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hive or OpsLevel?
Hive has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hive and On request for OpsLevel.
Does Hive or OpsLevel run on more platforms?
Hive runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS. OpsLevel runs on Web.
Can I use Hive for free?
Yes. Hive has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpsLevel starts at On request.
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 OpsLevel is typically brought in for.
What can Hive do that OpsLevel cannot?
Hive covers Tasks, Gantt view, Kanban, Time tracking. OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, Scorecards and rubric, Checks, Campaigns.

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
OpsLevel: How much does OpsLevel cost?

It does not publish pricing. Billing is per developer using the portal, with volume discounts, and a quote requires a sales conversation.

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
OpsLevel: How does it compare with Backstage?

Backstage has no licence fee but you staff a team to build and run it. OpsLevel is hosted with checks, campaigns and scorecards out of the box, and you pay per developer instead.

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
OpsLevel: Does it require writing catalogue YAML by hand?

No. It auto-discovers and enriches entries from connected systems, though teams still curate ownership and metadata.

OpsLevel: Can it run on premises?

Yes, but only on the Enterprise plan.

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