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Project Management · head to head

Hive vs Tilt

Hive logo

Hive

Project Management

Project management built for speed

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit HiveFull review
Tilt logo

Tilt

Developer Tools

Local Kubernetes development loop that rebuilds and live-updates containers on save

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit TiltFull review

The short version

  • Hive is a productivity platform.
  • Tilt is free; Hive starts at $5/mo.
  • Only Hive lists gantt view; only Tilt lists live update.
  • 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 Tilt actually diverge.

Attributes where Hive and Tilt differ
AttributeHiveTilt
Pricing modelFreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Windows, macOSLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryProject ManagementDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: founded for Tilt.

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 Tilt

  • Live update
  • Tiltfile as code
  • Unified web UI
  • Selective rebuilds
  • Local and remote clusters
  • Resource dependencies
  • Extensions registry
  • Custom buttons and triggers

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 Tilt
  • Coordinating work, proofing and resourcing for teamsnot Tilt

Tilt

  • A team of ten or more engineers whose application is fifteen microservices on Kubernetes and who currently wait on CI to test a changenot Hive
  • An organisation onboarding new developers who want a single command that stands up the whole stack from a committed Tiltfilenot Hive
  • A platform team giving product engineers a consistent local environment against a shared remote development clusternot Hive
  • A codebase where one repository contains several services and rebuilding all of them on every edit is the main source of lost timenot 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

Tilt

  • Docker acquired Tilt in 2022 and the team now splits its time across Compose and Docker Desktop, so feature velocity is modest and the product's long-term priority inside Docker is not guaranteed; treat it as a stable utility, not a growing platform
  • The Tiltfile is Starlark, a Python dialect, so non-trivial setups become real programs that need reviewing and maintaining, and the person who wrote yours becomes a single point of failure
  • Live update only works when the running container can accept synced files and restart the process; compiled languages, distroless images and read-only filesystems often force you back to a full image rebuild, which removes the main benefit
  • It assumes Kubernetes. If your development target is plain Docker Compose or serverless functions, Tilt adds a cluster you did not need and a layer of abstraction with no payoff
  • There is no commercial support contract, no SLA and no paid tier, so when a Kubernetes version upgrade breaks something you are dependent on GitHub issues and a Slack channel rather than a vendor you can escalate to

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

Tilt

Free
  • TiltFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed
    • All features, no paid tier
    • Community support via the Kubernetes Slack #tilt channel

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 Tilt if

  • You need live update.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want tiltfile as code.
Tilt review

Questions people ask

Is Hive or Tilt better?
Neither clearly leads. Hive starts at Free and Tilt at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hive or Tilt?
Hive starts at Free and Tilt at Free.
Does Hive or Tilt run on more platforms?
Hive runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS. Tilt runs on Linux, 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 Tilt is typically brought in for.
What can Hive do that Tilt cannot?
Hive covers Tasks, Gantt view, Kanban, Time tracking. Tilt covers Live update, Tiltfile as code, Unified web UI, Selective rebuilds.

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
Tilt: Is Tilt free?

Yes, entirely. It is Apache 2.0 open source with no paid tier and no licence fee.

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
Tilt: Who owns Tilt now?

Docker, which acquired it in May 2022. It remains open source and the repository is still actively maintained.

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
Tilt: Do I need a remote cluster?

No. It works against a local cluster such as kind, minikube or Docker Desktop, and also against a shared remote development cluster if your services are too heavy to run locally.

Tilt: How is it different from Skaffold?

Both automate the build-deploy loop. Tilt puts more weight on the live-update path and a multi-service dashboard; Skaffold is more configuration-driven and closer to Google's tooling.

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