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Customer Support · head to head

Hiver vs Telesign

Hiver logo

Hiver

Customer Support

Gmail-based help desk

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Telesign logo

Telesign

Telecommunications

Phone number verification and fraud scoring rather than general purpose messaging

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Hiver has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Hiver hiver tiers as captured 28 December 2023: Lite at $15/user/month capped at 2 shared inboxes (up to 10 users each), Pro at $39/user/month capped at 5 shared inboxes and 50 shared labels, Elite at $59/user/month, all annual pricing with higher month-to-month rates of $19/$49/$69; Telesign risk scoring is probabilistic, so tuning thresholds trades fraud caught against genuine users blocked, and somebody has to own that trade-off continuously.
  • They diverge on capability: Hiver covers Shared inbox, Telesign covers Phone number verification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hiver and Telesign actually diverge.

Attributes where Hiver and Telesign differ
AttributeHiverTelesign
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer message and per verification, priced by destination country
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Chrome-extensionWeb, APIs, Java, Python, JavaScript, PHP, C#
CategoryCustomer SupportTelecommunications
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Hiver

  • Shared inbox
  • Email assignment
  • Collision detection
  • Email notes
  • Templates
  • Analytics
  • Gmail
  • Google Workspace

Only in Telesign

  • Phone number verification
  • Phone number intelligence
  • Risk scoring
  • Published SMS rate card
  • Delivery routing

What people use each for

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

Hiver

  • Shared inbox managementnot Telesign
  • Customer support via Gmailnot Telesign
  • Team email collaborationnot Telesign

Telesign

  • Consumer platforms blocking fake account creation at signupnot Hiver
  • Fintechs and marketplaces checking SIM swap history before a high value actionnot Hiver
  • Businesses suffering promotion and free trial abuse from disposable numbersnot Hiver
  • Products needing passcode delivery optimised for completion rather than lowest costnot Hiver

Where each one falls short

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

Hiver

  • Hiver tiers as captured 28 December 2023: Lite at $15/user/month capped at 2 shared inboxes (up to 10 users each), Pro at $39/user/month capped at 5 shared inboxes and 50 shared labels, Elite at $59/user/month, all annual pricing with higher month-to-month rates of $19/$49/$69

Telesign

  • Risk scoring is probabilistic, so tuning thresholds trades fraud caught against genuine users blocked, and somebody has to own that trade-off continuously.
  • No voice pricing is published at all: every one of the 233 destinations in its public rate card lists voice as quote only, so voice cost cannot be modelled in advance.
  • It is a verification and risk product, so a business that also needs general purpose messaging will run a second vendor for that traffic.
  • Number intelligence quality varies by country because it depends on operator data availability, and coverage in some markets is thinner than the global claim implies.
  • The underlying carrier assets belong to its sibling companies rather than to Telesign, so network questions route back to a parent whose principal business is not developer APIs.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hiver

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2 users
    • Email management
    • Basic analytics
  • Lite$19/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Email templates
    • Notes & @mentions
  • Pro$49/month
    • CSAT surveys
    • SLA management
    • Custom reports
  • Elite$69/month
    • Round-robin
    • Skill-based routing
    • Okta SSO

Telesign

On request
  • Telesign$undefined/month
    • SMS prices published for 233 destination countries
    • Every voice destination listed as quote only
    • Enterprise agreements normally tied to volume commitments

Which should you pick?

Choose Hiver if

  • You need shared inbox.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome-extension.
  • You also want email assignment.
Hiver review

Choose Telesign if

  • You need phone number verification.
  • You work on Web, APIs, Java, Python, JavaScript, PHP, C#.
  • You also want phone number intelligence.
Telesign review

Questions people ask

Is Hiver or Telesign better?
Neither clearly leads. Hiver starts at Free and Telesign at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hiver or Telesign?
Hiver has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Hiver and On request for Telesign.
Does Hiver or Telesign run on more platforms?
Hiver runs on Web, Chrome-extension. Telesign runs on Web, APIs, Java, Python, JavaScript, PHP, C#.
Can I use Hiver for free?
Yes. Hiver has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Telesign starts at On request.
What is Hiver best used for?
Hiver is most often used for shared inbox management, customer support via gmail, team email collaboration. Of those, shared inbox management and customer support via gmail are not what Telesign is typically brought in for.
What can Hiver do that Telesign cannot?
Hiver covers Shared inbox, Email assignment, Collision detection, Email notes. Telesign covers Phone number verification, Phone number intelligence, Risk scoring, Published SMS rate card.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Telesign: Who owns Telesign?

Proximus, the Belgian telecommunications operator. It acquired Telesign in 2017 through its subsidiary BICS and has owned it outright since February 2021. Telesign now sits in Proximus Global alongside BICS and Route Mobile.

Telesign: Did Telesign go public?

No. A merger with the North Atlantic Acquisition Corporation special purpose vehicle was announced in December 2021 at around 1.3 billion dollars and terminated on 1 July 2022, so it remained within Proximus.

Telesign: Is Telesign a cheaper way to send one-time passcodes?

No, and that is not its purpose. It routes for verification completion and adds a risk judgement about the number. If you only need cheap message delivery, compare rate card vendors instead.

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