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Flat pricing · No per-agent cost

The Hiver alternative that resolves email, not just shares the inbox

Hiver is a help desk built to run inside Gmail, a good fit for teams that live in a shared Gmail inbox and want assignments, notes and SLAs without leaving it. It is a per-user tool, so the bill follows headcount. Bund AI is the alternative if you want an AI agent to answer and complete email and chat conversations itself, with team seats included in one flat price.

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Written by the Bund AI team · Updated September 23, 2026

Why switch at all

What teams run into with Hiver

01

Per-user pricing

Hiver charges per user per month, so every teammate who touches support adds to the bill, whether or not volume grew.

02

Built around a human working the inbox

Hiver makes a shared inbox easier to run: assignment, collision detection, notes. The replies still come from a person unless you use its AI features.

03

Tied to the Gmail workflow

Living inside Gmail is the point of Hiver and its limit. If you want an agent that answers on your website chat and email from one knowledge base, that is a different shape.

Side by side

Hiver and Bund AI

How each one charges and what it actually resolves versus routes.

Hiver

Priced per user per month
Built to run inside Gmail as a shared inbox
Assignment, notes and SLAs on top of email
Switching means exporting from a closed system

Bund AI

One flat monthly price per plan, team seats and AI replies included
AI answers from your content and completes the request itself
Web chat and email from one knowledge base, 40+ languages
Human handoff with the full thread attached
No voice, SMS, WhatsApp or social channels
Your options

Best Hiver alternatives & competitors

The Hiver competitors teams most often shortlist, and who each one suits. Full disclosure: we make Bund AI, so it's first. The rest are the tools that come up most in buyers' shortlists and AI answers.

  1. 01

    Bund AI · from $0.99 / month

    AI agent for web chat and email that answers from your own content and takes the action: refunds, order changes, tracking and bookings. Hands off to your team with context. Flat monthly plans with seats included.

  2. 02

    Front

    Shared inbox for teams collaborating on lots of email, priced per seat.

    Best for:
    Teams whose work is mostly collaboration on email threads.
    Watch out:
    Per-seat pricing, so it grows with headcount.
  3. 03

    Help Scout

    Simple email-first help desk with a free plan for small teams.

    Best for:
    Small teams that mostly answer email.
    Watch out:
    AI Answers is billed per resolution on top of per-user seats.
  4. 04

    Freshdesk

    Fuller ticketing with SLAs and routing, priced per agent.

    Best for:
    Teams that need SLAs and a customer portal.
    Watch out:
    Freddy AI is metered on top of seats.
  5. 05

    Zoho Desk

    Low-cost help desk with a free plan for 3 users.

    Best for:
    Budget-conscious teams, especially inside the Zoho suite.
    Watch out:
    The interface and setup feel heavier than a simple shared inbox.
In practice

A resolved conversation, not just an assigned ticket

The agent answers the request from your own content, takes the action behind it, and leaves your team a full history if a person needs to step in.

A resolved conversation in the Bund AI dashboard, with the transcript, the actions taken, and an AI summary.
Honestly

When you should stay with Hiver

Bund AI isn't the better choice for every case. Here's when we'd tell you not to switch:

Your team works in Gmail all day and wants support to stay there.
You mainly need a collaborative shared inbox, not an AI that resolves requests.
You need SLAs and assignment workflows as the core of your process.
You'd rather stay with a tool your team already knows than switch at all.
FAQ

Questions people ask

How much does Hiver cost?
Hiver prices per user per month, with tiers by feature set. We could not open Hiver's pricing page when we checked in October 2026, so we are not quoting a number here rather than risk a stale one. Check hiverhq.com/pricing for the current per-user prices and any minimum seat count.
How would Bund AI's price compare?
Bund AI has no per-user fee: Starter is $49 a month for 3 team seats and 1,000 AI replies and Growth is $99 a month for 10 team seats and 5,000 AI replies. Multiply Hiver's current per-user price by your team size to compare it with those flat plans. If your team is two or three people on a shared Gmail inbox, the two can land close together; the difference is that Bund AI's price includes the AI agent answering on your behalf.
Does Bund AI work inside Gmail?
No. Bund AI is its own hosted inbox and widget, not a Gmail add-on. If your team wants to keep working inside Gmail, Hiver is the closer fit.
What counts as an AI reply on Bund AI's plans?
Every message the agent sends a customer, on web chat or email, counts once. Messages your team sends don't count. A conversation often takes two or three AI replies, so 1,000 replies covers a few hundred AI-handled conversations. Plans are billed per calendar month, and you can change plans from your dashboard as volume changes.
Is there a contract, and how do I cancel?
No long contract. Billing runs through Stripe, and you cancel from your dashboard at any time; your plan stays active until the end of the billing period you've paid for.
Can I bring my existing data over?
Yes. You import your knowledge as help articles, documents, or PDFs, and export existing tickets from your current provider to import into Bund AI. Nothing is stored in a proprietary format that makes a future switch harder.
What happens to my data?
Bund AI runs on our infrastructure, and conversation history and customer data live in your account there. For AI answers, that request is sent to a language model provider under contract; you can export your data at any time.

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Related

Keep comparing

Best Front alternativesBest Help Scout alternativesBest Freshdesk alternativesBest Zoho Desk alternatives

Compare it yourself.

Start on the Basic plan for $0.99 a month, or book a demo to see the agent on your own conversations first.

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