Hiver
Lark
| Feature | Hiver | Lark |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $19/mo | Free / from $12/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | small-teams, gmail-users, support-teams, startups | startups, asian-market-teams, small-businesses, cross-functional-teams |
| Founded | 2011 | 2019 |
| Shared Inboxes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Assignment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Collision Detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sla Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Messaging | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Conferencing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Documents | ✗ | ✓ |
| Spreadsheets | ✗ | ✓ |
| Project Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Approval Workflows | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Hiver Pros
- Works inside Gmail
- Easy adoption
- Shared inboxes
- Good for email teams
✗ Hiver Cons
- Gmail-only
- Limited outside email
- Fewer features than full helpdesks
✓ Lark Pros
- All-in-one suite (chat, docs, video, tasks)
- Very generous free tier
- Fast and responsive
- Built-in approval workflows
✗ Lark Cons
- ByteDance ownership raises data concerns
- Less popular in Western markets
- Some features feel overwhelming
The Verdict
Hiver is built for small teams and gmail users, with a focus on shared-inboxes and email-assignment. Lark targets startups and asian market teams and leads with messaging and video-conferencing.
On pricing, Lark is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $12/mo compared to $19/mo for Hiver. That $7/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for startups — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.