Hive

Hive keeps results confidential and now belongs to WorkBuzz

How Hive keeps answers confidential

Hive’s case rests on reporting groups, not people. Four rules hold that line, and each one limits who can see what.

Hive is built around UK organisations

Hive is built around UK organisations. Under Hive’s website terms, the site and its services are directed to people residing in the United Kingdom. Hive sells through the UK G-Cloud framework. Over 500,000 employees use Hive, and its customers range from 1 to 50 employees up to 10,000 or more. Each result below is the customer’s own report.

Where Hive’s documents leave questions open

Most of Hive’s limits come from change and from its own documents. Ownership changed in October 2026. Its pages give different answers on where data sits. Its AI and benchmark features depend on volume and on Hive’s own customer base.

Price, contract terms and leaving Hive

Hive’s website gives no price figure, but its January 2026 G-Cloud 15 price list does. Hive’s documents disagree on contract length, uptime and data use, so read the numbers with the terms beside them.

The Employee Survey Service has seven base annual fees of £2,440, £5,460, £15,520, £22,605, £36,915, £46,365 and £110,155. For 3,200 employees the base annual fee is £22,605, which includes 2,000 employees. It adds £4.49 for each of 1,200 additional employees. The same list prices an Employee Voice Service, with seven base annual fees from £2,690 to £145,755. For 3,200 employees its base annual fee is £29,300, which includes 2,000 employees. It adds £5.99 for each of 1,200 additional employees. All prices exclude VAT.

Some costs sit outside the base fee. SMS survey prompts cost £0.12 each. Translation costs an annual £600 for English plus one other supported language. English plus all other supported languages costs an annual £4,500. Manual data uploads cost an annual £2,500, applied if integration is removed, with up to four uploads a year. Professional Services cost £1,500 a day, Operational Support £700 a day and Data Analysis £900 a day. Not-for-profits get 25% off.

Hive’s pricing page includes implementation, onboarding and training, and says extra bespoke support may cost extra. Its 2024 G-Cloud 14 price list charged a one-off onboarding fee in year 1. It was £750 for up to 250 employees, £1,000 for 500 to 2,000 and £1,250 from 5,000.

Contract length differs between documents. Hive’s G-Cloud 14 listing puts typical subscriptions at a 24 month initial term that renews. Its 2024 price list gave annual prices for a three year contract. Its January 2026 price list gives annual prices for a one year contract. It notes that prices may reduce for longer terms.

The 2024 G-Cloud 14 terms set the renewal rules. The contract auto-renews, and either party can end it at the end of a term on 90 days notice. Fees rise each anniversary by up to the Retail Price Index plus two per cent. At renewal, Hive can give 90 days notice of a bigger increase. The customer can then terminate on 60 days notice. Ask whether the 2026 terms change any of this.

Uptime promises differ too. Under the 2024 terms, Hive commits to reasonable endeavours for 99.5% monthly uptime. The customer’s only remedy for downtime is a “Service Credit” of 5% or 15%. Hive’s G-Cloud 15 listing commits its standard service level to 99.9% monthly uptime. This excludes planned maintenance windows that are communicated in advance. The 2026 terms cap Hive’s contractual liability at 100% of fees paid in the 12 months before the claim arose.

Both sets of terms give Hive a licence to use User Data for any purpose. The licence is non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free and worldwide. It lets Hive make money from the data and license it to others. The data must be cleaned so that individuals and the customer cannot be identified. Hive’s privacy notice adds that Hive keeps anonymised data indefinitely for research and statistics.

On leaving, the 2024 terms have Hive make User Data available for migration. Hive may erase it after 30 days. Hive’s privacy notice puts deletion of identifying information within 28 days after the contract ends. The 2024 listing adds a password-protected full data export on request. It also lets admins export survey responses, recognitions, suggestions and users as CSV. The G-Cloud 15 listing has Hive’s data team provide the data collected at the end of the contract, anonymised. It adds that an admin can export all data with the Export Users button. That export is user data, not survey data.

Questions to put to Hive before you sign

1. Which contract length does my quote assume, one year, 24 months or three years? Good answer: One length, written in the order form, with the price for that length.
2. Do the 2024 G-Cloud 14 terms or the 2026 G-Cloud 15 terms apply to my contract? Good answer: The 2026 terms, named in the order form, with notice, renewal rise and data licence in writing.
3. Where do survey answers, backups and AI processing sit? Good answer: A named country for each one, including the email and sentiment providers in the USA.
4. Which WorkBuzz changes will reach my account, and when? Good answer: A dated list, and a written promise of notice before any change to price, terms or data handling.
5. Can the licence over your cleaned User Data be narrowed in my contract? Good answer: Yes, in the order form, with the cleaning standard written down.
6. What are the 5% and 15% “Service Credit” amounts measured against, and do the 2026 terms keep them? Good answer: A stated base for each percentage, written into the order form.
7. Is AI Powered Actions switched on for me, and how long are AI logs and suggestions kept? Good answer: A yes or no for my account, and a retention period in writing.
8. Does my order form carry an onboarding fee? Good answer: A stated fee, or a written statement that onboarding is included.
9. What do I receive when the contract ends? Good answer: My survey answers, not only my user list, in a stated file format and a stated time window.

Alternatives to Hive, including buying nothing

If Hive comes off your shortlist, look at WorkBuzz, Humaans and Eletive. Each one answers a place where Hive stops. Buying nothing is a fourth route.

Choose WorkBuzz if you want the owner’s tools now. Hive plans to bring WorkBuzz AI analysis, People Science and frontline reach to its customers over time. WorkBuzz sells them today. Its People Science AI analyses open-text feedback for themes, sentiment and patterns, and the Engage+ plan adds it. Surveys reach staff by QR code, personal link or kiosk with no login.

Choose Humaans if the location of AI processing matters to you. Hive’s privacy notice gives Google Natural Language for sentiment, with data location USA. Its help centre puts all AI processing within the Hive environment. Humaans processes personal data for its AI features in the EEA or Switzerland by default. US processing is available by agreement. Humaans is an HR system, and its engagement survey sits inside it.

Choose Eletive if response time during an outage matters most. Hive gives each support request type a response time of 1 to 10 working days. Eletive commits to 1 business hour for an Emergency incident. Its business hours are 8:00 to 17:00 CET, Monday through Friday.

Buying nothing means you give up Hive’s Open Door channel, where people speak up with their identity protected. You give up Hive Messenger too, where an admin chats with an employee behind a random alias. You would need to arrange that two-way route yourself.