Hivebrite is one of the most commonly evaluated community platforms for alumni networks, nonprofits, and professional associations. It's also one of the most opaque on pricing. Enterprise customers negotiate directly with sales, which means two organisations with similar-sized communities may be paying meaningfully different amounts for comparable configurations.
This guide draws on publicly available information, community practitioner reports, and our experience working with organisations that have migrated from Hivebrite, to give the most accurate picture of what Hivebrite actually costs at different scales.
Hivebrite's pricing structure
Hivebrite uses a tiered annual subscription model. Pricing is not published on their website for anything above the entry-level plan. Based on market data, the tiers break down approximately as follows.
Starter / Growth
Up to 5,000 members
Included
- Member directory
- Basic events
- Email communication tools
- Standard analytics
- Community feed
Not included
- Custom mobile apps
- Advanced analytics
- API access
- Custom integrations
- SLA support
Professional
Up to 15,000 members
Included
- Everything in Starter
- Sub-communities and groups
- Event ticketing
- Job board
- Basic API access
Not included
- Native branded mobile apps
- Custom engagement scoring
- Full data portability
- Unlimited integrations
Enterprise
Unlimited (negotiated)
Included
- Everything in Professional
- SSO / SAML
- Dedicated support
- SLA agreement
- Enhanced analytics
Not included
- Platform ownership
- Custom feature development
- Full infrastructure control
- Branded native apps
Hidden costs most organisations discover after signing
The annual licence fee is not the full picture. Organisations that have worked through Hivebrite implementations consistently report additional costs that weren't visible at the point of purchase.
Implementation and onboarding fees
Hivebrite charges setup fees separate from the annual licence. Enterprise implementations typically run $5,000–$20,000 depending on the complexity of your data migration and configuration requirements.
Per-module add-ons
Features like the job board, advanced event ticketing, e-commerce, and certain analytics modules are priced as add-ons outside the base subscription. Organisations that budget based on the headline price frequently discover the real cost is 20–40% higher once they add the features they actually need.
Annual price escalation
Hivebrite contracts typically include annual price escalation clauses of 3–7%. An organisation paying $30,000/year in Year 1 may be paying $38,000–$42,000 by Year 5 without adding any new features or members.
Overage fees for member growth
Member tiers are enforced. If your community grows past the contracted limit, Hivebrite charges overage fees or requires you to upgrade to the next tier. For fast-growing communities, this creates unpredictable annual costs.
Migration costs on exit
When you eventually leave Hivebrite, exporting and cleaning your data requires significant effort. Most organisations spend 4–8 weeks of staff time on data extraction and preparation, which is a cost that doesn't appear in any Hivebrite invoice.
The 10-year Hivebrite cost model
The most important number in any platform evaluation isn't the annual fee. It's the total cost of ownership over the expected lifetime of the platform.
For a mid-market Hivebrite customer paying $30,000/year with 3% annual price escalation:
- Year 1: $30,000
- Year 3: $31,800
- Year 5: $33,700
- Year 10: $39,100
- 10-year total: approximately $340,000
At the end of year 10, the organisation owns nothing. No platform equity. No data infrastructure. No ability to take their community elsewhere without starting from scratch.
For an enterprise Hivebrite customer paying $50,000/year:
- 10-year total: $550,000–$650,000+ (with escalation and add-ons)
When does Hivebrite's cost make custom ownership worth considering?
The break-even point depends on the size of the custom build and the Hivebrite contract value. Based on the organisations we work with:
If you're paying $25,000–$35,000/year to Hivebrite, the break-even point on a custom build starting from $200,000 is approximately 6–8 years. Given most organisations run community platforms for 10–20 years, the economics of ownership are compelling beyond year 8.
If you're paying $40,000–$60,000/year to Hivebrite, the break-even point on a custom platform drops to 4–5 years. After that, every year of ownership recaptures $40,000–$60,000 in avoided fees.
The financial case is strongest for organisations that:
- Have a long time horizon (10+ years of planned platform operation)
- Are at or approaching Hivebrite's enterprise pricing tier
- Are running into feature constraints that require expensive workarounds
- Need native mobile apps that Hivebrite can't provide under their brand
What you get with a custom build that Hivebrite cannot offer at any price
There are things Hivebrite fundamentally cannot provide at any price point, because they're structural limitations of a SaaS product rather than pricing tiers:
Truly native mobile apps. Hivebrite's mobile experience is a white-label wrapper. Your members download an app that carries Hivebrite's infrastructure, not a native app built specifically for your organisation under your brand in the App Store.
Custom engagement architectures. Hivebrite's engagement model is the same for every customer. A custom platform can be built around how your specific community actually behaves, with unique onboarding flows, engagement triggers, and leadership visibility tools.
Data sovereignty. Your member data lives on Hivebrite's servers. With a custom platform, your data lives on infrastructure you control, under policies you define, with no dependency on Hivebrite's security posture or data handling decisions.