Migrating off Hivebrite is one of the most consequential infrastructure decisions a community organisation can make. Get it right, and you end up with a platform you own permanently, no more annual fees, no feature constraints, full data sovereignty. Get it wrong, and you lose member engagement, trust, and data integrity in the process.
This guide is written for organisations that have already decided to migrate, or are seriously considering it. We cover the full 24-week process across six phases: data export, requirements definition, architecture and design, build and migration, parallel running, and cancellation.
Before you start: three things to know
1. Migration is not a lift-and-shift. You are not replicating your Hivebrite community in a new container. You're redesigning your community's digital home from scratch, with your Hivebrite data as the foundation. This distinction matters, it changes how you approach requirements, design, and member communication.
2. Your contract controls your timeline. Most Hivebrite enterprise contracts require 30–90 days written notice to cancel. Check your current contract before setting any migration dates. Budget for 1–3 months of platform overlap costs during the parallel running period.
3. Member communication is as important as technical execution. The organisations that migrate successfully treat member communication as a first-class project, not an afterthought. Members who understand why the platform is changing, and who feel the transition is an upgrade, show up more engaged on the new platform, not less.
The 6-phase migration process
Audit and export your current data
- Export full member directory (all profile fields, custom attributes, membership tiers)
- Export event history, past events, attendance records, registrations
- Export content library, documents, resources, media files
- Export communication history where possible
- Document all active integrations (CRM, email marketing, payment systems)
- Identify which members are actively engaged vs dormant
Note: Hivebrite provides CSV exports for member data. Export everything now, even if you don't use it all. Data you don't export today may be harder to recover once you begin the transition.
Define your new platform requirements
- List every feature currently used in Hivebrite, honestly, not aspirationally
- Identify features you wish Hivebrite had but doesn't
- Map your community's engagement model: what do members actually do?
- Define admin workflows: who manages what, how often
- Specify mobile requirements: do your members primarily engage on phones?
- Identify integration requirements with your existing tech stack
Note: This phase is often where organisations realise they've been working around Hivebrite's limitations for years. A custom build is an opportunity to rebuild your engagement model, not just replicate the current one.
Architecture and design of the new platform
- Strategic architecture: information structure, user roles, content hierarchy
- UX design: full wireframes and flows for every member-facing screen
- Brand design: your visual identity applied natively across web and mobile
- Admin tooling design: dashboards, moderation, reporting
- Technical architecture: hosting infrastructure, database design, API design
- Mobile app design: iOS and Android with your branding, not a template
Note: This is where custom development separates from SaaS migration. You're not moving from one template to another, you're designing your community's digital home from first principles.
Build and data migration
- Full-stack web platform development
- Native iOS and Android app development
- Member data migration: import, clean, and validate all member records
- Content migration: move resources, documents, and media to new platform
- Integration development: CRM, payment, email systems connected to new platform
- Internal testing: thorough QA across all user flows and device types
Note: Data migration is not a simple CSV import. Member records need cleaning, de-duplication, and mapping to your new platform's data model. Plan for this to take 2–4 weeks of dedicated effort.
Parallel running and member onboarding
- Soft launch with your most engaged members (10–15% of community)
- Gather feedback and resolve any outstanding issues
- Prepare member communication, frame this as an upgrade, not a disruption
- Send phased invitations to migrate by member cohort or group
- Run old Hivebrite and new platform in parallel for 4–8 weeks
- Set a clear sunset date for the Hivebrite platform
Note: The parallel running period is critical. It gives members time to acclimate, surfaces any missing features before the hard cutover, and allows your team to resolve issues without the pressure of a single launch date.
Hivebrite cancellation and post-launch
- Final data export from Hivebrite (belt-and-suspenders backup)
- Notify Hivebrite of cancellation, honour any contractual notice period
- Archive Hivebrite account (don't immediately delete, keep it accessible for 60 days)
- Monitor new platform engagement metrics vs Hivebrite baseline
- Team training on platform admin and ongoing management
- Plan first post-launch community initiative to drive engagement
Note: Most Hivebrite contracts require 30–90 days notice for cancellation. Check your contract before setting your migration timeline. Budget for overlap costs during the parallel running period.
Common mistakes in Hivebrite migrations
Underestimating data quality work. Hivebrite exports are often messier than expected, duplicate records, incomplete profiles, inconsistent field formats. Budget 2–3 weeks specifically for data cleaning before any import to the new platform.
Hard cutover without parallel running. Turning off Hivebrite on launch day of the new platform is the most common cause of member churn during migrations. Always run both platforms in parallel for at least 4 weeks.
Replicating Hivebrite's limitations in the new design. A custom build is an opportunity to fix what wasn't working in Hivebrite, not just replicate it in a different container. Spend meaningful time in Phase 2 challenging your current engagement model.
Treating migration as a technical project, not a community project. The technical work is the smaller half of a successful migration. Framing, communication, and member experience during the transition are what determine whether engagement goes up or down after launch.
What does a successful migration look like?
Organisations that execute this process well consistently see:
- Member engagement increases within 60–90 days of launch, driven by a better UX, native mobile apps, and a platform that feels like it was built for them
- Admin workload reduction, custom platforms are built around your team's actual workflows, not a generic admin template
- Zero ongoing platform fees after the build is complete, recapturing $25,000–$50,000/year
- Full data ownership from day one, no vendor dependency, no exposure to pricing changes or platform risk
Migration is a significant undertaking. But for organisations that have outgrown Hivebrite, and the recurring economics of paying $25,000–$50,000/year for infrastructure they'll never own, it's one of the highest-leverage decisions available.