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Looking for an alternative to IdeaScale? IdeaScale is hard to beat, and many organisations switch because they need higher customization, better user experience, or lower cost. We compare Hives.co, a Scandinavian idea management platform, with IdeaScale to help you choose right.
What is IdeaScale?
IdeaScale is a California-based idea management platform founded in 2007. Their core model is community voting: employees and community members submit ideas, and other community members vote on them. IdeaScale focuses on creating "crowdsourced" innovation communities and is often used by tech, media, and government organisations that want to engage external communities (not just employees). It's especially popular for urban planning, public consultation, and large-scale idea sprints.
What is Hives.co?
Hives.co is a Scandinavian idea management platform focused on employee innovation. It offers structured evaluation workflows, custom scoring criteria, automation, and innovation intelligence through integrations with external tools. Customers include Halfords and VINCI Energies. Hives.co is specifically designed for organisations that want to go beyond voting and use objective, weighted criteria to evaluate ideas.
IdeaScale vs Hives.co: key differences
| Dimension | IdeaScale | Hives.co |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Community voting and community engagement | Structured employee idea management and evaluation |
| Target | External communities, competitions, massive beta feedback | Employees and frontline workers in organisations |
| Evaluation approach | Voting, simple evaluation, massive participation | Custom scoring, weighted conclusions, multi-stage review |
| Pricing | Usually more expensive, varies widely | €695-€1,995/month (published pricing) |
| Customization depth | High | High |
Where Hives.co is a better fit
- You're focused on employee ideas, not external communities. IdeaScale is built for community voting. If you just want idea management for employees, Hives.co takes a simpler path.
- You need clear evaluation, not just popularity. Voting can create popularity contest bias. Hives.co offers structured scoring criteria so good ideas don't get lost when they're not "cool" or trendy. Read about evaluation methods for ideas to get a deeper understanding.
- You need transparent pricing. Hives.co publishes its pricing openly. IdeaScale usually requires custom quotes, making it hard to compare costs.
- You want to save money. Hives.co is usually cheaper for employee idea management than IdeaScale.
- You have frontline workers. Hives.co offers QR codes, SMS, and offline mode that reach workers without web access. These features are great for manufacturing or logistics organisations.
Where IdeaScale might still be best
- You need external communities or opinion gathering. If you want to engage customers, partners, or external fans to hear ideas, IdeaScale is built for this. Hives.co is for employees.
- You're running a competition or campaign. IdeaScale is often used for innovation competitions and idea sprints, with mechanisms for winner-based engagement.
- You're already familiar with IdeaScale's customizations. If you already have large investments in IdeaScale and custom workflows, switching might be expensive.
- You need support for massive scale. IdeaScale can handle campaigns with hundreds of thousands of participants. It's built for that. Hives.co is better for thousands to tens of thousands.
For a deeper comparison of all leading idea management platforms, see our guide to the 10 best idea management software tools in 2026.
Want to see how Hives.co works? Book a 20-minute demo to see the system in action.
Common questions about switching from IdeaScale
How difficult is it to migrate from IdeaScale to a new system?
It depends on how much data you have and how many custom workflows IdeaScale has for your organisation. For basic migrations (names, contributions, feedback), most modern platforms can import data fairly smoothly. Custom workflows often need to be reconfigured manually.
What happens to my existing IdeaScale campaigns if I switch?
They stay in IdeaScale. You can keep both platforms during a transition period, or archive old campaigns and start fresh on the new platform. It's entirely your choice.
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