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Comparison · PM

Flowable vs Hive

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Flowable and Hive — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Flowable vs Hive: at a glance

FeatureFlowableHive
SectorPMCollab, PM
Velocity score0.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesbpmn-cmmn, spring-boot-upgrades, breaking-changes, engine-only-scopeproject management, creative proofing, mcp, workflows
Last editorial update3mo ago1d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Flowable?

Flowable ships once a year and spends it on the Java platform, not on the process engine.

Flowable's release history is a slow major-version cadence — 7.0.0 in 2023, 7.1.0 in 2024, 7.2.0 in 2025, 8.0.0 in February 2026 — and each major is anchored to a Java-ecosystem jump rather than to process modelling itself. Flowable 8 moves to Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4, makes Jackson 3 the default, and removes JUnit 3 and JUnit 4 support outright. The engine-level additions that do arrive, like lambda expressions in expressions, are incremental extensions to BPMN and CMMN semantics.

Read the full Flowable trajectory →

What is Hive?

Hive opens Custom Apps to agents through MCP and starts courting Wrike teams with an importer.

Hive is a project management suite with a creative-proofing layer and Buzz, its AI assistant. Over two days it shipped more than ten updates: MCP tools for sharing Custom Apps and uploading files, Proofing comment categories, form submissions as action dependencies, a guided Wrike importer and Buzz workflow drafts that resume where they stopped. The mix favours workflow depth over a single headline feature.

Read the full Hive trajectory →

Flowable vs Hive: editorial side-by-side

F0.0

Flowable ships once a year and spends it on the Java platform, not on the process engine.

◆ Current state

Flowable's release history is a slow major-version cadence — 7.0.0 in 2023, 7.1.0 in 2024, 7.2.0 in 2025, 8.0.0 in February 2026 — and each major is anchored to a Java-ecosystem jump rather than to process modelling itself. Flowable 8 moves to Spring Framework 7 and Spring Boot 4, makes Jackson 3 the default, and removes JUnit 3 and JUnit 4 support outright. The engine-level additions that do arrive, like lambda expressions in expressions, are incremental extensions to BPMN and CMMN semantics.

◆ Where it's heading

This is a project whose roadmap is largely set by the platform underneath it. Each major forces a coordinated upgrade on adopters — Java 17 and Jakarta 9 at 7.0.0, Spring Boot 4 and Jackson 3 at 8.0.0 — and in exchange delivers query, variable and migration refinements aimed at large existing deployments. The 7.0.0 decision to drop the UI applications and the content, form and Mule modules set the pattern: narrow to the engines and the REST APIs, and let everything else go.

◆ Prediction

Expect the next major to track the following Spring and Java LTS jump on roughly the same annual rhythm. Nothing in these entries points to an AI or agent-facing direction, so any such move would be a genuine departure rather than a continuation.

Hive logo
Hive
COLLABPM
6.3

Hive opens Custom Apps to agents through MCP and starts courting Wrike teams with an importer.

◆ Current state

Hive is a project management suite with a creative-proofing layer and Buzz, its AI assistant. Over two days it shipped more than ten updates: MCP tools for sharing Custom Apps and uploading files, Proofing comment categories, form submissions as action dependencies, a guided Wrike importer and Buzz workflow drafts that resume where they stopped. The mix favours workflow depth over a single headline feature.

◆ Where it's heading

MCP is moving from reading tasks to managing assets: agents can now upload to the File Library and set app sharing without opening the web interface. Proofing keeps maturing for high-volume review, and workflows are gaining sturdier authoring and dependency logic. The Wrike importer adds a migration path alongside that product work.

◆ Prediction

Expect more write actions through Hive MCP, and more guided importers if the Wrike path follows the same read-only OAuth pattern.

Flowable alternatives

Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial trajectory or compare directly with Flowable.

See all Flowable alternatives →

Hive alternatives

Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial trajectory or compare directly with Hive.

See all Hive alternatives →

Recent activity from Flowable and Hive

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2d agoHiveOrganize Proofing comments with categories
  2. 2d agoHiveTurn form submissions into action dependencies
  3. 2d agoHiveShare Custom Apps and upload files through Hive MCP
  4. 3d agoHiveNew Show custom fields only when they’re relevant
  5. 3d agoHiveNew Choose human or AI comments when exporting proofs
  6. 3d agoHiveImport Wrike projects into Hive
  7. 8mo agoFlowableSpring Boot 4 and Jackson 3 required; JUnit 4 support removed ⚡
  8. 1y agoFlowableAsync variables, skip expressions and broader query filters
  9. 2y agoFlowableLiquibase dropped from App, CMMN, DMN and event registry engines
  10. 2y agoFlowableBug-fix release adding async leave and LocalDate timers
  11. 2y agoFlowableSpring Boot 3.1.6 support and dynamic event subscriptions
  12. 3y agoFlowableJava 17 rebase; UI apps, content and form engines removed ⚡

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Flowable and Hive?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Hive is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Flowable better than Hive?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Hive is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Flowable?

Top Flowable alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Flowable alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/flowable for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Hive?

Top Hive alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Hive alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hive for the full list with editorial commentary on each.