Syncthing
Syncthing 2.1.7 hits a fourth release candidate as fixes move from protocol to sync logic.
Comparison · PM
Hive vs NotePlan
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Hive and NotePlan — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Hive vs NotePlan: at a glance
What is Hive?
Hive gives clients a passwordless portal for every proof waiting on them, across companies.
Hive keeps shipping weekly batches for professional-services and creative teams. The Oct 21 batch adds an External Review Portal where clients and vendors see every pending proof from every Hive company they work with, a Map widget that plots project and action locations next to people, personal per-assignee reminders in a unified Dates field, and collapsible media in chat. It follows Buzz as an AI approver and Forms launched from workflow buttons.
What is NotePlan?
NotePlan keeps opening its notebook to outside writers: plugins, MCP agents, now Apple Reminders.
Two product lines ship in parallel. Memo AI reaches 1.3 with redesigned summaries carrying richer formatting, speaker labels for conversations, iCloud sync across devices and font themes — the first release to make a recording's transcript legible as a conversation rather than a block of text. On the main app, 3.21.2 remains the most recent, adding a two-way Apple Reminders integration via @remind, Space backups with restore, and calendar boards grouped by time frame.
Hive vs NotePlan: editorial side-by-side
Hive
5.0COLLABPM
Hive gives clients a passwordless portal for every proof waiting on them, across companies.
◆ Current state
Hive keeps shipping weekly batches for professional-services and creative teams. The Oct 21 batch adds an External Review Portal where clients and vendors see every pending proof from every Hive company they work with, a Map widget that plots project and action locations next to people, personal per-assignee reminders in a unified Dates field, and collapsible media in chat. It follows Buzz as an AI approver and Forms launched from workflow buttons.
◆ Where it's heading
Proofing is turning into Hive's outward-facing surface: approvals already took an AI stage, and now external reviewers get their own login-light home, upload rights and a request-approval flow of their own. Inside the workspace, the work is about cutting per-person friction (own reminders, focused chat, location-aware dashboards) rather than adding new modules.
◆ Prediction
Expect the portal to pick up more reviewer-side actions, possibly Buzz review for externally uploaded files, since reviewers can now upload and request approval from their own teams; the entries don't show pricing or seat rules for external reviewers.
NotePlan
5.0PM
NotePlan keeps opening its notebook to outside writers: plugins, MCP agents, now Apple Reminders.
◆ Current state
Two product lines ship in parallel. Memo AI reaches 1.3 with redesigned summaries carrying richer formatting, speaker labels for conversations, iCloud sync across devices and font themes — the first release to make a recording's transcript legible as a conversation rather than a block of text. On the main app, 3.21.2 remains the most recent, adding a two-way Apple Reminders integration via @remind, Space backups with restore, and calendar boards grouped by time frame.
◆ Where it's heading
The through-line is turning NotePlan into a surface other software writes into rather than a closed notebook: plugins became installable and then opened to the community, the MCP server gave agents write access to notes and tasks, and Apple Reminders now writes back rather than only feeding in. Memo AI is following its own arc in parallel — first capture anywhere, via Watch and CarPlay, then capture efficiently, via the smaller audio format, and now capture legibly, via speaker labels and structured summaries. iCloud sync is the piece that makes the two lines share a device story.
◆ Prediction
Expect Memo AI's speaker labels to become something the main app can act on — assigning tasks by speaker is the obvious next step given the @remind work — and the Reminders integration to leave beta. The plugin and MCP surfaces are where third-party capability keeps arriving.
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.
Teable
Teable tries a chat-first workspace: the grid becomes one output of an AI conversation.
Elgg
Elgg ships paired 7.1.2 and 6.3.9 patches: both branches stay in maintenance mode.
SiYuan
SiYuan's second 3.8.9 alpha in a day adds TIFF previews and depth limits for automation.
GitHub
GitHub previews a package firewall that blocks malicious dependencies at install time.
Wiki.js
Wiki.js 3.0 beta adds live notes that can be published straight to pages.
NotePlan alternatives
Other PM products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial trajectory or compare directly with NotePlan.
NocoBase
NocoBase's 3.0 betas rebuild agent conversations, dropping old start and fallback APIs.
RentRedi
RentRedi adds dark mode to its web app after a month of features for landlords who work with staff.
Rize
Rize ships its biggest release: a redesign, a web app, and an AI agent that sits across every view.
Tracecat
Tracecat 1.2.1 patches regressions left by the two-day 1.2 sprint.
Camunda
Camunda's 8.10 patch line is fixing data-loss bugs; the rest of the feed is release plumbing.
Float
Float is moving from who's-free scheduling toward staffing on experience and pricing on rate cards.
Recent activity from Hive and NotePlan
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2d agoHiveReview proofs in the External Review Portal
- 2d agoHiveMap project and action locations alongside your team
- 2d agoHiveCollapse images, GIFs and link previews in chat
- 2d agoHiveSet your own reminder in the new Dates field
- 7d agoHiveNew Open prefilled Forms from action workflow buttons
- 7d agoHiveBuzz approver note reposted
- 2mo agoNotePlanv1.3 - Memo AI: Redesigned Summaries, Speaker Labels & iCloud Sync
- 2mo agoNotePlanv3.21.2 - Apple Reminders Integration with Two-Way Sync
- 4mo agoNotePlanv3.21.1 - Wiki Link Aliases, Rebuilt Share Extension & Better Claude/MCP Support
- 4mo agoNotePlanv1.2.1 - Memo AI: Faster Transcription, 10× Smaller Recordings & Watch/CarPlay Refinements
- 5mo agoNotePlanv1.2 - Memo AI: Apple Watch and CarPlay support added and more Shortcuts available
- 5mo agoNotePlanv3.21 - Community Plugins, CommandBar Forms, Kanban and Tables upgrades
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Hive and NotePlan?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Hive and NotePlan are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Hive better than NotePlan?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Hive and NotePlan are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other PM products to evaluate alongside.
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.
What are the best alternatives to NotePlan?
Top NotePlan alternatives in PM are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "NotePlan alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/noteplan for the full list with editorial commentary on each.