Move from Hiver to Solves without dropping a thread.
Hiver runs your shared inbox inside Gmail. Solves turns that same support address into owned tickets with replies, private notes, SLA timers and multi-brand, in one queue. There is no automatic Hiver importer yet, so we switch you across in a guided way: you forward your support address to Solves, we help you rebuild your saved replies, and new email starts arriving as tracked tickets straight away. Your Gmail mailbox stays exactly where it is.
Honest scope: no one-click Hiver import yet. We move you across by hand, with help.
There is no automatic Hiver import yet
Because Hiver sits inside Gmail rather than a separate helpdesk database, Solves cannot pull your Hiver tickets across with one click today. The switch is guided and partly by hand: you forward your support address to Solves, we help you rebuild saved replies, and new email lands as owned tickets. Carrying over historic conversations is planned with you by hand, not promised as a working transfer. We would rather say that plainly than sell you an importer that does not exist.
The honest version
What a move off Hiver really looks like
Hiver is a Gmail-based shared inbox: it adds assignment, notes and basic workflow on top of your existing Google Workspace mailbox. That design is its strength and the reason a clean export is awkward, because there is no separate ticket store to dump and reload. Solves does not pretend otherwise.
So the switch is built around your live mail flow, not a database transfer. You redirect your support address (such as support@ or help@) to Solves using forwarding-first mailbox setup, which is shipped and gated: live sending for that address stays blocked until the plain-English checks pass. From that moment, every new email becomes an owned ticket in Solves, with an owner, a state, a priority, tags, private notes and an SLA timer.
Your existing open Hiver threads do not vanish. They stay in Gmail, where you can finish replying to them while all new work begins in Solves. Once the last live conversation has wound down, you switch Hiver off. Saved replies are rebuilt as a human-assisted setup so the wording and tone carry over without copy-and-paste errors. If you genuinely need older threads inside Solves, we plan that by hand with you, and we tell you up front it is manual.
How the switch works
Four guided steps, no big-bang cutover
Create your organisation and brand
Set up your workspace and add a brand for each support identity. If you answer from more than one address, multi-brand keeps them in one queue with the right name and signature each.
Forward your support address
Point your Gmail or Google Workspace support address at Solves with forwarding-first mailbox setup. Run the plain-English checks; live sending stays gated until they pass, so deliverability is protected.
Rebuild saved replies, with help
We help you recreate your Hiver canned responses as Solves saved replies, scoped to a brand or shared across the organisation. This is a human-assisted setup, not a guessed import.
Work new tickets, wind down Hiver
New email arrives as owned tickets in one queue. Finish any open Hiver threads in Gmail, then switch Hiver off once nothing live is left there.
Why teams move
What you gain by switching, and what you give up
People usually leave a Gmail-based shared inbox for one of a few reasons: they have outgrown a single inbox, they now run more than one brand, or they have been bitten by an internal note nearly reaching a customer. Solves answers those directly.
Hard separation of replies and notes
In Solves a public reply and a private note are different objects, not two styles of the same message. A note can never be sent to a customer, light collaborators are limited to notes only, and a stale-reply guard stops you answering on top of something that has moved on. That structural separation is the single most common reason teams move off a shared inbox.
Multi-brand in one queue
If you support more than one address or identity, Solves runs them as brands in a single login: one unified queue with a brand badge per ticket, per-brand mailboxes and signatures, brand-scoped saved replies, and a guard that locks the composer to the ticket's brand so a reply cannot go out as the wrong one.
SLA timers and a breaching view
First-response and resolution timers run against per-brand or organisation targets, and a breaching view surfaces the tickets that are overdue or approaching breach. You see what needs attention before a customer chases.
What you give up
Solves is email-first. It does not run live chat, phone or social channels, and it does not work as a button inside the Gmail interface the way Hiver does. If living entirely within Gmail is what your team values most, that is a genuine reason to stay on Hiver. Solves asks you to work the queue in Solves while Gmail stays your underlying mail provider.
Honest comparison
Moving from Hiver to Solves at a glance
Where Solves helps a team leaving Hiver, and where Hiver remains the better fit. Competitor figures verified on the date shown.
| Solves | Hiver | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | A dedicated email helpdesk; Gmail stays your mail provider | Inside the Gmail or Google Workspace interface |
| Free option | Starter GBP 29, paid from the start (3 users, 1 brand, 1,000 tickets/mo) | Forever-free plan (shared inboxes, no card) |
| Automatic import from the other tool | Not yet; guided, partly by-hand switch | Not applicable |
| Replies vs internal notes | Hard-separated objects; notes can never be sent | Notes inside Gmail threads |
| Multi-brand in one queue | Built in, with wrong-brand send guard | Geared to a single Gmail mailbox |
| Live chat, phone, social | Not included, email-first by design | Adds channels beyond shared email |
Competitor facts last verified 13 June 2026. Re-check the vendor's current plans before deciding.
Solves does not claim feature parity with Hiver and is not a better fit for every team. If you want everything to live inside the Gmail window, or you need channels beyond email, Hiver may suit you better. Solves is email-first and built for owned tickets, private notes and multi-brand.
Email-first, on purpose
Solves handles support email: owned tickets, assignment, public replies, private notes, SLAs and multi-brand. It does not do live chat, phone or social inboxes. Moving off a Gmail shared inbox by forwarding your support address is exactly the kind of switch it is built for.
FAQ
Switching from Hiver: common questions
Is there an automatic Hiver importer? (not yet)
No, not yet. Hiver lives inside your Gmail or Google Workspace mailbox rather than in a separate helpdesk database, so there is no one-click button that pulls your Hiver tickets into Solves today. We move you across in a guided way instead: you redirect your support address to Solves with forwarding-first mailbox setup, we help you rebuild your saved replies, and new email lands as owned tickets from day one. A bulk transfer of historic conversations is something we can plan with you, but it is by hand at the moment, not an automatic import.
What actually moves across, and what stays in Hiver?
Going forward is the clean part: once your support address forwards to Solves, every new email becomes an owned ticket with assignment, notes, tags and SLA timers. Your existing open Hiver conversations stay in Gmail until you have replied to them, so you can let them wind down there while all new work starts in Solves. If you need older threads carried over, we plan that with you by hand during your guided migration rather than promising an automatic sweep that does not exist.
Do I have to leave Gmail behind?
Not your inbox or your accounts. Hiver adds shared-inbox features on top of Gmail, so leaving Hiver does not mean leaving Google Workspace. You keep your Gmail mailbox and simply forward the support address (for example support@ or help@) to Solves, where the conversation becomes a tracked ticket. Your team works the queue in Solves, and Gmail carries on as your underlying mail provider.
Hiver has a free plan. Why would I pay for Solves?
Hiver does offer a forever-free plan, and that is a fair reason to start there. The case for Solves is different ground rather than a cheaper version of the same thing: replies and private notes are kept hard-separated so an internal note can never reach a customer, multi-brand is built in so several support addresses share one queue with the right identity each, first-response and resolution SLA timers run against per-brand or organisation targets with a breaching view of overdue tickets, and content is encrypted at rest with metadata-only logs. If a single Gmail-based shared inbox is all you need, Hiver Free may suit you. If you are juggling brands, owners and response targets, Solves is built for that.
Will my customers be emailed during the switch?
No. Forwarding your support address to Solves is invisible to customers; their email simply arrives as a ticket. Nothing is sent until you reply from Solves yourself, so you can make the switch at a quiet time, check that mail is flowing and replies look right, then wind down Hiver once you are happy.
Plan your move off Hiver
Book a guided migration and we will help you forward your support address, rebuild your saved replies and go live, at a pace that suits you.