Keeping vs. Missive
The Missive alternative for support teams in Gmail
Missive is a separate app your team moves into. Keeping turns your Gmail into a shared inbox for small support teams, with statuses, assignment and ticket numbers. No new tool to learn.
- Statuses and ticket numbers inside Gmail, not a new app
- Nothing to migrate: your email is already in Gmail
- Set up in two minutes with Google sign-in
14 days free. No credit card required. Works with the Gmail you already use.
Rated 4.5 /5 on G2
2,000+ companies run their shared inbox in Gmail with Keeping
“We've been able to cut our customer response time down to mere minutes for the vast majority of requests. Vacation and illness coverage has been nearly completely solved.”
What is Missive?
Missive is a separate email and chat app your whole team moves into. Keep it if you want one app for email, SMS and team chat. Pick Keeping if your support team wants to stay in Gmail and needs help desk basics: statuses, assignment, ticket numbers and reports, from the entry plan up.
Missive is a team inbox and chat app. It brings email, SMS and social messages into one app, with chat rooms and shared drafts next to each conversation. Your team connects its Gmail accounts, then reads and replies in Missive instead of Gmail. It works with any email provider.
That suits teams that want to replace their email client, or that answer SMS and WhatsApp alongside email. If your team answers support@ in Gmail and wants to keep doing that, read on.
Work inside Gmail, or move to a new email app
The biggest difference shows up on day one, before anyone answers a single email.
With Keeping, your team stays in Gmail
Install Keeping and invite your teammates. The support@ mailbox shows up in Gmail's sidebar under each person's own inbox, with statuses, assignment, private notes and ticket numbers beside every email.
With Missive, everyone moves to a new app
Each teammate installs Missive, connects their Gmail account and sets up notifications and shortcuts again. Customer email then lives in a different window from the rest of their work.
Why support teams look for Missive alternatives
A new app for every teammate
Missive replaces where your team reads email, so everyone learns new settings, shortcuts and notifications before the first reply.
In Keeping: a new section in the Gmail they already use.
Closed is not the same as resolved
Missive organizes shared email by closing and archiving. One Capterra reviewer found conversations closed in a teammate's view but still open in the shared one.
In Keeping: Open, Pending and Closed statuses on every plan.
No native ticket numbers
Missive's own FAQ says it doesn't offer ticket numbers like a traditional help desk. It suggests adding the conversation ID to a signature instead.
In Keeping: a ticket number in every reply, on every plan.
Missive vs Keeping, plan by plan
Prices are per user per month, billed annually. Every cell names the plan it's true on.
| Features |  | Missive |
|---|---|---|
| Works inside Gmail | YesAll plans | NoA separate app |
| No new app to learn | Yes | No |
| Ticket statuses | YesOpen, Pending, Closed on all plans | Close and archive |
| Ticket numbers in replies | YesAll plans | Conversation ID workaround |
| Rules and workflows | Up to two workflows on Essentials, unlimited on Advanced | Productive plan and up |
| Reporting | Standard on Essentials, advanced on Advanced | Basic on Productive, advanced on Business |
| Integrations | Slack on Essentials, all on Advanced | Productive plan and up |
| Team chat, SMS, social | NoEmail only | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days, requires no credit card | 30 days on Productive, no card |
| Entry plan | $14Essentials, per user/month | $14Starter, per user/month, up to 5 users, no rules or reports |
| Plan with rules + reportsWhat a typical support team needs | $14Essentialsbilled annually, $19 monthly | $24Productivebilled annually, $30 monthly |
Keeping plans have a two-user minimum. Essentials covers up to 10 agents and two shared mailboxes; Missive gives each user up to 5 shared accounts. Billed monthly: Keeping Essentials $19, Missive Starter $18, Missive Productive $30. Missive prices from missiveapp.com, as of October 2026. | ||
Same entry price. Rules and reports included.
Missive Starter and Keeping Essentials both cost $14 per user per month billed annually. Essentials includes workflows and reports; Missive puts them on Productive, at $24.
14 days free. No credit card required.
Other Missive alternatives
Not every team that leaves Missive wants to work in Gmail. Starting prices are per user per month.
Front
Another app your team has to move into. Front runs outside Gmail, and time-goal rules and HubSpot sync wait on Professional at $65 per seat.
Starter from $25 per seat
Keeping vs FrontHiver
Inside Gmail, but now an omnichannel platform priced like one. Its most popular plan, Pro, is $55 per user, and seats are sold in blocks of 5.
Growth from $25 per user
Keeping vs HiverHelp Scout
Built for larger, dedicated support teams. Your team leaves Gmail for a separate help desk inbox and its own onboarding.
Standard from $25 per user
Keeping vs Help ScoutDrag
Kanban boards layered on Gmail. SLAs, round robin and custom fields need the Pro plan at $24 per user, and Starter caps automation at 10 rules.
Starter from $12 per user
Keeping vs DragFreshdesk
An enterprise ticketing system with its own portal, outside Gmail. More to set up and learn than a small team answering support@ needs.
Growth from $19 per agent
Keeping vs FreshdeskGoogle Groups
A mailing list with a collaborative-inbox mode bolted on. Fine for announcements, but customer email gets no private notes, no collision detection and no reporting.
Included with Google Workspace
Keeping vs Google Groups
Missive alternative FAQ
What is Missive?
Missive is a team inbox and chat app. It brings email, SMS and social messages into one app, with chat rooms and shared drafts. Your team connects its email accounts, Gmail included, and then reads and replies in Missive rather than in Gmail.
Is Missive free?
No. Missive lists no free plan. New teams get a 30-day free trial of the Productive plan without a credit card. After that, Starter is $14 per user per month billed annually, or $18 monthly, for up to 5 users.
Does Missive have ticket numbers?
Not natively. Missive's own FAQ says it doesn't offer ticket numbers like a traditional help desk, and suggests adding the conversation ID to a signature or canned response. Keeping puts a ticket number in replies through a template variable on every plan, Essentials included.
Can I use Missive without leaving Gmail?
No. Missive is its own app for desktop, mobile and web. You connect your Gmail account to it and work in Missive. If your team wants to stay in Gmail, choose a shared inbox that runs inside Gmail, such as Keeping or Hiver.
What is the best Missive alternative for Gmail users?
For a small support team on Google Workspace, pick a shared inbox that works inside Gmail. Keeping adds a shared mailbox to Gmail's sidebar with Open, Pending and Closed statuses, assignment, private notes and ticket numbers, so nobody has to learn a new app. See how a shared inbox works in Gmail.
How much does Missive cost compared to Keeping?
Missive Starter and Keeping Essentials both cost $14 per user per month billed annually. Missive puts rules and reports on Productive, at $24. Keeping Essentials includes two workflows and standard reporting, and Keeping Advanced, at $24, adds all integrations and SLAs.
Teams like that it stays in Gmail
What Keeping customers say on G2.
Rated 4.5 /5 on G2
“Keeping seamlessly integrates with Gmail, so we don’t have to work with another tool. It allows everyone to see responses from the team.”
“I like that we can use it right inside our Gmail. I also like that we can assign and prioritize incoming requests.”
“It’s a great tool for tracking and sharing support emails with colleagues. I love how Keeping email has its own inbox inside Gmail.”
Keep Gmail. Add the help desk.
Add Keeping to the support inbox you already run in Gmail. Essentials starts at $14 per user per month billed annually, and the 14-day trial requires no credit card.
