Beekio vs HiveTracks

The short version

HiveTracks is a record-keeping platform. Beekio is a decision-support tool. That difference is the whole reason the prices differ, and it is the only thing worth deciding on.

If you want a solid place to keep inspections, queen histories, treatments and honey production, with mapping and multi-user access, HiveTracks does that well and costs less. If the thing you actually want is to be told what needs doing across your hives tomorrow morning, that is what Beekio is for.

Prices, as published

HiveTracks figures are quoted from hivetracks.com/beekeepers as published on 17 August 2026. Check there rather than trusting this page — prices change and we are not a neutral party.

Where HiveTracks is the better choice

We would rather say this plainly than have you find out after paying us.

• You want a shared team log. HiveTracks Pro includes multi-user access. Beekio has no team accounts at all — one login, one beekeeper. If two people need to log inspections on the same operation, Beekio cannot do it today.
• Honey production is what you track. HiveTracks does yield reporting and cross-apiary comparison as a first-class feature. Beekio records a honey super percentage on an inspection and reasons about it, but it is not a production-accounting tool.
• Price is the deciding factor. $6.99 against $12 or $36 is a real difference. If you are keeping records because you should, rather than because a decision depends on them, the cheaper tool is the right tool.
• You need apiary mapping. Beekio stores a location per hive and groups by it. It does not draw you a map.

Where Beekio does something different

• A prioritised plan, not a record. Log an inspection and Beekio reads the trend across your hives — a mite count climbing over three visits, a colony not opened in five weeks, brood pattern changes — then gives you urgent actions, routine actions, observations and when to look again. Per hive.
• It runs itself at 5am. On Pro and Scaling the plan is generated at 5 in the morning in your timezone, so it is waiting before you leave the house rather than being something you remember to ask for. It does not consume your daily quota.
• Weather is on the record. On Pro and Scaling every inspection is stamped with the weather at the time, so "cold and windy, brood looked sparse" stops being a memory.
• Ask about your own hives. Beekio's chat has your inspection history in front of it, so "why is hive 12 behind?" is answered against your data rather than in general terms.

Why we cost more

Because generating a defensible plan across your hives costs us money on every run, and a logbook does not. That is the honest answer. Whether it is worth it depends on one question: would catching a problem two weeks earlier have saved you a colony last season? If yes, the arithmetic is not close — a replacement colony costs more than a year of Keeper. If no, buy the cheaper tool and we will not be offended.

What we will not claim

• Beekio does not work offline. Inspections need a connection. If you keep bees somewhere with no signal, log them when you get back.
• The plan is a tool for your judgement, not a replacement for it. It tells you what your numbers suggest and why. You still open the hive.
• No hive-scale or sensor integrations. No native app — Beekio is a web app that works on a phone.

Trying it

The free plan takes two hives and needs no card. That is enough to run the idea alongside whatever you use now for a season and decide with your own data. Join the waitlist, or read the docs first — about ten minutes, and it covers everything including the limits.