Hour Cap vs Missive
Missive is built around collaborating on the email. Hour Cap tracks what the email costs you and who gets invoiced for it.
Two different ideas of what a shared inbox is for
Missive's answer is collaboration. Chat sits inside the thread, drafts are written together, and the inbox becomes the place the team talks. For a team whose hard problem is agreeing on the reply, that is exactly right.
An agency's hard problem is usually further downstream. Writing the reply is the easy part. Getting those twenty minutes onto the right client's timesheet, and knowing whether that client's retainer can carry them, is what decides whether the account is profitable.
So Hour Cap puts the client, the project, the logged time and the cap meter beside the conversation, and matches incoming mail to your Xero contacts so most of that is filled in before anybody touches it.
Side by side
| Feature | Hour Cap | Missive |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox for client email | ||
| Internal notes with mentions | Plus real-time chat | |
| Shared draft co-editing | ||
| Connects to your Gmail or Outlook mailbox | Forwarding only | |
| Track billable time on a conversation | ||
| Retainer cap visible while replying | ||
| Draft an invoice from the work | Into Xero | |
| Matches senders to your clients | From Xero contacts | |
| One-click Linear issue | Via an integration | |
| Per-seat price, billed monthly | $12 add-on | $18 to $45 |
Compiled August 2026 from Missive's published pricing. Vendors change, so check current figures before deciding.
Missive is built for writing the reply together
Two people drafting one email, chatting about it in the thread, is the job Missive is built for. What it does not know is which client the sender belongs to, what your hourly rate is, or how much of their retainer is left.
Here the sender is matched to a client from your Xero contacts when the mail arrives, the cap is on screen while you reply, and the hour you log lands on that client's next invoice.
- Senders matched to clients from your synced Xero contacts
- Internal notes with mentions, if not the full chat product
- The hour goes on the invoice instead of into a second app
Hi, a few of our agents are saying the gallery on listing pages is blank on their phones. Desktop looks fine. Can you have a look today?
Hi Alice, found it. The gallery script was failing on older mobile browsers. Patched and tested on both iOS and Android, so your agents should be fine now.
Pricing at a glance
Six people, everyone on the inbox, both paying monthly.
Hour Cap
Inbox + time trackingIncludes the time tracking, retainer budgets and Xero invoicing. Inbox seats are given out per person, so you only buy them for the people who answer client mail.
Missive
Missive's published pricing, August 2026. Re-check before relying on it.
Six seats come to the same figure either way. Missive is the cheaper shared inbox on its own, and if that is all you need, buy it. The $108 here also covers the time tracking, the retainer budgets and the Xero invoicing, so there is nothing else to add when you want the hours billed.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hour Cap a Missive alternative?
For an agency whose shared inbox exists to handle client requests, yes. Missive is a collaborative inbox built around team chat inside the email thread, which is a different job. Hour Cap gives you the shared inbox inside the tool that already knows your rates, retainers and invoices.
How does the pricing compare?
Missive is around $18 per user per month on Starter and $45 on Business when billed monthly, dropping to $14 and $36 if you commit annually. It is the closest of the shared inboxes to us on price. Hour Cap's Customer Support Inbox is $12 per seat per month on top of a plan. Six people all on the inbox works out at $108 a month on our Team plan, which is the same as six seats on Missive Starter paid monthly. The difference is what is in the price: ours includes the time tracking and the Xero invoicing, so there is no tracker to buy separately. Inbox seats are given out per person, so you only buy them for the people who answer client mail. Re-check current vendor pricing before relying on these figures.
Does Hour Cap have the chat-in-thread collaboration Missive has?
Not to the same depth. Hour Cap has internal notes with @mentions on a conversation, which is the part agencies use. Missive's real-time chat, draft co-editing and separate team channels are its own thing and we have not tried to reproduce them.
Does Hour Cap connect to my Gmail or Outlook account?
No, and that is a deliberate difference. Missive connects to your mailbox accounts directly. Hour Cap works by forwarding: you point your support address at the address we give you, and no mailbox password or OAuth grant is involved.
Can Missive track billable time?
No. Some teams wire a time tracker in through an integration, which means the hour lives in a second application and its link to the client and the retainer is rebuilt by hand at invoicing time.
Who should choose Missive?
A team that lives in shared drafts and in-thread chat, or one that needs several mailboxes and social channels in a single application. That is the job Missive is built for, and it is not what Hour Cap is for.
Answer the client, and bill the hour
A shared inbox that sits where your rates, retainers and invoices already live.
Keep exploring
The other shared inboxes we are measured against, and the product itself.
Hour Cap vs Front
Front is built for teams whose whole job is the inbox. Compare what happens to the hour after the email is answered.
Read onHour Cap vs Help Scout
Help Scout is built for support teams. Compare that with an inbox that turns the conversation into an invoice.
Read onHour Cap vs Productlane
Both do the inbox and one-click Linear issues. Hour Cap also tracks what the reply cost you.
Read onCustomer Support Inbox
The shared inbox itself: what it does, what it costs, and how it is set up.
Read onAll comparisons
Every shared inbox and time tracker Hour Cap is measured against.
Read onComparison note: competitor features and pricing were researched on a best-effort basis in June 2026 and can change at any time. We aim to be accurate and fair, but details may be out of date, so always confirm the latest information on the vendor's own website before making a decision. Hour Cap capabilities described here reflect the product at the time of writing.