Overview

HiveRef organizes employment reference checks from questionnaire creation through referee responses and reporting. That narrow focus can help founders, office managers and people and culture leads bring consistency to reference collection without a dedicated HR department. It is not a criminal-record or credit-screening service, so teams needing those checks will need another tool.

HiveRef says GDPR is its global design baseline and that its practices reflect Australian Privacy Principles where Australian law applies. Reference data is stored by default in a Sydney-region database, a consideration for organizations with data-location requirements. Its reports assist human review; HiveRef says it does not make automated hire-or-no-hire decisions, leaving accountability with the reviewer.

Key features

Questionnaires and collection

A user can paste a job description to generate a tailored questionnaire, edit it, or choose from a template library. Automated reminders follow up with referees, and mobile-friendly forms typically take two to three minutes to complete. This is useful for lean teams that want consistent questions without manually chasing every response. Requests go by email, and each included candidate check covers up to 10 referee responses.

Reports and integrity signals

Reports bring together an AI-assisted summary, integrity signals, a timestamped audit trail and PDF export. Signals such as IP address, submission timing, email type and network context give reviewers information to examine; they are cues for human review, not hiring decisions. A reporting dashboard is also included.

Workflow connections and support

Zapier can trigger automations when checks are created or completed and generate pre-filled check links. The integration documentation covers API-key authentication and endpoints for hooks, check lists and prefilled check wizards, while API access is available. HiveRef says it aims to respond within one business day and that customers speak with someone who built the product—a useful support commitment for teams setting up a process.

Pricing

HiveRef has a free plan and a free trial, as well as paid options. Every included check allows up to 10 referee responses; extra candidate checks cost $4.00 each on every plan. That makes the monthly allowance, user count and likely overage needs central to choosing a tier.

Plan	Price	Allowance and fit
Pay as you go	4.00 AUD per once	$4 per candidate check, up to 10 referees; credits never expire. Suits occasional hiring without a monthly commitment.
Core	29.00 AUD per month	8 candidates/month and 2 users. A small team with modest, predictable hiring can keep costs bounded, but has little room to exceed the allowance.
Growth	49.00 AUD per month	20 candidates/month and 4 users. Fits a busier small team that needs more capacity and collaborators.
Scale	98.00 AUD per month	50 candidates/month and unlimited users. The higher allowance and no seat cap suit larger groups sharing the workflow.
Velocity	298.00 AUD per month	160 candidates/month and unlimited users. A better fit for high-volume hiring that can use its substantially larger monthly quota.

All four monthly plans include up to 10 referee responses per candidate, and checks beyond the included candidate allowance cost $4.00 each. The lower monthly tiers trade candidate capacity and, on Core and Growth, user seats for lower prices.

Platforms

HiveRef is available on web, Android and iOS, with API access. That gives teams a browser-based option, mobile availability and a route to connect the workflow to other systems.

Who it's for

HiveRef is best suited to small and medium businesses that want structured employment references but lack a dedicated HR team. Its templates, job-description-based questionnaires and automated reminders reduce process work, while the tiered candidate quotas let teams align recurring hiring with a monthly allowance. Organizations conducting criminal-record or credit screening, or needing more than 10 referee responses for a candidate, should look elsewhere or supplement it.

Pros and cons

Pros

Questionnaires can be tailored from a job description or built from templates, helping lean teams standardize questions.
Automated reminders and short, mobile-friendly forms reduce the effort of collecting referee responses.
AI-assisted summaries, integrity signals, audit trails and PDF export give reviewers material to assess and retain without automating the hiring decision.
Zapier triggers, pre-filled links and API access support workflow connections beyond manual email handling.

Cons

The product covers employment references only, not criminal-record or credit checks, so it cannot serve as a complete screening solution.
Each check is capped at 10 referee responses, and extra candidate checks cost $4.00 each, which can constrain high-volume or unusually thorough processes.
Core is limited to 2 users and Growth to 4, so teams needing broader access must move to a higher-priced tier.
Reference data defaults to a Sydney-region database, which may not match every organization's data-location requirements.

Alternatives

Consider Reference Check Software to compare other options in the category. Credibled offers a free API sandbox for testing without real checks or charges, making it a reasonable alternative when API evaluation is the priority; its NGO reference check is 4.50 CAD per once.

VerifyRef may suit teams that prefer non-expiring credit bundles: its 5-credit plan is 33.00 USD per once, or $6.60 per credit, and its 20-credit plan is 119.00 USD per once, or $5.95 per credit. Xref Engage is an option for organizations with an active Xref Enterprise subscription, though it carries an additional cost.

RefNow is worth considering for a credit-based approach with bulk discounts and subscriptions; one credit covers up to 10 references from one candidate. The Reference Checker offers a single-user monthly plan at 40.00 GBP per month, with automated requests, email and SMS reminders, and customizable templates and questions—potentially a closer fit when SMS reminders matter.

Jointl is a broader option for teams seeking applicant flows, pre-screening, data collection, assessments and conversational recruiting. Refapp uses usage-based pricing tailored to organization size and hiring needs, with a personalized quote via demo. Referoo is another alternative for teams seeking reference checks, custom questionnaires, work history, fraud detection, branding, talent pooling, integrations and a dashboard.

Verdict

Choose HiveRef if your small or medium business needs a structured employment-reference process, wants reminders and reviewer-focused reports, and can work within its candidate and referee limits. Its focused workflow and integration options are the main reasons to choose it; look elsewhere if you need criminal-record or credit screening, more than 10 referee responses per candidate, or data stored outside the Sydney-region default.

	HiveRef	SkillSurvey
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	A$29/mo
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, Web	Web
Free plan	No
Automated reminders	Yes
Custom questionnaires	Yes
Reporting dashboard	Yes
Reference channels	email	mixed
API access	Yes
ATS integrations		Yes

HiveRef vs SkillSurvey

HiveRef

SkillSurvey