Best Alternatives to Beekeeper for Hospitality Teams in 2025

A few years back, Beekeeper made a splash. It gave frontline teams a place to chat, pushed payslips straight to their phones, translated updates into loads of languages, and generally helped hospitality businesses clean up their messy comms.

And it worked.

But the world’s moved on. The way we run teams, train people, and handle day-to-day chaos has shifted. AI is in the kitchen now. Staff don’t just want to read updates, they want to interact, learn, get feedback, and feel part of something bigger.

That’s where Beekeeper can start to feel… stuck. A little sleepy, perhaps.
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Like an old walkie-talkie in the era of voice notes and smart assistants. Or a massive ferry, unable to change direction quickly, while the waters are full of smaller speed boats doing circles around it.

Why Beekeeper might not be buzzing for you anymore

Sure, it’s clean. It works. It’s reliable.

But:

• It’s still mostly a comms tool
• Learning and training features feel bolted on
• It’s made for big orgs, with big budgets and teams to roll it out
• Customisation is limited unless you’re a large enterprise with deep pockets

And let’s be honest: if your team doesn't really use it, it’s not working, no matter how fancy the backend is.

Why smaller players are winning in 2025

We’re seeing a new wave of hospitality-first tools, smaller teams, faster updates, better user experience, and actual focus on how real pubs, restaurants, cafés and hotels operate.

These tech newcomers are:

• Faster to adapt
• Built around your business, not a generic office workflow
• More human
• Designed for mobile-first, frontline-heavy teams
• Less bloated, more helpful

And because they’re smaller, they’re often more open to feedback. Need a new feature? You might just get a reply from the founder. That doesn’t happen when you’re customer number 8,457 in a giant SaaS platform.

Plus, there’s AI now. Beekeeper’s not keeping up.

AI is changing how we train teams, handle staff requests, manage rotas, and answer common ops questions. The best new platforms use AI like a smart team member, always available, never tired, and surprisingly useful.

Beekeeper hasn’t cracked that. Others have.

Here are the top Beekeeper alternatives in 2025, all better suited to hospitality teams who want more than a messaging app.

1. All Gravy

Your branded, AI-powered team platform.

What it does best:
All Gravy wraps messaging, learning, onboarding, shift overview, and AI ops into one app. You can train staff with Duolingo-style learning games, automate onboarding flows, offer payslip previews, and let your team access everything in your brand, from colours to logos to tone of voice. Their AI assistant is like having an HR manager in everyone’s pocket.

Why it’s different:
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all HR tool. It’s built from the ground up for hospitality. It feels like the apps your team actually uses (social, simple, fast), not an HR dashboard dumped on a phone.

When to choose it:
When you want your team to actually use the app, and you want to build loyalty, not just send updates. If Beekeeper feels too generic or corporate, All Gravy makes your culture the centrepiece.

2. Connecteam

The work tool that acts like a super-charged WhatsApp.

What it does best:
It combines group chat, checklists, forms, knowledge bases, and onboarding tools in one tidy mobile package. It’s more flexible than Beekeeper, especially for task management and daily ops.

Why it’s different:
It’s modular, so you only use what you need. You can build your own workflows and it comes with dozens of templates to get started fast. It’s also got a strong free tier if you’re a small team.

When to choose it:
If your team needs structure, but hates clunky software. Connecteam’s good for operators who want one tool to replace a dozen WhatsApp chats, Google Docs, and printed forms.

3. Workvivo

Culture-focused, fun, and great for recognition.

What it does best:
Think internal Instagram. You can post wins, celebrate staff, share company news, and build community across multiple locations. It integrates nicely with Slack and Zoom, and it’s fully mobile.

Why it’s different:
Workvivo focuses on feelings. Staff don’t just get told things, they get recognised. It’s not about ticking boxes, it’s about making people proud to work where they do.

When to choose it:
When you want to boost morale, retention, and engagement, especially across larger teams. It’s ideal if you’re trying to build culture across a chain or group.

4. Blink

Simple social feed for your whole frontline.

What it does best:
Blink gives staff one app where they can see announcements, fill out forms, access HR tools, and chat, all in a clean, social-feed style interface.

Why it’s different:
It works great out of the box. Minimal training needed. Just download and go. It’s focused on being a "one login for everything" for deskless workers.

When to choose it:
If you’re tired of chasing people for paperwork and updates, and want something easy that makes your team feel included.

5. Staffbase

Big comms muscle, big price tag.

What it does best:
If you’ve got a comms department and want to run an internal media empire, Staffbase delivers. Targeted updates, segmented audiences, advanced analytics, surveys, it’s all in there.

Why it’s different:
It’s built for scale. Perfect for global orgs, or massive hospitality chains with thousands of staff across many regions.

When to choose it:
If your internal comms team wants fine-grained control, and you’ve got the budget to back it up.

The big takeaway

If Beekeeper works for you, great. But if it feels too rigid, too corporate, or too far removed from what your team actually needs, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.

Modern hospitality teams need apps that talk like people, not like corporate HR. They need tools that teach, engage, and support, not just broadcast.

All Gravy leads the way by putting your team experience first. It’s fast, friendly, branded to you, and packed with smart features your staff will actually enjoy using.

Smaller tools = faster results = happier teams.
That’s the new equation.

And in 2025, the teams who figure that out first?
They win.

Get started today!