# Hiveway vs Simpleview

> Simpleview (Granicus Destinations) vs Hiveway for a small DMO: published line items, contracts, support billed yearly, and where each one fits.

[Compare](https://hiveway.org/compare) · Destination software

Simpleview, now sold as Granicus Destinations, is the biggest name in DMO software: a tourism website CMS used by 500+ destinations and a CRM used by 1,000+, with design, marketing and research services around them.

Honest comparison · Checked October 2026 · 8 sources

## Choose Simpleview if

You sell meetings and conventions, need a CRM your sales staff and hotels already know, or want research, economic data and an agency's services under one contract.

- You have a convention or meetings sales team that hands leads to hotels and venues.
- You need a booking engine, a digital asset library, ad serving or a mobile app from the same vendor.
- Your board wants economic impact data, short-term rental tracking or research products alongside the website.
- You're a large destination with several sites, languages or microsites.
- Your hotels and partners already know the Simpleview extranet and you'd rather not retrain them.

## Choose Hiveway if

You're a small tourism office that needs a visitor website, events, partner listings and a newsletter, with support, hosting and the build in one flat price ($999 a month), month to month.

- You're one or two people and your website is the product.
- You want support, hosting, event submissions and email sending included, not billed as separate lines.
- You'd rather not sign a multi-year term to get a good rate.
- You want every place, event and itinerary readable by the AI tools visitors now plan with.
- Your council asks what the website costs, and you want one number you can explain in a sentence.

**The short version:** Hiveway for Destinations is $999 a month, flat, month to month. (the big tourism platforms bill support, every import and every article separately, every year) [About Hiveway for Destinations](https://hiveway.org/destinations)

Most tourism offices that compare DMO software are small: one or two people running the visitor website, the events calendar, the partner listings and the newsletter, while also answering to a council or a board about every line of the budget. The software they compare against is built for destinations of every size, up to the biggest convention cities.

Simpleview is that software, and it earns its place: a CMS made for DMOs, a CRM that convention sales teams rely on, and a deep bench of design, research and marketing services. Since September 2024 it has been part of Granicus, which now calls it Granicus Destinations; the Simpleview name still appears on the product.

The comparison is about how you pay. Simpleview's own published price list (its UK government catalogue, 2024) bills the website license, support for the people editing the site, hosting by traffic, listings licenses per staff user, an event submission form, reports and email credits as separate yearly lines, with the build, design, imports, migration and training on top. US contracts are quote-only, often multi-year. Hiveway is one flat monthly price with the site build included.

## Twelve things, checked.

| What | Simpleview | Hiveway |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing model | Quote only in the US. Their published UK list (2024) bills each part as its own yearly line: website license, editor support, hosting by traffic, listings licenses per staff user, modules and email credits | $999 a month, flat, everything included |
| Contract length | Annual licenses; multi-year terms are common (Santa Fe estimated four years). The UK list discounts 5% for two years and 10% for three | Month to month, or one annual invoice if your city prefers. No build fee |
| Website and build | A CMS made for DMOs, used by 500+ destinations. The build is billed separately: from £11,050 for a templated site to £34,060 and up for a bespoke one (UK list), plus design | Included: your visitor website, rebuilt by us in the first months, hosted and kept up |
| Support | Its own yearly line: £2,632 for CMS editors (UK list). Santa Fe's US quote carried a $12,000 a year support plan (120 hours at $100) | Email, answered by Jeff or Amara, who built it |
| Listings and partner updates | Partner listings with an extranet where partners submit updates; listings are licensed per staff user in the UK list (£460 each, plus £792 hosting each for a town) | Every place worth visiting has a page; partners update their own listings |
| Events and public submissions | An events calendar; the event submission and approval form is an extra module (UK list: £975 to set up, £975 a year) | A visitor events calendar with public submissions you approve |
| AI-readable pages | Schema.org and Open Graph tagging are included in the CMS (listed in Santa Fe's quote) | Every page has a markdown twin and structured data, so AI trip planners can read and recommend you |
| Newsletter | An email campaign tool (UK list: £487.50 a year) plus email credits bought in blocks; email marketing also sits in their CRM | A visitor newsletter, drafted from your events and sent from your own domain |
| Convention and meetings sales CRM | Yes, and it's a real strength: a CRM used by 1,000+ destinations for meetings sales, partners and leisure, with Cvent integration | Not offered. If your bureau sells meetings and conventions to planners, Simpleview wins this row |
| Reporting | A Reports & Insights module (UK list: £1,600 a year for a town), plus Data Engine, dashboards and research products | Plain reports a council can read: visits, and clicks through to businesses and hotels |
| Accessibility | Sites built to WCAG 2.1 as a minimum (UK list); AudioEye monitoring is an add-on ($8,000 a year in Santa Fe's quote) | Built to WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard the ADA Title II rule requires of city websites |
| Company | Part of Granicus since September 2024, serving 1,000+ destinations | Independent, no investors, the builders answer your email |

## The honest math.

Simpleview doesn't publish US prices. Its own UK government catalogue (G-Cloud 14, 2024, in pounds) does publish the line items, and they're the clearest public picture of how it charges. For a "small destination (town)" with two staff users, the recurring lines (website license £3,412, editor support £2,632, the smallest hosting at £396, two listings licenses and their hosting at £2,504, reports £1,600, the event submission form £975, the email tool and its smallest block of credits £837.50) come to about £12,360 a year, roughly $16,100. That's before SEO packages (£3,120 to £24,960 a year).

Up front, the same list prices a templated site from £11,050 and a bespoke one from £34,060, a design package at £7,702.50 or £11,310, each data import from £487, content migration at £32.50 a page, and training at £1,462 a session. Content is by the piece: £780 for a 1,000-word article. These are UK list prices; US contracts are negotiated and vary.

Public US records show the same shape. Tourism Santa Fe's 2022 sole source was $71,800 for one year: $59,800 in licensing (CMS $16,000, then modules like partner listings, the events calendar and the itinerary builder priced one by one) and a $12,000 support plan. Its 2023 determination estimated $287,200 over four years. In 2019 the Nacogdoches CVB's board heard that renewing its Simpleview website would cost about $27,000 and that the cost was "simply not sustainable."

Hiveway for Destinations is $999 a month, about $12,000 a year, with the site build, hosting, support, event and listing submissions and email sending included. If you want one of us writing your trip pages and stories every month, that's $599 a month on top (against £780 an article on Simpleview's list).

## We rebuild it for you.

No build fee, and no charge per import.

**One honest note** Hiveway is in its founding season. We're building it now with our first chamber, so it isn't something you can sign up for off the shelf today.

[Apply as a Destination](https://hiveway.org/apply?type=destination)

1. Your visitor website, rebuilt by us in the first months
2. Your listings and events, moved over from Simpleview
3. Your old addresses, redirected so nothing breaks
4. Hosting and help by email, in the one price

## Questions, answered plainly.

### How much does Simpleview cost?

Simpleview is quote only in the US. Its UK government price list (2024) puts the recurring lines for a small town at about £12,360 a year (roughly $16,100) before SEO, with the build and design billed separately. Public US contracts range widely: Nacogdoches was quoted about $27,000 to renew its website, and Santa Fe paid $71,800 for one year.

### Is Simpleview the same as Granicus Destinations?

Yes. Granicus acquired Simpleview in September 2024 and now sells it as Granicus Destinations, "formerly known as Simpleview." Granicus says the rebrand doesn't change existing contracts or service.

### Does Hiveway have a convention sales CRM?

No. Hiveway has no meetings or convention sales CRM, no lead distribution to hotels and no economic impact modeling. If those are central to your bureau, Simpleview is the stronger fit.

### Can we leave a multi-year Simpleview contract early?

That depends on your contract, so read its term and renewal dates before you plan a move. Many DMOs time a switch to the renewal. We'll rebuild your site and redirect your old addresses so the move doesn't cost you search traffic.

### Do Simpleview sites meet the ADA Title II rule?

Simpleview says its sites are built to WCAG 2.1 as a minimum, the standard the rule uses, and sells AudioEye monitoring as an add-on. The Justice Department moved the deadlines in April 2026: April 26, 2027 for governments of 50,000 people or more, April 26, 2028 for smaller ones.

### Can we sign up for Hiveway today?

Not off the shelf yet. We're building Hiveway now with our first chamber and taking applications from founding destinations. Apply and we'll write back about timing.

## Sources, checked October 2026

1. [Simpleview, G-Cloud 14 pricing document](https://assets.applytosupply.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud-14/documents/721916/607610058631786-pricing-document-2024-05-05-2234.pdf) · UK, 2024, GBP
2. [City of Santa Fe, Simpleview sole source request packet](https://santafenm.gov/media/rfps_docs/Simpleview_Sole_Source_Request_Packet.pdf) · 2022, $71,800 for one year
3. [City of Santa Fe, Simpleview sole source determination](https://santafenm.gov/media/rfps_docs/SSD_Approved_Simpleview_LLC_3.30.23.pdf) · 2023, estimated $287,200 over four years
4. [Nacogdoches CVB board minutes, April 17 2019](https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/nacogdoches/Regular_Board_Meeting_4_17_19_minutes_1__f171290a-a96f-4e2b-8240-9546f04a8e9c.pdf) · Simpleview website renewal about $27,000
5. [Granicus, Destinations (formerly Simpleview): 500+ destinations on the CMS, 1K+ on the CRM](https://granicus.com/market/destinations/)
6. [Granicus, Granicus acquires Simpleview](https://granicus.com/blog/granicus-acquires-destination-marketing-leader-simpleview-to-expand-community-experience-capabilities/) · Sept 2024
7. [Simpleview / Granicus Destinations, product overview](https://www.simpleviewinc.com/)
8. [US DOJ, interim final rule extending the ADA Title II web accessibility dates](https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-07663.pdf) · April 2026

More: [Simpleview alternatives](https://hiveway.org/compare/simpleview-alternatives) · [Simpleview pricing, explained](https://hiveway.org/compare/simpleview-pricing) · [Simpleview vs Tempest](https://hiveway.org/compare/simpleview-vs-tempest) · [Hiveway vs Tempest](https://hiveway.org/compare/tempest) · [Hiveway vs Visit Widget](https://hiveway.org/compare/visit-widget) · [All comparisons](https://hiveway.org/compare#destinations)

## Get your whole town found.

Tell us about your town and what your visitor site needs to do. One of us reads every application and writes back by email.

[Apply as a Destination](https://hiveway.org/apply?type=destination)

Source: https://hiveway.org/compare/simpleview