If you already use Eagle, you probably have a library you trust. It holds years of folders and tags on a computer, and it suits long sessions at a desk.
The usual question is what happens away from that desk, and whether Hive is meant to replace Eagle or to sit next to it.
This page puts the two side by side: what each does well, where each stops, and where Eagle Pocket fits for people who want to open an Eagle library on a phone. I checked Eagle's details against its own site in September 2026. For eleven more tools, from Pinterest to PureRef, see the full comparison.
Desktop archive
Eagle
Eagle is a desktop app for Mac and Windows, and it's very good at being one. It holds a large collection without strain, and it's built for long sessions at a computer: tidying folders, tagging in bulk, and looking after a library over years.
It organizes with folders, tags and smart folders, and it can narrow a collection by colour, shape, size, file type and rating. It opens a very wide range of files, including design files and fonts, and plugins extend it further. A browser extension saves images from the web, and the library is a folder on your computer, so you decide where it lives. Eagle is a one-time purchase with a 30-day trial.
Where it stops is the phone. There's no official Eagle app for iPhone or iPad, so a reference found away from the desk reaches the archive through a screenshot, a note or another app, and the source often gets lost on the way.
Eagle Compared With Hive
Eagle and Hive organize in much the same way: folders, tags, notes and smart folders, in a library folder you control. The difference is where each one starts. Eagle starts at the desk, and Hive starts on the phone.
That matters most at the moment of saving. On iPhone and iPad, Hive saves through the share sheet while the page is still open, so the picture arrives with its link, and Add Details lets you write down the reason before you forget it. With Pro, the same library is on the iPad for review and on the Mac for longer sessions. Eagle has no step like this away from the computer.
At the desk, Eagle goes deeper. It filters by colour and shape, opens design files and fonts, takes plugins, and runs on Windows. Hive doesn't match that. If your references are both found and used at a computer, Eagle is the better choice.
- Choose Eagle when
- Most of your reference work happens at a computer, you use Windows, or you need design files, fonts and plugins in the same library.
- Choose Hive when
- Your references reach you on a phone, you review them on an iPad, or you want one library on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
With HiveMany people keep Eagle as the long-term archive and use Hive for the part that happens away from it. With Pro, Hive can import an Eagle library, including Eagle Pack files. In the other direction, a Hive library folder can be copied to the computer and opened in Eagle as a library.
- Runs on
- Mac, Windows
- Price
- One-time licence after a 30-day trial
- Official site
- eagle.cool
Side by Side
The rows cover what people ask about most, and either side can be switched to another tool. The apps change over time, so each tool's own site has the final word.
| HivePrivate reference library | EagleDesktop archive | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on |
|
|
| Made for | A private reference library across Apple devices | A large design archive at a desk |
| Saves from | Share sheet, Safari extension, drag and drop, files | Browser extension, drag and drop, screen capture |
| Organizes with | Folders, tags, stars, notes and Smart Folders | Folders, tags, smart folders, colour and shape filters, ratings |
| Holds | Images, videos, audio, PDFs, links and bookmarks | A very wide range of files, including design files and fonts |
| Where it lives | A folder you choose: on the device, in iCloud Drive, or on an external SSD with Pro | A library folder on your computer |
| Price | Free; Pro $3.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $34.99 once | One-time licence after a 30-day trial |
Eagle companion
Eagle Pocket
Eagle Pocket is a free app for iPhone and iPad that opens an existing Eagle library. It's made by an independent developer, not by the Eagle team.
You point it at the library folder wherever it already lives: iCloud Drive, a network share, Google Drive or the device itself. You can browse and search, play videos, and change tags, ratings and notes, and the changes are written back to the same library. It has no servers of its own, and it caches what you have opened so you can browse offline.
Eagle Pocket depends on Eagle. If you don't already use Eagle, there's nothing for it to open.
Eagle Pocket Compared With Hive
Eagle Pocket and Hive both run on iPhone and iPad, and both can work with a library made in Eagle, so they are easy to confuse. They do different jobs. Eagle Pocket opens the Eagle library where it is and writes changes back to it. Hive keeps a library of its own, and with Pro it can import an Eagle library.
The larger difference is saving. Eagle Pocket doesn't add new references; it shows what Eagle already holds. Hive is built around the save: the share sheet, the Safari extension, Import Center, and the source kept with each item. Hive also has a native Mac app, and Pro syncs one library across the three devices.
If Eagle on the desktop is your one library and you only want to see and tag it from the phone, Eagle Pocket is the simpler answer, and it's free. If new references start on the phone, Hive is the better choice, with or without Eagle behind it.
- Choose Eagle Pocket when
- Your Eagle library is the one place you keep everything, and you want to see and tag it from the phone.
- Choose Hive when
- New references start on your phone, you don't use Eagle, or you want a library that stands on its own on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
With HiveThe two answer different questions. Eagle Pocket shows the archive you already have. Hive is where new references land, with their source, before they reach any archive.
- Runs on
- iPhone, iPad
- Price
- Free
- Official site
- App Store
Using Both
Used together, each app keeps to what it does best. A reference is saved in Hive on iPhone, with its link and a note, and the week's saves are narrowed down on iPad. The ones that last move to Eagle at the desk, where the long-term archive lives.
Because each library is a folder, moving between the two apps means moving a folder. The article on using Eagle on iPhone and iPad explains each setup, including when to copy the library folder and when to connect Hive to it directly.
You do not have to choose between them. Eagle keeps the long-term archive, and Hive keeps what you find before it gets there.