# Alternatives to Front

Front is a customer communication platform built around shared inboxes, letting teams manage email, chat, and social messages together with assignments, comments, and workflows.

Front ranks #2 of 8 in Shared inbox software, with an Alt Score of 96. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $25 USD/seat/month (Starter, billed annually, up to 10 seats) and available on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. 13 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/front/
Category: Shared inbox software

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Customer-facing teams (support, sales, and operations) at growing companies who need everyone to work out of the same email, chat, SMS, and social inboxes instead of forwarding messages or sharing logins.
- **What you get**: A standalone shared-inbox and omnichannel helpdesk that syncs Gmail, Outlook/Office 365, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, and social channels into one workspace, with assignment, internal comments/@mentions, collision detection, shared drafts, message templates, snoozing, automation rules, analytics, and Salesforce/HubSpot CRM integrations, priced per seat starting at $25/seat/month (Starter, annual billing).
- **How it works**: You connect existing email accounts and other channels to Front, which pulls messages into shared team inboxes; rules and macros route and tag conversations, teammates collaborate via internal comments and shared drafts before a single owner sends the reply, and dashboards report on response times, CSAT, and team workload.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-17)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-17)
- **Starts at**: $25 USD/seat/month (Starter, billed annually, up to 10 seats) (verified 2026-07-17)
- **Platforms**: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-17)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Drag](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/drag.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Helpwise](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/helpwise.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 3 | [Hiver](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/hiver.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Gmelius](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/gmelius.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web (app.gmelius.com), Browser extension (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera), PWA - iOS, PWA - Android |
| 5 | [Zoho TeamInbox](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zoho-teaminbox.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Loop Email](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/loop-email.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS |
| 7 | [Trengo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/trengo.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Shared inbox software checklist | Front | Drag | Helpwise | Hiver | Gmelius | Zoho TeamInbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Freemium | Subscription | Subscription |
| Starts at | $25 USD/seat/month (Starter, billed annually, up to 10 seats) | $12 USD/user/month (Starter plan, billed annually; $16/user/month billed monthly) | $15/user/month | $25 USD/user/month (Growth plan, billed annually; $35/user/month billed monthly) | $19/user/month (billed annually) | $5 USD/user/month (Starter plan, billed annually; $6/user/month billed monthly) |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android | Web (app.gmelius.com), Browser extension (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera), PWA - iOS, PWA - Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Shared email inboxes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email assignment / ownership | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Internal comments & @mentions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Collision detection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Shared drafts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Canned responses / templates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Snooze & follow-up reminders | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes |
| Works on top of Gmail/Outlook | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Multi-channel (SMS/WhatsApp/social) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Automation rules | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Analytics & reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CRM integrations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Front. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Status**: active — <https://front.com/blog/customer-service-policies> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Front's blog and product sitemaps show near-daily content and product-page updates through the research date (2026-07-17).
  - Quote: “17 July 2026”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://front.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Commercial SaaS platform; no open-source licensing model documented for the core product.
  - Quote: “Starter $25/seat/mo, up to 10 seats”
- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://front.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: :"$$25","monthlyPrice":"$$35","monthlyPriceSubtitle":"/seat/mo, up to 10 seats" — Per-seat monthly/annual subscription tiers (Starter, Professional, Enterprise); no permanently free plan.
  - Quote: “annualPrice”
- **Starts at**: $25 USD/seat/month (Starter, billed annually, up to 10 seats) — <https://front.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Monthly (non-annual) billing lists Starter at $35/seat/mo per the page's raw pricing data.
  - Quote: “$25 /seat/mo, up to 10 seats”
- **Platforms**: Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android — <https://front.com/download> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Download page lists native Windows/macOS desktop apps and iOS/Android mobile apps, plus web access via app.frontapp.com.
  - Quote: “Front for Android ... Front for iOS ... Front for macOS ... Front for Windows”
- **Shared email inboxes**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/collaboration> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “With everyone working in a shared space, there's more clarity on the status of customer conversations.”
- **Email assignment / ownership**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/collaboration> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Take the guesswork out of who's following up with a clear owner for every conversation.”
- **Internal comments & @mentions**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/collaboration> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Quickly tag in teammates. In-thread comments replace the extra internal emails or DMs with real-time, behind-the-scenes chat.”
- **Collision detection**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/collaboration> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Collision detection. Embarrassed over duplicate replies? See when a teammate is actively responding in real time.”
- **Shared drafts**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/collaboration> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Respond to customers faster with auto-shared drafts for speedy review and approvals.”
- **Canned responses / templates**: Yes — <https://help.front.com/en/categories/227> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Message templates are your saved responses to common questions.”
- **Snooze & follow-up reminders**: Yes — <https://help.front.com/en/articles/2088> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “With snooze, you can set a time for conversations to reopen in your inbox exactly when you want them to.”
- **Works on top of Gmail/Outlook**: Partial — <https://help.front.com/en/articles/2042> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Note: Front is a standalone app that connects to and imports/syncs Gmail and Office 365 (Outlook) accounts as inboxes; it does not run inside Gmail's or Outlook's own UI.
  - Quote: “When you connect a Gmail or Office 365 account as a shared inbox or individual inbox in Front, you can choose to import the most recent 50,000 messages.”
- **Multi-channel (SMS/WhatsApp/social)**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/omnichannel-support-inbox> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Front offers email, voice, chat, SMS, social media (including Facebook and Instagram), WhatsApp, Slack, and more.”
- **Automation rules**: Yes — <https://front.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “up to 10 automation rules”
- **Analytics & reporting**: Yes — <https://front.com/product/analytics> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Measure response times, resolution times, CSAT scores, and review customer feedback all in one place.”
- **CRM integrations**: Yes — <https://help.front.com/en/articles/2305> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “The Salesforce plugin lets you access and manage Salesforce records directly from your inbox in Front.”
- **Free trial**: Yes — <https://front.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-17)
  - Quote: “Our free 14-day trial offers all the features available in our Professional plan.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/