Top 13 Front alternatives and competitors for 2024

If you're looking for customer service software to level up your customer experience (CX), then you've probably stumbled across Front. Its offerings span customer service, sales, operations, and account management in the name of helping team members collaborate and handle support queries across multiple channels.

Front’s software provides automations that help you route, assign, and escalate customer requests; meanwhile, internal communication capabilities allow collaboration on message threads. It also provides reporting and analytics tools and customizable templates for replies.

Front describes itself as an “omnichannel inbox.” Although shared inboxes like Front's can provide a centralized view of customer requests, they’re not equivalent to dynamic and customizable customer support platforms. Front is missing channels and features important for scalability, like advanced reporting and a robust set of pre-built integrations to extend product capabilities. For example, its Starter plan lacks key integrations like automation and CRM. Front also doesn’t exclusively focus on CX, so your support team won’t get the same customer service expertise as they would with a best-of-breed alternative.

Our guide provides the details you need to know about Front competitors, including key features, functionality, capabilities, and pricing. See how the best Front alternatives compare so you can choose the right customer service software.

More in this guide:

• Best 13 Front alternatives and competitors at a glance
• A deep dive into the top alternatives and competitors to Front
• Frequently asked questions
• How to choose the best alternative to Front

Check out these 13 Front competitors and alternatives in our easy-to-digest comparison chart.

Picking the right customer service solution for your business might be easier than you think. Our list details the best alternatives to Front so you can make the right choice for your business.

1. Zendesk

Zendesk is a trusted leader in customer service and offers software exclusively focused on the customer experience. With Zendesk, your support team has the tools to provide personalized customer service with every interaction.

Where Zendesk excels:

• Unified omnichannel workspace: Agent Workspace—our intuitive, unified interface—helps teams deliver seamless omnichannel customer service without switching between dashboards. Agents can easily access customer context for more personalized support.
• AI-powered knowledge base: Our knowledge base software makes it easy for agents to keep knowledge fresh, accurate, and useful with generative AI tools.
• Pre-built and custom reporting and analytics: Reporting that works right out of the box and customizable reports with deep omnichannel analytics allow you to gather insights across channels.
• 1,500+ apps in the Zendesk Marketplace: Our robust selection of apps and integrations helps extend your systems' and toolsets' capabilities. You can create a 360-degree view of the customer journey by aligning channels with customer data, history, and context across apps and platforms.
• Industry-leading ticketing system: Track, manage, prioritize, and automatically route customer conversations with an AI-powered ticketing system.

Given the easy setup and intuitive interface, agents can skip the extensive training programs and start using Zendesk from day one. Zendesk is also built to scale your support processes. That means Zendesk offers you a low total cost of ownership and a better return on investment because you won’t need to endure switching costs as your operations and customer base grow.

For a more detailed comparison, check out our Zendesk vs. Front page.

Features:

• Unified omnichannel Agent Workspace
• Knowledge base
• 1,500+ apps and integrations
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• SLAs + OLAs
• Industry-leading ticketing system
• AI-powered self-service
• Live chat and messaging
• Skills-based routing and intelligent triage

Pricing:

• Support Team: $19 per agent/month
• Support Professional: $55 per agent/month
• Support Enterprise: $115 per agent/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

14 days

2. Missive

Missive offers a shared inbox and chat application that can help teams create a “business-first” collaborative environment. Its team email inboxes provide a centralized location to collaborate on messages from channels like email, Google groups, distribution lists, SMS, live chat, social media, business messaging apps, and custom API accounts. Users can configure workflows in the team inbox to send notifications to active members or triage messages to the entire team.

Other features include live chat, task assignments, and self-service resources that can keep workflows manageable for support teams. Users can customize the theme of their interface with three options—Light, Dark, and Mixed—and create a personalized view tailored to their preferences.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Integrations
• Collision alerts and notifications

Pricing:

• Free: $0 per user/month (up to 3 users)
• Starter: $14 per user/month
• Productive: $18 per user/month
• Business: $26 per user/month

Free trial:

30 days

3. Hiver

Hiver pairs with Gmail to help streamline support and communication between agents and customers. Its shared inbox can ease ticket management by consolidating multichannel communications, providing automation tools, and allowing for email tagging and assignments. Hiver also has alerts that prevent agents from duplicating work.

Hiver lets users automate repetitive tasks (like tagging messages) based on certain conditions, too. Users can automatically assign agents to emails based on their skills or change the assigned agent if the request has been open for too long. Hiver also allows team members to automatically close unimportant or junk emails if they meet specific conditions.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys
• Analytics and reporting

Pricing:

• Lite: $15 per user/month
• Pro: $39 per user/month
• Elite: $59 per user/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

7 days

4. Gmelius

Gmelius is a customer service software and email management tool. It integrates with G Suite to create a collaborative workspace with a shared inbox. Gmelius features email tracking, customizable email templates, and automation that may help teams follow up with customers, manage projects, streamline tasks, and handle customer service requests in one place.

Gmelius also offers reporting and analytics tools that allow users to gain insights into email performance and agent productivity. As a result, management can view email traffic and distribution and track individual and team key performance indicators (KPIs).

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Integrations
• Live chat and in-app messaging

Pricing:

• Flex: $15 per month (up to 10 users)
• Growth: $24 per user/month
• Pro: $36 per user/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

7 days

5. Freshdesk

Freshdesk (by Freshworks) offers a unified multichannel customer support platform with ticketing, voice, live chat, and automations. It features a ticket management system that can help agents manage, organize, and track customer requests through their life cycles. Freshdesk also has automated self-service that can answer customer FAQs with info from its knowledge base.

Rather than having a unified workspace where agents can access important customer information across channels, Freshdesk has different interfaces for every app (Freshdesk, Freshchat, and Freshcaller). Disconnected workspaces create disjointed experiences for agents and can result in missing context, slower responses, and longer time-to-resolution rates.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Integrations
• Live chat and in-app messaging

Pricing:

• Free: $0 per agent/month (up to 10 agents)
• Growth: $15 per agent/month
• Pro: $49 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $79 per agent/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

14 days

6. Help Scout

Help Scout offers a basic email-based customer support system. From its shared inbox, agents can respond to inquiries that were received from channels like chat, phone, social media, email, and text. The platform also includes reporting features that allow users to evaluate ticket volume by channel, peak hours, and trending issues.

Help Scout has an integrations marketplace with a selection of around 100 third-party applications. Users can integrate the software with apps for analytics, communication, e-commerce, marketing, and more.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Integrations
• In-app messaging

Pricing:

• Standard: $20 per user/month
• Plus: $40 per user/month
• Pro: $65 per user/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

15 days

7. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub is the customer support product within HubSpot’s suite of tools. In addition to customer service, the platform offers marketing, sales, and customer relationship management (CRM) software. Service Hub includes a multichannel ticketing system, knowledge management tools, automations, and reporting and analytics.

HubSpot Service Desk has a free option so users can explore its capabilities before locking into a plan. It also integrates best with its proprietary suite of products.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Conversation routing
• Simple ticket automation

Pricing:

• Free: $0/month (limited tools)
• Starter: $45/month
• Professional: $450/month
• Enterprise: $1,200/month

Free trial:

14 days

8. Drag

Drag integrates with Gmail to create a shared workspace for your customer service team. It can enable agents to stay organized, manage requests, automate tasks, reply to emails, and collaborate with teammates in their Gmail accounts. Drag natively connects to Google Workspace apps and integrates with other third-party apps through Zapier.

The shared inbox features Kanban boards that allow teams to build visual workflows. Users can create a card to represent a task, subtask, or customer request and pin it on the board. Card colors can be customized automatically or manually, and information like due dates or agent assignments can be added.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Integrations
• Kanban boards

Pricing:

• Free: $0 user/month (up to 3 users)
• Starter: $8 user/month
• Plus: $12 user/month
• Pro: $16 user/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

7 days

9. Trengo

Trengo offers a SaaS customer support platform that can help customer service agents collaborate better across channels. Its shared inbox can keep teams organized by allowing agents to label and categorize requests. Users can also tag teammates in conversations and internal notes to work together on issues.

Additionally, Trengo features live chat for immediate service and chatbots for automated 24/7 support. Users can track productivity metrics and analyze trends from customer feedback in the reporting dashboard. There are automation options to handle repetitive tasks and streamline routing processes, too.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Integrations
• Flobots (add-on)

Pricing:

• Grow: $18 per user/month
• Scale: $30 per user/month
• Enterprise: $42 per user/month
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

14 days

10. Crisp

Crisp is a business messaging platform that helps support teams connect with customers and manage requests in a shared inbox. This single view centralizes customer communications and integrates with your existing phone system to provide multichannel support. In addition to voice and email, Crisp supports live chat and messaging channels such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram DM.

Crisp also has a CRM that can help keep contacts and customer data organized. Businesses can connect Crisp’s sales, marketing, and support software with its CRM so teams stay in sync. For third-party integrations, Crisp has a marketplace with more than 60 apps available.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Widgets
• Live chat

Pricing:

• Basic: $0 per workspace/month (2 seats included)
• Pro: $25 per workspace/month
• Unlimited: $95 per workspace/month

Free trial:

14 days

11. Kayako

Kayako’s help desk software offers a shared inbox for multichannel support. The inbox tool features custom tags, views, and agent assignments to route tickets where they need to go. It also boasts a workspace called Kayako SingleView that consolidates data and ticket requests in one place.

In addition, Kayako provides email, self-service channels, third-party integrations through Zapier, and live chat software. Live chat software is included with Kayako’s help desk, allowing agents to provide real-time support around the clock. The interface can be customized to agents’ liking, too.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Customizable email templates
• Agent collision prevention

Pricing:

• Kayako Cloud: Contact Kayako
• Classic On-Prem: Contact Kayako

Free trial:

Unavailable

12. Superhuman

Superhuman is an AI-powered shared email inbox built specifically for teams that use Gmail or Outlook. Its features include ticket tracking, calendar scheduling, team collaboration, integrations, and automated replies—all of which are meant to help teams streamline and manage customer requests. Superhuman allows users to automate phrases and even entire emails with the Snippets tool.

With Superhuman’s Split Inbox feature, users can create separate inboxes for internal communication and customer emails. The tool can be configured to automatically sort emails and create alerts and notifications so important messages aren’t missed. Agents can also use the snooze feature to resurface an email at the assigned date.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Calendar and scheduling
• Email management

Pricing:

• Starter: $25 per user/month
• Growth: $38 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

30 days

13. Google Collaborative Inbox

Collaborative Inbox is a cloud-based customer support tool from Google, offered as a part of Google Workspace. With the shared inbox, customer service agents can work together and manage email requests in a centralized location. The interface is essentially Gmail with added collaboration features, like Messenger and Google Docs, so it’s familiar and user-friendly.

Users with the right inbox permissions can reassign conversations to themselves or another agent. Agents can mark requests complete, duplicate, or no action needed. Businesses can also create groups, add members, and give permissions to moderate content or metadata.

Features:

• Knowledge base
• Pre-built and custom reporting
• Shared inbox
• Custom and secure business email
• Security and management controls

Pricing:

• Business Starter: $6 per user/month
• Business Standard: $12 per user/month
• Business Plus: $18 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

14 days