The 11 best Front alternatives and competitors in 2026

Front, also searched as the Front app or Frontapp, is a shared inbox in its own app with routing rules. Starter is $25 per seat per month on annual billing, capped at 10 seats. Professional is $65 and Enterprise $105, verified October 2026. Front pricing in 2026 covers the add-ons.

How we evaluated these Front alternatives

We build Sektra, so read our entry with that in mind. Every other tool was checked on its vendor's own pricing or product page in October 2026. We compared channels, assignment, internal notes, collision detection (a warning when a teammate is already replying), analytics, how AI is billed, where mail lives and price.

Front alternatives and competitors compared

What is the best Front alternative?

It depends on whether your team works a queue of strangers or a list of named clients.

1. Missive: for Front's shape at a lower seat price

Missive is the alternative shaped most like Front: one app for shared email, internal chat and tasks.

It connects Gmail, Outlook, IMAP, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. Starter is $14 per user per month for up to 5 users, Productive $24 and Business $36, billed yearly, verified October 2026.

AI runs on Missive credits or your own API key. Nothing in the app lists what each client is still owed.

• Pros: Gmail, Outlook and IMAP in one app; a 30-day trial with no card.
• Cons: everyone moves into a new app; AI billed separately; advanced analytics only on Business.

Fits a team that will move into one app together. See Front vs Missive and Sektra vs Missive.

2. Sektra: for client-facing teams that need a record of what was promised

Sektra is the AI shared inbox that remembers what your team promised, built for teams whose inbound is the same clients every week.

It is a separate workspace that syncs two-way with Gmail, Outlook including Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes, IMAP and WhatsApp Business. Gmail and Outlook connect through Google or Microsoft sign-in, IMAP with its password stored encrypted, WhatsApp through your provider. Nothing migrates, so a teammate who has not moved keeps replying from Gmail or Outlook.

Threads get an owner by rule, round robin or workload. Internal notes never reach the client, and "A teammate is typing a reply" shows before two people answer. Analytics report p50 and p90 response times per client.

The memory layer is Sektra's record per client, built from the mail itself. It holds commitments in both directions with dates, open questions, the people involved and every thread's history, across email and WhatsApp.

The assistant answers questions about any client with links to the source threads, and drafts replies a person sends. Action items are the tasks it holds for you: reminders that cancel when the client replies, and watches. A silence watch tells you the day a client goes quiet, after a day count you set.

The morning digest lists what you owe and who owes you a reply. Every AI feature is in the plan price; questions, drafts and action items use credits, a monthly allowance pooled across the team. See pricing.

• Pros: four channels with mail left in place; a record per client of what each side promised; every AI feature in the plan.
• Cons: no phone channel, and the CRM integrations show the record beside the thread rather than syncing every field back.

Fits agencies, consultancies and account teams. See agencies, account management, the product and Sektra vs Front. Every workspace starts with 7 days of Pro and no card.

3. Hiver: for support queues run from Gmail

Hiver turns Gmail into a support queue, where conversations open, get worked and close.

Hiver in Gmail adds a shared inbox, live chat and analytics to Gmail; Hiver Omni is a separate product. Growth is $25 per user per month on annual billing, Pro $55, Elite $85, verified October 2026.

AI Agents come with Growth, SLA targets with Pro and AI QA with Elite. A closed conversation ends the trail.

• Pros: no new app for a Gmail team; AI Agents on the entry plan.
• Cons: SLAs from $55; AI QA at $85; built around closing tickets.

Fits a support team on Google Workspace. See Hiver vs Front and Sektra vs Hiver.

4. Gmelius: for AI sorting and boards in Gmail

Gmelius is a Gmail extension built around Meli, an AI agent that drafts and sorts mail.

Meli is $19 per user per month on annual billing for up to 5 users. Shared inboxes and Kanban boards start on Growth at $25; Pro is $40, verified October 2026.

AI sits in the seat price, capped at 5,000 conversations a month on Meli. It is Gmail and Google Workspace only.

• Pros: AI in the plan price; boards from Growth; a 7-day trial.
• Cons: Gmail only; no shared inbox on the entry plan; monthly conversation caps.

Fits a Gmail team that wants AI sorting on shared mail. Sektra vs Gmelius adds Outlook and client history.

5. Drag: for Kanban boards in a small Gmail team

Drag turns Gmail into shared boards where each email is a card.

Starter is $12 per user per month billed yearly with 10 rules. Plus is $18 with Varley, Drag's AI. Pro is $24 with WhatsApp and SLA rules, verified October 2026.

Assignments, notes and collision detection come on every plan. The pricing page names Gmail and Google Workspace, and no Outlook.

• Pros: a $12 entry; no seat minimum; a 7-day trial with no card.
• Cons: Gmail only; WhatsApp and SLAs only on Pro; AI credits extra on Starter.

Fits a small Gmail team tracking who handles what. See Sektra vs Drag.

6. Help Scout: for a ticket desk with a knowledge base

Help Scout is a help desk built around conversations that get resolved and closed.

Free covers 5 users and 100 contacts a month. Standard is $25 per user per month with live chat and WhatsApp, Plus $45 and Pro $75, verified October 2026.

AI Answers, the agent that replies on its own, is $0.75 per resolution. A client who writes every week for two years never closes.

• Pros: a free plan; a knowledge base on every plan; a 15-day trial.
• Cons: 100 contacts on Free; AI billed per resolution; tickets for ongoing clients.

Fits a support team that answers each customer once. See Sektra vs Help Scout.

7. Helply (formerly Groove): for an AI agent answering first

Helply is the AI-agent platform from the team that built Groove, with a help desk included.

It covers ticketing, a knowledge base and AI agents across email, chat, WhatsApp, SMS and Slack. Plans start at $49 a month in credits, with no per-user fee, verified October 2026.

A draft costs 1 credit and a full investigation 12. The agent resolves repeat questions; it keeps no record of what your team committed to.

• Pros: unlimited users; a 14-day trial with 1,000 credits and no card.
• Cons: a credit block to forecast; built to deflect repeat questions.

Fits a support team that wants an AI agent to answer first. See Sektra vs Groove.

8. Freshdesk: for email ticketing with SLAs

Freshdesk is email ticketing priced per agent, with chat sold separately.

Growth is $19 per agent per month billed annually, Pro $55 with SLA policies, and Enterprise $89, verified October 2026. Chat and messaging sit on Freshdesk Omni, from $29.

Freddy AI's agent assist is a $29 per agent add-on from Pro. The AI agent gets 500 sessions once, then $49 per 100.

• Pros: a $19 entry; a knowledge base on Growth; a 14-day trial.
• Cons: chat on a separate product; SLAs from $55; AI assist extra.

Fits a support team that wants email tickets at a per-agent price.

9. Zoho Desk: for support teams already on Zoho

Zoho Desk is a help desk in the Zoho suite, with a free plan for 3 users.

Express is $7 per agent per month billed annually. Standard is $14 and adds live chat and WhatsApp. Professional is $23 with phone, Enterprise $40, verified October 2026 in USD.

Zia, Zoho's AI, is listed from Professional. The record is the ticket, with no view across one client's year.

• Pros: a free plan; WhatsApp from $14; a 15-day trial with no card.
• Cons: Zia and phone only from Professional; built around tickets.

Fits a support team already running on Zoho apps.

10. Zendesk: for support operations with voice and routing

Zendesk is a ticketing suite built for support operations with phone lines.

Support Team is $19 per agent per month on annual billing, for email. Suite Team is $55 with chat, social, basic voice and WhatsApp at extra fees. Suite Professional is $115 with SLAs and IVR.

The AI agent costs $2.00 per automated resolution, and agent assist is a $50 per agent add-on from Suite Professional, verified October 2026.

• Pros: voice, IVR and routing in one suite; a 14-day trial.
• Cons: chat needs the $55 Suite; SLAs from $115; AI billed per resolution.

Fits a support operation that needs phone and routing. See Zendesk alternatives.

11. HubSpot Service Hub: for support teams already on HubSpot CRM

Service Hub is HubSpot's help desk, on the same record as HubSpot's CRM.

Free includes ticketing and team email. Starter lists at $20 per seat per month, with a $10 offer for new customers, and adds live chat. Professional is $100 and Enterprise $150, verified October 2026.

The Customer Agent, which resolves email and chat on its own, is on Professional. Each resolution uses 50 HubSpot credits.

• Pros: a free plan; one CRM record across sales and service.
• Cons: an $80 jump per seat to Professional; built around tickets.

Fits a team already selling on HubSpot. Sektra keeps a client record without a CRM to update.

Front alternatives by the reason you are switching

If the bill is the reason, price the tier you would use: Front's macros start at $65, and Front's Copilot adds $20 per seat below Enterprise. Sektra puts every AI feature in the plan; see pricing.

If the team will not leave Gmail, Hiver, Gmelius and Drag work in the Gmail interface. Sektra keeps mail in Gmail or Outlook, synced both ways.

If you want a help desk, Help Scout, Freshdesk, Zoho Desk and Zendesk run on tickets, and Helply leads with an AI agent, as Intercom does. See Front vs Intercom.

If clients keep asking about things your team agreed to months ago, the gap is memory, and Sektra's record per client is built for it.

What switching from Front involves

Removing a Gmail or Office 365 mailbox from Front does not delete the mail in that account, per Front's help center. Comments, tags, rules and analytics history stay in Front.

• Export analytics, tags and the rule list while you still have access.
• Connect the alternative to the same mailboxes and run both for two weeks.
• Test real threads: the client who escalates, the handoff during leave, the thread nobody owns.
• Pick one date and move everyone, so nobody answers clients from two places.

Switching without a migration covers the parallel run, and the 11 best shared inbox tools the wider category.

Which Front alternative should you pick?

• Named clients on Gmail, Outlook or WhatsApp: Sektra, for the record of what each side promised and the day a client goes quiet.
• Front's shape at a lower price: Missive, if everyone moves into one app.
• A support queue in Gmail: Hiver, Gmelius or Drag.
• A ticket desk: Help Scout, Freshdesk or Zoho Desk. An AI agent answering first: Helply.
• Voice and routing: Zendesk. Support inside HubSpot CRM: Service Hub.

Front sorts the mail that arrived today. For a client team, the alternative to pick is the one that remembers what you said last spring.