The best Front alternatives for small support teams (2026)

The best Front alternatives in 2026 are Missive for a collaborative team inbox at a lower per-user price, Hiver for teams that want to stay inside Gmail, Help Scout for email-first customer support with a free plan, Freshdesk and Zendesk for deeper ticketing, Crisp for chat and messaging apps on a flat bill, Chatwoot for an open-source option, and Convot for small software teams that want email and live chat for one or several apps. Which one fits depends on whether you need a shared email client, a simple support inbox or a full help desk.

Front Starter is $25 per seat a month billed annually but supports one channel type, so email plus live chat needs Front Professional at $65 per seat. This guide compares eight alternatives on what three seats cost, whether email and chat come together, free plans and AI pricing. Prices come from each vendor’s pricing page, checked on 1 and 2 October 2026; Hiver’s figures are third-party and marked.

Disclosure: Convot publishes this list and is one of the eight tools. Its entry follows the same rules: list price, billing period stated, and where others beat it.

In this Front alternatives guide

• Why teams look beyond Front
• Front alternatives compared
• Missive
• Hiver
• Help Scout
• Freshdesk
• Zendesk
• Crisp
• Chatwoot
• Convot, email and live chat for each app
• When to stay on Front
• Common questions about Front alternatives

Why teams look beyond Front

Front prices per seat: Starter is $25, Professional $65 and Enterprise $105 per seat a month billed annually, or $35 and $85 billed monthly on the first two, as listed on Front’s pricing page on 1 October 2026. Three parts of that page push small teams to compare options.

Front pricing page, captured 3 October 2026.

• Starter supports one channel type. Email, Front Chat or SMS, not two, so a team that wants email and live chat pays Front Professional: $195 a month for three seats billed annually, or $255 monthly.
• AI is priced as add-ons. Autopilot, Front’s AI agent, starts at $0.05 per conversation; Copilot and Smart QA are $20 per seat each, included only on Enterprise.
• No free plan. Front has a 14-day trial with Professional features.

Front alternatives compared

*Hiver’s pricing page blocked our checks on 2 October 2026. Third-party comparisons list a free tier and paid plans from about $24 per user (Growth) to about $59 (Elite), with other sources quoting from $15; confirm with Hiver.

AI prices use different units: Front’s Autopilot from $0.05 per conversation, Help Scout’s AI Answers $0.75 per resolution, Zendesk about $2.00 per automated resolution on pay as you go (reported by third parties), Freshdesk’s Freddy 500 sessions included then $49 per 100, Crisp AI credits bundled into its plans, Missive AI automations with your own key, and Convot’s Cove AI $0.20 per resolved conversation in which it replied, on paid plans. The help desk pricing index lists the AI unit for 24 tools.

Missive

Missive is the Front alternative closest to Front itself: a team email client with shared inboxes, internal comments, assignment and tasks. Missive Starter is $14 per user a month billed yearly for up to 5 users, Productive $24 for up to 50 users with rules, integrations and API and MCP access, and Business $36 with SAML SSO and advanced analytics. It covers email, SMS and social accounts, and its AI automations use your own AI provider key. Missive offers a 30-day trial.

Missive pricing page, captured 3 October 2026.

Where Missive beats Front: about half Front’s per-seat price, and email, SMS and social on its entry plan where Front Starter allows one channel type.

Where it falls short: its pricing page lists no live chat widget or knowledge base, so customer support teams that want those need another tool.

Hiver

Hiver turns Gmail into a shared support inbox, so a Google Workspace team keeps working in the interface it already uses. Third-party comparisons describe shared inboxes, live chat, CSAT reporting and a knowledge base, with paid plans that start at 2 seats and scale in fixed blocks. Hiver’s pricing page blocked automated checks on 2 October 2026, so its prices here are third-party: a free tier and paid plans from about $24 per user a month, with one source quoting from $15.

Where Hiver beats Front: no new app to learn for Gmail teams.

Where it falls short: it began as a Gmail extension, so it suits Google Workspace teams best, and third-party sources say paid plans start at 2 seats and scale in fixed blocks. Confirm current prices and seat rules with Hiver.

Help Scout

Help Scout is the Front alternative for email-first customer support that should feel personal rather than like a ticket queue. Help Scout Standard is $30 per user a month billed monthly, $90 for three, or $25 billed annually, $75 for three; its free plan covers up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month. Live chat (Beacon) and a Docs knowledge base are on every plan, and AI Answers is $0.75 per resolution.

Help Scout pricing page on annual billing, captured 3 October 2026.

Where Help Scout beats Front: a free plan, and email plus live chat on its entry plan for $90 a month billed monthly ($75 annually) against Front Professional’s $255 billed monthly ($195 annually) for three seats.

Where it falls short: fewer workspace and collaboration controls than Front, and extra inboxes cost $12 a month each. The Help Scout alternatives guide covers its limits.

Freshdesk

Freshdesk is the Front alternative for teams that want ticketing, SLA policies and automation at a low per-agent price. Freshdesk Growth is $19 per agent a month billed annually, $57 for three, with multiple SLA policies from Freshdesk Pro at $55. Its Freddy AI Agent includes 500 sessions, then costs $49 per 100 sessions.

Freshdesk pricing page, captured 3 October 2026 (US pricing).

Where Freshdesk beats Front: price per agent, and ticketing depth such as SLA policies.

Where it falls short: Freshdesk’s pricing page lists no chat widget, so email plus live chat needs another product. See the Freshdesk alternatives guide.

Zendesk

Zendesk is the Front alternative for teams that need structured ticketing, voice and a large marketplace. Zendesk Suite Team, which adds messaging and a help center to email ticketing, is $55 per agent a month billed annually, $165 for three. AI agents are billed per automated resolution, reported by third parties at about $2.00 on pay as you go.

Zendesk pricing page, captured 3 October 2026.

Where Zendesk beats Front: voice, routing and the breadth of its marketplace.

Where it falls short: for three agents it costs $165 a month billed annually, more than twice Front Starter ($75) and about 15 percent below Front Professional ($195), and its AI, reported at about $2.00 per automated resolution, is the most expensive per resolution here. The Zendesk pricing guide breaks down every plan.

Crisp

Crisp is the Front alternative for chat-first teams that want messaging apps on a flat bill. Crisp charges per workspace: Mini is $45 a month with 4 seats, Essentials $95 with 10 seats and Plus $295 with 20 or more, with AI credits bundled. WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS start on Essentials.

Crisp pricing page, captured 3 October 2026.

Where Crisp beats Front: 10 seats with chat, email and messaging apps for $95, against $650 for 10 Front Professional seats billed annually.

Where it falls short: fewer email collaboration features than Front, and each website usually needs its own workspace. The Crisp pricing guide has the full plan table.

Chatwoot

Chatwoot is the open-source Front alternative. Chatwoot Startups is $19 per agent a month, Business $39 and Enterprise $99; the Hacker plan is free for 2 agents and 500 conversations a month with live chat only, and the open-source edition is free to self-host.

Chatwoot pricing page, captured 3 October 2026.

Where Chatwoot beats Front: self-hosting, and email, live chat and messaging channels from $19 per agent.

Where it falls short: self-hosting means you maintain it, and its Captain AI uses credits whose cost per reply is not published. See Convot vs Chatwoot.

Convot, email and live chat for each app

Convot is the Front alternative for small software teams that want email and live chat together, for one app or several. Convot Starter is $49 a month for 1 app and 3 seats, billed monthly, with email and live chat included; each extra app is $20 and each extra seat $10. Every app gets its own chat widget, help center, changelog, roadmap with voting and status page, and all conversations land in one inbox. Cove AI costs $0.20 per resolved conversation in which it replied, on paid plans. Convot is free under $1,000 MRR for 1 app and 3 seats, without AI.

The Convot inbox, with email and chat from every app in one place.

Where Convot beats Front: email and live chat for three seats at $49 a month billed monthly against $255 on Front Professional billed monthly ($195 annually), though Front Professional also covers SMS, WhatsApp and social. Convot adds a help center, changelog, roadmap and status page for each app.

Where it falls short: Convot offers email and live chat only, with no SMS, WhatsApp or social channels, and Front’s collaboration tools inside email threads, workspaces and analytics go further. Convot has no Front importer. See Convot vs Front.

When to stay on Front

• Collaboration inside email is the job: Front’s shared drafts, comments and workspaces are its strength.
• One channel type is enough: Front Starter at $25 per seat billed annually is competitive for an email-only team.
• You need SMS, WhatsApp and social with email: Front Professional covers them in one inbox.

For more options by team size, see the best help desk software for small teams and small businesses.

Common questions about Front alternatives

What is the best Front alternative?

The best Front alternative depends on what you use Front for. Missive suits teams that want a collaborative team inbox at a lower price, Hiver suits Gmail teams, Help Scout suits email-first customer support with a free plan, Freshdesk and Zendesk suit teams that need deeper ticketing, and Convot suits small software teams that want email and live chat for one or several apps.

What is cheaper than Front?

For three seats, Missive Starter is $42 a month billed yearly, Crisp Mini $45 with 4 seats, Convot Starter $49 for 1 app billed monthly, and Freshdesk Growth $57 billed annually, against $75 on Front Starter billed annually for one channel type, or $195 on Front Professional for email plus chat. Help Scout’s free plan covers up to 5 users.

Is there a free alternative to Front?

Help Scout is free for up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month, Crisp is free for 2 seats, Chatwoot’s Hacker plan is free for 2 agents with live chat only, and Convot is free for teams under $1,000 MRR. Third-party comparisons also report a free tier for Hiver. Front itself has a 14-day trial but no free plan.

How much does Front cost?

Front Starter is $25 per seat a month billed annually or $35 monthly, Front Professional $65 annually or $85 monthly, and Enterprise $105 per seat billed annually, as checked on 1 October 2026. Starter supports one channel type; Autopilot AI starts at $0.05 per conversation, and Copilot and Smart QA are $20 per seat each below Enterprise.