Front

KEEP IT

The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying.

A shared inbox that looks like email: teams work shared addresses together with assignment, internal comments and drafts nobody sends twice.

Promptfree, for everyone, and the only version there is

Build a shared inbox, and get collisions right.

STACK
- Postgres, a small Node server, IMAP or a provider webhook for inbound, SES for outbound

THREADING
- By Message-ID and References headers, never by subject
- Subject threading merges unrelated conversations and is the classic mistake here

ASSIGNMENT
- One assignee per conversation; changes appended to a history table

COLLISIONS, THE PART THAT MATTERS
- Presence over SSE: who has this conversation open and who is typing
- A soft lock when someone starts a reply, released after two minutes of inactivity
- Never a hard lock: a colleague at lunch must not block the queue

INTERNAL NOTES
- Same table as messages with a visibility flag, so the timeline is one query

Include the threading, the presence channel and the soft lock.

What you lose

Real-time collision detection, so two people never reply to the same message
Internal comments threaded beside the customer conversation rather than in another tool
Deep integrations that pull customer records into the reply pane

If you would rather not build

Google Groups with a shared label, which is free

The escape hatch

open source · no votes, no paid placement

Zammad

A mature self-hosted help desk with a shared inbox and SLAs.

zammad/zammadfree · open source

Chatwoot

Open-source shared inbox across email, chat and social.

chatwoot/chatwootfree · open source

Why this verdict

our own opinion · changed only by a person

32/100

Verdict no at 32. The inbox is a weekend; presence and collision handling reliable enough to trust are what teams actually pay for.

History

tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten

Interest · last 30 days

Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.

Questions about Front

answered from the record above

Is Front free?

No — the plan we track is $19 a month. Starter at $19 per seat per month billed monthly, cheaper annually.

Can you replace Front by building your own?

KEEP IT. The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying. Replacement score 32 out of 100, build time longer than it saves. Read what you lose before you decide.

How much does Front cost?

$19 a month on Starter — $228 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.

What do you lose by replacing Front?

Real-time collision detection, so two people never reply to the same message; Internal comments threaded beside the customer conversation rather than in another tool; Deep integrations that pull customer records into the reply pane. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Front?

Yes: Zammad, Chatwoot. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.

Related entries

same category first, most replaced first

All 20 in Customer support

Coming soon

Every week, something stops being worth paying for.

New verdicts, prices that moved, entries added. One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click.

free forever · no tracking pixel · every prompt stays free on the site