Best Front Alternatives 2026: Ranked

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#	Tool	Best for	From
1	HotHawk	If you used Front for cold email	$97/mo
2	Missive	A cheaper Front-like inbox	$18/seat/mo
3	Hiver	Google Workspace teams	$19/seat/mo
4	Help Scout	Customer support desks	$25/user/mo
5	Gmelius	Cheapest Gmail shared inbox	$9/seat/mo

First, the why

Why teams leave Front.

Front is a polished tool, and most people who leave are not unhappy with it, they just want cheaper, simpler or a different job done. These are the three reasons that come up most.

The per-seat price adds up

Front is $25 a seat to start, but most growing teams end up on Professional at $65 a seat, so the bill climbs quickly as you add people. Cheaper shared inboxes cover a lot of the same ground.

It can be more than you need

Front is a polished, enterprise-grade platform. For a small team that just wants a shared inbox, or a support desk, a lighter tool is often a better, cheaper fit.

It was never built for cold email

If you picked Front to run sales or cold outreach, that is where it struggles: no sequencing, warmup or rotation. For that job you want a tool built for it, not a shared inbox.

The list

The 5 best Front alternatives, ranked.

1

HotHawk

from $97/mo Our pick

The pick if you were running outreach in Front: a cold email tool with the inbox built in.

Where it wins. Front was never built to send cold email, so if that is what you were using it for, HotHawk is the real fix: multi-step campaigns, warmup on real Google and Microsoft inboxes, automatic rotation, and a Master Inbox that catches every reply and routes it to your team. All flat from $97 a month with unlimited seats, where Front bills per seat up to $65.

The trade-off. HotHawk is not a general shared inbox. If your team works inbound support or operations mail together, rather than running cold outreach, one of the tools below fits better than we do.

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2

Missive

from $18/seat/mo

The closest like-for-like at a fraction of Front’s price, with lovely team chat.

Where it wins. Assignment, internal chat on every thread and multichannel support, much like Front, from $18 a seat with a free tier for one user. The natural move if Front does what you need but costs more than you want.

Where it falls short. It is still an inbound collaboration tool, so no cold email sending, warmup or rotation, and it is a touch less enterprise-polished than Front.

Visit website

3

Hiver

from $19/seat/mo

A shared inbox that lives inside Gmail, so nobody learns a new app.

Where it wins. Assignment, statuses and helpdesk triage layered onto Gmail, with a free tier, from $19 a seat. Ideal if your team lives in Google Workspace and wants a lighter, cheaper option than Front.

Where it falls short. Gmail and Google Workspace only, so Outlook teams are out, and it leans toward support triage rather than sales or multichannel.

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4

Help Scout

from $25/user/mo

A support-first shared inbox and help desk, simpler than Front for a support team.

Where it wins. Saved replies, a knowledge base and support reporting in a friendly, easy tool. If the reason you had Front was really customer support, Help Scout is more focused and often cheaper.

Where it falls short. It is squarely a support tool, so it is narrower than Front for sales or operations, and nowhere near cold outreach.

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5

Gmelius

from $9/seat/mo

A budget shared inbox and workflow tool built onto Gmail.

Where it wins. Shared inboxes, kanban boards and automation inside Gmail from $9 a seat, the cheapest way to give a Google Workspace team a shared inbox with some workflow on top.

Where it falls short. Gmail only, lighter than Front on channels and polish, and, like the rest, built for inbound collaboration, not cold email.

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How we ranked these

Our method.

People leave Front for two different reasons, so we ranked for both. If you were using it to run cold email or sales, we weighed which tool actually does that job. If you want a general shared inbox, we weighed collaboration, channels, provider support and price. Prices are each provider’s published rates as of July 2026.

HotHawk is our own product, and we have put it first for the cold email use case, because that is where a purpose-built tool beats a shared inbox. We have been straight that Missive, Hiver, Help Scout and Gmelius are the better pick for a general team inbox. No tool paid to be here, and there are no affiliate links.

FAQ

Front alternatives, answered.

What is the best Front alternative?

It depends what you used Front for. If you were running cold email or sales outreach, HotHawk is the pick, because it actually sends and manages the replies in one tool. If you want a cheaper general shared inbox, Missive is the closest like-for-like, Hiver is best for Google Workspace teams, and Help Scout for customer support.

Is there a cheaper alternative to Front?

Yes. Front runs from $25 to $65 a seat a month. Missive starts at $18 a seat, Hiver at $19, and Gmelius at $9, all cheaper for a general shared inbox. HotHawk is $97 a month flat with unlimited seats, which works out well for a team running cold email rather than paying per seat for an inbox.

Can I run cold email from Front or its alternatives?

Not really. Front, Missive, Hiver, Help Scout and Gmelius are all shared inboxes built for teams collaborating on inbound email. None of them send cold email, warm mailboxes or rotate sending. If cold outreach is the job, you want a dedicated cold email tool like HotHawk, which is why it sits first here.

Why is HotHawk ranked first if it is not a shared inbox?

Because a lot of people who look for a Front alternative were using it to manage cold email or sales replies, and for that job a purpose-built tool wins. HotHawk sends the outreach and manages the replies in one place. We have been clear that if you want a general team inbox for inbound instead, the shared inboxes below are the better fit.

Which Front alternative is best for Google Workspace?

Hiver, if you want to stay inside Gmail, since it layers a shared inbox straight onto Google Workspace, and Gmelius if you want the cheapest option with some workflow automation. Both are Gmail only. If you also need to run cold email from those mailboxes, HotHawk connects to Google Workspace over OAuth and handles the sending too.

Comparison based on publicly available information from each provider’s website, accurate as of July 2026. Prices and features change, so check each provider for the latest. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners; HotHawk is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Last updated July 2026.

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The best Front alternatives in 2026.

Why teams leave Front.

The per-seat price adds up

It can be more than you need

It was never built for cold email

The 5 best Front alternatives, ranked.

HotHawk

Missive

Hiver

Help Scout

Gmelius

Our method.

Front alternatives, answered.

Send cold emails that get delivered. Never miss a positive reply.