According to research, the line between customers who expect instant service, and those who crave natural, conversational interactions when dealing with customer service, is quite thin.

This means your customers are looking for a support experience that feels as effortless as chatting with a friend. However, juggling multiple communication channels and delivering personalized attention to each customer overwhelms your customer support team.

You may have heard of the Front app as a tool to help you with this, but since it's not the only player in the game, this article reviews some of its alternatives.

6 best Front alternatives & competitors

Glassix

Ever feel like you're drowning in a sea of customer messages scattered across a dozen different platforms? Email, WhatsApp, social media – the list goes on! Wouldn't it be amazing to have a single, unified inbox where you can easily manage customer queries?

That's where Glassix comes in. We're a next-generation, AI-powered customer support platform designed to help busy teams like yours conquer the communication chaos and deliver stellar customer experiences. We go beyond the simple "omnichannel" label by leveraging Conversational AI powered by GPT-4. This translates to automated tasks, personalized interactions and a complete customer service game-changer.

Features

Here are a few of Glassix key features:

• One inbox for all your channels: Manage emails, WhatsApp messages, social media chats and more – all in one place! Glassix brings all your communication channels together in a single inbox, making keeping track of customer conversations a breeze.
• Conversational AI: Glassix uses super-smart AI to understand what your customers are asking. This means chatbots can answer questions and have natural conversations, just like talking to a real person (well, almost!).
• Omnichannel integration: No more app-hopping! Glassix integrates seamlessly with tools like Jira, Salesforce and Slack. Everything you need is right there, in one convenient spot.
• Auto-suggested responses: Are you stuck trying to craft the perfect response? Glassix analyzes your conversations in real time and suggests helpful replies, keeping your messaging on point.
• No-code chatbot flow builder: With Glassix, building a chatbot doesn't require a tech degree. Just use the easy drag-and-drop interface to design the conversation flow. Once you're happy, deploy your chatbot with a single click.
• Automatic tagging of conversations: Glassix automatically tags conversations based on keywords. This makes it easy to find specific messages and track customer trends – without digging through endless chats.
• One-click conversation summaries: Need a quick recap? Glassix generates summaries of any conversation with a single click. These summaries highlight key points and customer requests, keeping you in the loop.
• Template-based automation flows: Glassix has pre-built templates for common customer support scenarios. Just choose the template that fits and you're ready to roll.
• Generative AI chatbots: We use the power of advanced AI to create chatbots that can handle the most complex interactions. These clever chatbots can understand nuances and provide personalized support experiences that leave your customers feeling valued.
• Human-to-bot handoff and vice versa: Some issues require customer support agents. Glassix smoothly transfers complex conversations from chatbots to real agents and vice versa. This ensures your customers always get the best possible support, no matter their needs.
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Pricing

Glassix offers flexible pricing plans to suit your team's size and needs. Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, there's a plan that will help you streamline customer support and take your service to the next level.

• 30-day free trial
• Starter: $49 (best for small and medium businesses)
• Growth: $130 (best for those who want to start small and scale over time)
• Enterprise plan (best for enterprise companies)
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User ratings

Glassix users highlight the platform's ease of use and its unified inbox that lets them manage communications from various channels in one place.

Help Scout

Help Scout is an all-in-one AI customer service platform whose features focus on assisting agents with crafting clear and concise responses, ensuring consistent messaging across the team.

Features

Here are its key features:

• Shared inbox: Help Scout brings everything together in a single, streamlined inbox. Plus, features like snoozing messages, assigning conversations and adding private notes make teamwork a breeze.
• Customer profile: Help Scout automatically displays a sidebar with all the essential customer details and past interaction history. 
• Automation features: Help Scout allows you to set up smart workflows to streamline processes, use auto-replies during off-hours and schedule emails in advance to stay ahead of the curve.
• Self-service: Websites can leverage self-service options by creating a customized help widget and building a comprehensive knowledge base filled with articles and FAQs. This reduces the burden on your support team and improves customer satisfaction.
• Reporting capabilities: This feature allows users to gain insights into customer experience by tracking metrics such as response times, message volume and customer satisfaction ratings from built-in micro-surveys.
• Integration: Help Scout integrates seamlessly with email, live chat, social media, SMS, phone/voice systems and popular platforms like Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot.
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Pricing

Help Scout offers tiered pricing plans to fit every team's needs and budget.

• Free trial
• Standard: $22/user/month (great starting point for basic multi-channel support)
• Plus: $44/user/month (adds features for growing teams like advanced team collaboration and organization)
• Pro: $65 (for large enterprises requiring top-tier security and service)
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User ratings

Help Scout users appreciate that it's easy to learn and navigate, with a clean inbox layout that avoids overwhelming users with unnecessary features.

See also: HelpScout alternatives

Freshdesk

Freshdesk positions itself as an AI-powered customer service platform that emphasizes collaboration tools for faster and more consistent service.

Features

Here are its key features:

• Omnichannel inbox: Similar to the previous Front competitors, Freshdesk unifies multiple channels into a team inbox, eliminates the need to switch between different apps and gives a complete view of each customer conversation.
• AI-driven analytics: Freshdesk uses AI to analyze customer satisfaction ratings and help build custom reports. Real-time dashboards automatically update key metrics, while users can also schedule reports for automatic delivery.
• Ticket tracking: Freshdesk offers streamlined ticket management through features like priority setting, categorization and automatic routing based on keywords or requester information. Automated suggestions for ticket fields help agents categorize and prioritize inquiries quickly, while agent collision detection prevents duplicate work.
• Automations: Freshdesk customer service automation tools include automatic ticket assignments based on workload or agent expertise, time-triggered actions, and automated notifications that keep teams informed and on top of their tasks. 
• Fredy AI: These chatbots offer comprehensive customer support by directly answering questions, learning from a knowledge base, recommending solutions and suggesting next steps for handling intricate issues.
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Pricing

Freshdesk offers a tiered pricing structure with a likely free plan and paid plans catering to different needs:

• Free plan (for startups or tiny teams)
• Growth: $15/agent/month (for growing businesses)
• Pro: $49/agent/month (for high-performance teams)
• Enterprise: $79/agent/month (for large enterprises)
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User ratings

Users appreciate Freshdesk’s affordability, highlighting its value for the features offered. They find the interface easy to navigate and configure.

See also: Freshdesk alternatives

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service platform built around the human experience. Their AI-powered features are designed to empower agents to deliver faster and more personalized service, while still prioritizing the human element of customer interactions.

Features

Here's what this customer support software offers:

• Unified messaging channels: Zendesk offers a messaging solution that integrates with a website, mobile app, social media platforms (including WhatsApp and Facebook) and business tools like Slack, allowing for consistent communication across various channels.
• Conversation orchestration: Just like other Front app alternatives, Zendesk intelligently routes requests to the most suitable agent from the entire team based on factors like availability, workload and expertise. This ensures faster resolution times and improved customer satisfaction.
• Conversation extensions: Zendesk extends the power of conversations by allowing integrations with third-party apps. Customers can access self-service features such as live location maps or custom bots directly within conversations.
• Smart knowledge base: This AI-powered knowledge base provides content recommendations within support tickets, makes SEO optimization easier and uses generative AI to write text automatically.
• AI agents: Zendesk AI agents offer instant answers to common questions, 24/7, across all service channels. This reduces reliance on human agents and provides constant customer support.
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Pricing

Zendesk Sell offers tiered pricing plans catering to businesses of various sizes:

• Free trial (14 days)
• Sell Team: $19/agent/month (for very small teams with basic sales needs)
• Sell Growth: $55/agent/month (for growing businesses)
• Sell Professional: $115/agent/month (for larger organizations with complex sales processes)
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User ratings

Users appreciate Zendesk Support Suite’s comprehensive features, highlighting its customizability and integrations with other systems such as Google Suite and Salesforce. They find the ability to automate tasks and tailor the platform to their company's needs particularly valuable.

See also: Zendesk alternatives

Intercom

Intercom is another customer communications tool that offers advanced features that allow 24/7 support and natural, human-like interactions across various channels.

Features

Here are its features that could optimize your team performance:

• Fin AI: This AI assistant leverages sophisticated language models to provide natural, human-like interactions across various channels. It can autonomously resolve up to 50% of customer inquiries, allowing human agents to dedicate their expertise to addressing more complex issues.
• Centralized hub: Intercom offers a central platform that connects all customer interactions, including emails, chats, and phone calls, into a single inbox.
• Real-time conversations: Agents can address customer issues immediately within the real-time conversation flow, eliminating the need for context switching and delays. This can improve customer engagement and lead to faster resolution times.
• AI insights and reporting: Generate AI reports to understand common customer topics and make data-driven decisions with pre-built reports. Users can also configure custom reports for deeper dives.
• Workflows: Workflow automation tools allow users to streamline repetitive tasks like routing and snoozing conversations while also integrating with popular applications such as Salesforce and GitHub for a more efficient workflow.
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Pricing

Intercom offers tiered pricing plans to fit different business needs:

• Free trial (14 days)
• Essential: $39 per seat/month (or startups and small businesses)
• Advanced: $99 per seat/month (for growing teams)
• Expert: $139 per seat/month (for large support teams)
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User ratings

Users appreciate that Intercom is easy to set up and navigate. They also highlight a user-friendly interface, keyboard shortcuts for faster navigation and an intuitive onboarding process.

See also: Intercom alternatives

Hiver

Hiver is a tool designed to streamline email management and run multi-channel help desks directly within your email provider inbox.

Features

Here are some of its more advanced features:

• Shared inbox and labels: Hiver offers a shared workspace experience within Gmail, enabling teams to collaborate on emails through features like ownership assignment, note-taking, mentions, and label-based organization.
• Scheduled emails: Scheduling emails in advance allows users to send communications at optimal times and prepare responses outside of working hours, streamlining their workflow.
• Customer portal: Hiver offers a customer portal functionality that allows customers to submit and track their support issues independently. This streamlines the resolution process, reducing the workload for support teams and ultimately enhancing the customer experience.
• Email templates: Pre-written email templates can save teams time and ensure consistent communication when responding to frequently asked questions. These templates can also include rich media attachments and be shared among team members for a streamlined workflow.
• Workload distribution: This feature allows teams to visualize tasks, balance assignments amongst team members and ensure everyone's workload is manageable. This helps to avoid burnout and optimizes overall customer service productivity.
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Pricing

Hiver offers three paid plans with a 7-day free trial:

• Free trial (7 days)
• Lite: $19/user/month (for small teams with basic needs)
• Pro: $49/user/month (for growing businesses that require features like chatbots and advanced analytics)
• Elite: $79/user/month (for teams with high-volume of customer queries)
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User ratings

Multiple reviewers mention that Hiver integrates seamlessly with Gmail. They also highlight the efficiency of shared inboxes and task assignment features.

Front alternatives & competitors: What to look for

Choosing the right customer support platform can be overwhelming with so many options available. Here's a breakdown of key factors to consider when evaluating Front alternatives:

Features:

Unified inbox

A central hub for managing all customer communication channels (email, chat, social media) in one place is essential for streamlining workflows and avoiding context switching.

AI-powered features

Look for platforms that use AI to automate tasks (e.g., ticket routing, suggested responses), provide self-service options (e.g., knowledge base) and personalize customer interactions (e.g., chatbots).

Collaboration tools

Features like shared inboxes, task assignment and internal notes enable seamless teamwork and ensure everyone on the team is on the same page.

Automation capabilities

Customer service automation which includes assigning tickets, sending follow-up emails and scheduling messages, frees up agents' time to focus on complex issues.

Reporting and analytics

Track key metrics (e.g., response times, customer satisfaction) to gain insights into customer interactions and identify areas for improvement. Reporting should be customizable and offer pre-built dashboards for easy data visualization.

Pricing

Tiered plans

Most platforms offer tiered pricing structures to accommodate businesses of various sizes and needs. Look for plans that scale with your team, and consider free trials to test features before committing.

Value for money

Compare the features offered within each pricing tier to ensure you get the most value for your investment.

Integrations

Seamless integration with existing tools

Ensure the platform integrates with your current CRM, email marketing tool or project management software to streamline workflows and avoid data silos.

Open API

An open API allows developers to build custom integrations with other applications specific to your business needs.

Best Front alternatives & competitors: Comparison table

Ready to transform your customer service?

With a wide range of customer support platforms available, choosing the right one can feel daunting. However, Glassix stands out from the crowd with its next-generation Conversational AI powered by GPT-4. This translates to features like automated tasks, personalized interactions and human-like chatbots that can handle even the most complex inquiries.

Don't just take our word for it. Try Glassix for free today and see how it can transform your customer service.