Front vs Sortd (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Front if

• Fits if a support team works shared addresses all day and needs to see who has what
• Works for teams whose customers write in by email, chat, SMS and WhatsApp, on Professional at $65 a seat

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you're one person with one inbox, because this is built and priced for teams
• Tight if you're on Starter, with 10 seats, one channel type and 10 automation rules
• Pricey if you want the AI, as Copilot and the QA and CSAT add-ons cost $20, $20 and $10 a seat below Enterprise
• Watch out: there's no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and Enterprise is annual billing only
• Watch out: contracts over $25k must include a paid onboarding package

Pick Sortd if

• Fits if your team already lives in Gmail and wants shared boards there
• Works for small teams that run sales or support out of a shared inbox

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you use Outlook or any inbox that is not Gmail
• Tight if your team is bigger than 10, as Starter stops there and Essentials at 20
• Pricey if you want AI triage and CRM pipelines, which sit on the $16 and $22 plans
• Watch out: Business Plus is marked upcoming and some AI features say launching soon
• Watch out: the free trial is 7 days

Front

• There is no free plan; the 14-day trial is the only way to use Front without paying.
• Starter is capped at 10 seats and one channel type, and Professional at 50 seats.
• Copilot, Smart QA and Smart CSAT cost extra per seat on Starter and Professional.
• Enterprise is sold on annual billing only, and contracts over $25k must include a paid onboarding package.

Sortd

• It works only with Gmail, as a Chrome extension; it is not a separate email app or a service for other providers.
• Starter caps at 10 users, 5 shared boards and 6 months of history; Essentials caps at 20 users.
• Business Plus is marked upcoming and some of its AI features are labeled launching soon.
• Annual and monthly billing differ by about 40%, and the plan limits above rise with each tier.

Front

Shared inboxes

Team inboxes where incoming messages can be assigned and handled together, so everyone can see who is working on which conversation.

Omnichannel inbox

Professional and Enterprise combine email, SMS, Front Chat, WhatsApp and other channels in one place. Starter is limited to a single channel type.

Ticketing and automation rules

Ticketing for complex requests plus multi-step rules: up to 10 rules on Starter, 20 on Professional and unlimited on Enterprise.

Front AI

Autopilot resolves conversations from $0.05 each. Copilot ($20 per seat a month), Smart QA ($20) and Smart CSAT ($10) are add-ons that Enterprise includes.

Analytics

Reporting on team workload and support quality: basic analytics on Starter and advanced analytics from Professional.

Knowledge base and live chat

A no-code knowledge base and Front Chat let customers help themselves. Multi-language knowledge bases need Enterprise.

Sortd

Drag-and-drop email boards

Drag messages from the Gmail inbox into a board with kanban, table, deadline and day planner views; Starter has kanban and planner only.

Shared inboxes and boards

Team mailboxes such as support@ or sales@, with owners, mentions and shared contacts; the number of inboxes grows with the plan.

AI triage

Essentials tags threads as to respond or awaiting, and Business adds urgency and sentiment tags and content-based assignment.

Automations

Rules for moving and assigning email: 5 on Starter, 20 on Essentials and unlimited on Business.

CRM pipelines and fields

Business adds built-in pipelines, SLA rules, a team contact manager and advanced custom fields.

Gmail mail merge and calendar

Gmail mail merge works on every plan, and Essentials adds Google Calendar integration and email tracking.

Front

• Starter$25

  per seat / month, billed annually

  Up to 10 seats. One channel type (email, Front Chat or SMS), shared inbox, ticketing, up to 10 automation rules and basic analytics.

• Professional$65

  per seat / month, billed annually

  Up to 50 seats. Adds omnichannel support, macros, up to 20 rules, advanced analytics, up to 5 workspaces, SSO and SCIM.

• Enterprise$105

  per seat / month, annual billing only

  Unlimited seats, rules and macros, smart rules, custom roles, and Copilot, Smart QA and Smart CSAT included.

Sortd

• Starter$10

  per user / month, billed annually ($14 billed monthly)

  Drag-and-drop boards, 2 shared mailboxes, 5 shared boards, 5 automation rules; up to 10 users and 6 months of history.

• Essentials$16

  per user / month, billed annually ($22 billed monthly)

  Adds AI Smart Status, 10 shared inboxes, unlimited boards, email tracking and 20 rules; up to 20 users, 2 years of history.

• Business$22

  per user / month, billed annually ($28 billed monthly)

  Adds AI risk management, CRM pipelines, SLA rules, Zapier and data export; unlimited users, inboxes and history.

• Business Plus$29

  per user / month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)

  Listed as upcoming, with concierge onboarding, a success manager and AI follow-up drafts; sold through sales.

Front

• Annual discount

  Save 24% with annual billing

  Front's pricing page states a 24% saving for annual billing. The prices it lists for Starter ($25) and Professional ($65) are the annually billed rates per seat a month.

Sortd

• Annual discount

  Save up to 40% with yearly billing

  The pricing page marks yearly billing as saving up to 40%; the monthly-billed prices are $14, $22, $28 and $39 against $10, $16, $22 and $29.