Front vs SupportBee
We give Front and SupportBee the same GPA: 2.4 out of 4.0. Front grades higher on features and platforms. SupportBee grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Front
Shared inbox and customer operations platform with AI and ticketing
SupportBee
Email ticketing and shared inbox with a knowledge base and portal
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFrontFair | 2.4GPASupportBeeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $25 a seat a month billed annually, which is where the dearest tenth of this category begins, and it stops at 10 seats, one channel type and 10 rules. All your channels in one inbox means Professional at $65, and Copilot is another $20 a seat until Enterprise at $105. | BStartup is $17 a seat a month billed annually ($20 monthly), right on the edge of the cheaper quarter of help desks. That already covers the shared inbox, a knowledge base, the API and satisfaction ratings. The customer portal and business hours need Enterprise at $21, still under the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. The trial is 14 days with all the Professional plan features and no credit card. After that it's a paid plan or nothing. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Two weeks is long enough to run your real support email through it and decide. |
| Features | BShared inboxes with assignment, ticketing, multi-step rules, analytics, a no-code knowledge base and live chat, with email, SMS, Front Chat and WhatsApp in one place from Professional up. The team-inbox job is covered, and Autopilot will resolve conversations from $0.05 each. | CEmail ticketing done properly: assignment to teams then people, private comments, shared drafts, labels, a knowledge base on your own domain, a customer portal, reports and an audit trail. The gap its listing names: no live chat, chatbot or messaging-app inboxes. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record, and this is a platform rather than an app: channels, workspaces, rules, macros and analytics to set up. Front says itself that contracts over $25k must include a paid onboarding package. | CNo App Store rating on record. Customers just see email, which keeps their side simple, but you'll route your support address into it and set up teams, labels and snippets first. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, which is the full set. It connects to HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Asana, Aircall and WhatsApp, works with ChatGPT and Claude, and has a public API. | BWeb only, with Slack, Linear, Notion, Pipedrive, Asana, Trello, GitHub Issues and QuickBooks, plus webhooks and a public API on both plans. No desktop or phone app on record. |
| Best for | support teams running shared inboxes at volume | email support that still looks like email |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Front and SupportBee. How we grade
Where they differ
- Front starts at $25 per seat / month, billed annually. SupportBee starts at $17 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- Only Front lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- Front also covers workflow automation.
- SupportBee also covers reports, help desk and help center.
At a glance
| Front | SupportBee | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $25 per seat / month, billed annually | $17 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with all Professional plan features, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | FrontApp, Inc. | SupportBee Inc. |
| Price read from | front.com | supportbee.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Front
- Support and operations teams working shared addresses at volume
- Companies that want email, chat, SMS and WhatsApp in one team inbox
- Teams that need ticketing, rules and reporting on top of email
SupportBee
- Small teams outgrowing a shared Gmail or Outlook login for support
- Teams that want ticketing to look like plain email to customers
- Support run mainly over email rather than chat or social channels
Worth knowing
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.
SupportBee
- Email is the channel it is built for; the site lists no live chat, chatbot or messaging-app inboxes.
- The customer portal and business hours need the Enterprise plan; Startup includes 1 knowledge base and 1 team.
- The site lists no native desktop or mobile apps; the team works in a browser and through email notifications.
- There is no free plan after the 14-day trial.
Key features
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.
SupportBee
- Team inbox
- Emails become tickets that can be assigned to a team and then a person, with private comments, shared draft replies, labels and Gmail-style keyboard shortcuts.
- Knowledge base
- A public or private help site with categories, inline images, file uploads, search, your own branding and domain, and an embeddable widget called Hive.
- Customer portal
- Customers open, track and reply to their requests through a private link with no password. Included on the Enterprise plan.
- Teams for departments
- Separate inbox views for groups such as Sales or Billing, which can be made private to their members and admins.
- Reports and audit trail
- Performance reports by agent, team and label, customer satisfaction ratings, and a log of every action taken on a ticket.
- Integrations and API
- Links to project tools such as Linear, Asana and GitHub Issues, CRMs such as Pipedrive, Slack notifications, webhooks and a public API on both plans.
Plans
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.
SupportBee
Startup$17
per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Shared inbox, snippets, 1 knowledge base and 1 team, filters, basic integrations, API access, unlimited email inboxes, satisfaction ratings and audit trails.
Enterprise$21
per seat / month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
Everything in Startup plus enterprise integrations, business hours, the customer portal, audit log and data history, and portal access for customer groups.
Ways to pay less
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.
SupportBee
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
SupportBee's pricing page lists a 20% saving on annual billing: Startup is $17 a seat a month billed annually against $20 monthly, and Enterprise $21 against $25.
