Help Scout vs Front

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Our analysts compared Help Scout vs Front based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Help Desk Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Help Scout's help desk software offers a streamlined solution for businesses seeking to enhance their customer support capabilities. It's particularly well-suited for small to medium-sized teams that prioritize efficient and personalized communication. Help Scout centralizes all customer interactions, including email, live chat, and social media, into a unified inbox, enabling teams to respond promptly and effectively.

Key benefits of Help Scout include its intuitive interface, customizable automation, and reporting features. Popular features encompass shared inboxes for collaborative support, pre-built templates for faster responses, and detailed analytics for performance monitoring. Compared to other help desk software, Help Scout is known for its user-friendliness and excellent customer support. Its pricing ranges from $20 to $65 per user per month, billed annually.

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Front is a customer communication platform offering tailor-made services at scale. With the simplicity of the email inbox combined with the insights and automation of CRM, it helps agents work to provide world-class support and send professional replies faster. It allows users to keep conversations organized across channels while maintaining a personal touch, efficiency and quality.
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$20 Monthly
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$19/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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Small 
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Large 
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Easy Collaboration: Send private notes to teammates and discuss problems to find solutions together before replying to customers. Create a searchable library of frequently asked questions and insert them into replies in two clicks.  
  • Deliver Instant Answers: Allow customers to access knowledge base articles from anywhere on the website with Beacon (virtual agent). Embed the knowledge base content on any web page, so customers don’t waste time searching. 
  • All Time Availability: Work on any device including, desktop, mobile or tablet. Include SSL support on every site for free and offer peace of mind to customers. Allow customers to take advantage of configurable options and auto-generated sitemap for each article in knowledge base software. 
  • Easy Escalation: Allow customers to start a live chat from where they accessed the knowledge base. Direct customer support request to email queue when live chat isn’t available. Offer choice to reach out from any mode of communication that works best for them.  
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  • Clean Interface: Get everyone on board with a clean and intuitive functionality.  
  • Improve Team Efficiency: Create automatic workflows that work for the team, from assigned tasks to message escalation. 
  • Actionable Data: Get insights to improve performance, customer satisfaction and communication. 
  • Smarter Collaboration: Draft responses together with peers without losing time, duplicating tasks and missing context. 
  • Unmatched Service: Work together on messages, see which agent owns what and share context with real-time collaboration. Create custom workflows that automatically triage, route and escalate messages to please customers.  
  • Full Administration Control: Serve customers best by controlling permissions, access rights, provisioning and more. 
  • Improved Security: Take advantage of a platform built using industry-standard encryption. Ensure performance never slips and deliver unique enterprise identifiers with backups.  
  • Compliance: Protect data with SOC 2 and GDPR. Serve customers best by controlling permissions, access rights, provisioning and more.  
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  • Collision Detection: See who replies or views comments in real time. Allow users to collaborate internally via notes and @mentions. Use tagging to trigger automation and categorize conversations. Use saved answers for most common queries through two-click access. Automate all actions, create custom folders and send bulk replies.  
  • Reports and Analytics: Measure team performance, monitor customer satisfaction rates and identify issues clearly to prevent complexities and issues without opening an Excel spreadsheet. Integrate the help desk platform with services such as Snap Engage and Olarkto. Store every chat automatically in the customer's profile.  
  • Shared Inbox: Manage all support requests in a shared inbox. Get all the collaboration features such as multichannel support, notification, advanced search, mobile apps, satisfaction ratings and developer tools to stay productive and deliver world-class support. 
  • Knowledge Base: Reduce support volume by 20% and encourage fewer conversations and happier customers with easy-to-add text, hyperlinks, images, tables, and videos to articles. Customize SEO details by selecting categories and adding related units.  
  • Messages: Offer proactive support, engage leads and onboard new customers with trigger-based messages. Send SMS from any blog, website, store, or Beacon-installed app. 
  • Customer Management: List customer data, app activity and previous conversations alongside every request to deliver more personalized and faster support.  
  • Live Chat: Help customers find help center content or chat with agents easily from the same tool. Recommend resources depending on the pages clients view, so they don't waste time looking for answers. 
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  • Integration: Connect with over 100 different apps to manage projects and view all communication modules right in the inbox. 
  • Team Collaboration: Give team confidence and accountability without dropping the ball or missing messages. Keep everyone on the same page by giving agents a shared perspective on email for visibility. Route messages automatically to teammates, based on sender, keywords and time of day or month. 
  • Analytics: Get detailed insights into email activity, understand where workflows must improve and fuel positive changes. 
  • Customer Experience: Automate all the busy work to deliver quick and seamless customer responses. Route messages by creating if-then workflows to focus. Get insights into communication through email analytics, spot scope of improvements and share key results with clients. 
  • Universal Inbox: Keep messages in email, live chat and SMS text actionable and organized in one platform. Deliver messages correctly with assignments and workflow rules based on sender, keywords, time of day and more. 
  • Workflow Management: Track the volume for agents and customers, balance workload and understand performance to grow your business intelligently. Measure and achieve response time goals with automation, timing and other triggers. 
  • Remote Team Collaboration: Stay aligned, motivated and connected with built-in team accountability and collaboration features. Empower teams to work from anywhere and anytime and deliver consistent results. 
  • Multi-Channel Communication: Reduce browser tabs and manage multiple customer communication channels in a single platform. Connect SMS, email, live chat and Facebook to one collaborative hub.  
  • Email Management: Organize the inbox and make it actionable to avoid important messages slipping through the cracks. Know who’s working on what to cut down on the back and forth.  
  • Shared Inbox: Manage support, contact and info and collaborate on all customer communication channels to respond faster. Plug in group email accounts such as team into a shared inbox and offer a shared view of every email to the team. Allow agents to collaborate on email to move through the queue faster. 
  • Email Delegation: Choose a delegate from teammates and collaborate in real time. Comment internally on an email. Work together on email drafts before hitting send to get the right response every time.  
  • Help Desk: Assign a number to every customer message and manage support without the ticket numbers to offer a personal reply to every customer. 
  • CRM: Reference a shared view of client information easily from the inbox by bringing CRM into the help desk system. Set up automation that escalates, routes, and assigns work depending on customer data to help teams align and serve critical customers effectively.  
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Product Ranking

#20

among all
Help Desk Software

#44

among all
Help Desk Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

75
75
62
87
50
50
75
67
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Integrations and Extensibility
Platform Security
Team Collaboration
Email Management
Integrations and Extensibility
Team Collaboration
Agent Productivity

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Help Scout
Front
+ Add Product + Add Product
Agent Productivity Call Center Management Dashboards And Reporting Email Management Live Chat Management Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Team Collaboration Ticket Management 62 50 75 66 74 83 73 85 63 87 50 67 95 81 50 66 88 79 0 25 50 75 100
50%
17%
33%
67%
17%
16%
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
100%
67%
0%
33%
50%
0%
50%
71%
0%
29%
86%
0%
14%
64%
0%
36%
73%
0%
27%
80%
0%
20%
40%
0%
60%
71%
0%
29%
54%
0%
46%
67%
0%
33%
83%
0%
17%
53%
6%
41%
71%
12%
17%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

100%
0%
0%
79%
0%
21%
89%
0%
11%
78%
0%
22%

User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 654 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 1252 reviews
90%
of users recommend this product

Help Scout has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 654 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

92%
of users recommend this product

Front has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 1252 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

n/a
4.9 (11)
4.3 (260)
4.6 (968)
4.67 (183)
n/a
4.7 (168)
4.5 (211)
4.0 (43)
4.5 (62)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Help Scout and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Integrations and Extensibility. Help Scout stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Integrations and Extensibility Award

Front stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Intuitive Interface: User-friendly design simplifies navigation and ticket management, making it easy for support teams to get up to speed quickly.
Shared Inbox: Collaborative workspace allows multiple agents to manage tickets efficiently, ensuring seamless handoffs and faster resolution times.
Automated Workflows: Customizable automation rules streamline repetitive tasks, freeing up agents' time for more complex issues.
Powerful Search: Robust search capabilities make it easy to find specific tickets, customer information, and knowledge base articles, reducing time spent on manual searches.
Excellent Customer Support: Responsive and knowledgeable support team provides prompt assistance, ensuring a positive user experience.
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Intuitive Interface: Front's user-friendly interface makes it easy for teams to quickly get up to speed and collaborate effectively.
Shared Inbox: The shared inbox allows multiple team members to work together on customer emails, ensuring faster response times and better collaboration.
Automation: Front's automation features, such as auto-replies and canned responses, help streamline workflows and save time.
Integrations: Front integrates seamlessly with popular CRM and productivity tools, providing a centralized platform for customer communication.
Mobile Accessibility: The mobile app allows teams to stay connected and respond to customer inquiries from anywhere, at any time.
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Limited Customization: Help Scout offers limited customization options, which can restrict businesses from tailoring the software to their specific needs and branding.
Lack of Automation: Compared to other Help Desk Software, Help Scout lacks robust automation features, such as automated ticket assignment and escalation rules, which can hinder efficiency.
Pricing Structure: Help Scout's pricing plans can be perceived as expensive for businesses with a large number of agents or high ticket volume.
Limited Reporting Capabilities: Some users have reported that Help Scout's reporting capabilities are not as comprehensive as they would like, making it challenging to extract valuable insights and track performance.
Mobile App Limitations: The Help Scout mobile app has been criticized for its limited functionality compared to the desktop version, making it less convenient for remote or on-the-go support teams.
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Clunky Interface: Front's user interface can be cumbersome to navigate, with users reporting difficulties finding specific features and settings.
Limited Customization: Front offers limited customization options, making it challenging for users to tailor the software to their specific needs.
Poor Ticket Management: Front's ticket management system lacks advanced features such as automated ticket routing and escalation, which can lead to inefficiencies in ticket handling.
Integration Issues: Front's integration with other business tools can be unreliable, resulting in data inconsistencies and workflow disruptions.
High Cost: Front's pricing structure is perceived as expensive compared to competing help desk software, especially for small businesses with limited budgets.
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Help Scout, a popular help desk software, has received consistent praise from users in the last year. Many users emphasize its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy to set up and use, even for those new to help desk software. The software's intuitive design and customizable features allow users to tailor it to their specific needs, making it a versatile option for businesses of all sizes. When comparing Help Scout to similar products, users often highlight its superior customer support and documentation. Help Scout's dedicated support team is highly responsive and knowledgeable, providing valuable assistance to users. Additionally, the software's comprehensive documentation and tutorials make it easy for users to find answers to their questions and troubleshoot any issues they encounter. One of the key differentiating factors of Help Scout is its focus on email support. The software seamlessly integrates with email, allowing users to manage all their customer interactions from a single platform. This streamlines communication and improves efficiency, particularly for businesses that rely heavily on email support. Overall, Help Scout is highly recommended for businesses looking for a user-friendly, customizable, and reliable help desk software. Its strengths in customer support, email integration, and intuitive design make it an excellent choice for companies of all sizes that prioritize efficient and effective customer service.

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Front has received a multitude of positive reviews in the last year. Users commend its intuitive interface, robust feature set, and seamless integration with other applications. They also appreciate its ability to automate tasks, track customer interactions, and provide comprehensive reporting. In comparison to other help desk software, Front stands out for its collaborative capabilities, which allow multiple team members to work on the same ticket simultaneously. Additionally, Front's focus on customer experience is evident in its customizable workflows and personalized communication options. These strengths are important because they enhance productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and provide valuable insights for businesses. Front is most suited for businesses that prioritize customer service and seek a comprehensive help desk solution. Its collaborative features, robust functionality, and focus on customer experience make it an ideal choice for teams that need to manage a high volume of support requests efficiently and effectively. Whether you're a small business just starting out or a large enterprise with complex support needs, Front offers a scalable and customizable solution that can grow with your business.

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Screenshots

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