The Front alternative

The shared inbox that answers for you

Front is powerful shared-inbox software — priced per seat ($25–105), with AI Copilot at $20 more per seat and its Autopilot agent billed per conversation. Asks flips the model: the AI agent is the product, the inbox is included, and the price is flat.

7-day trial · No per-resolution fees

The short version

Choose Asks if AI should resolve most of your customer volume and you want one predictable bill. Stay on Front if you're orchestrating complex multi-team email operations and don't need customer-facing AI.

Side by side

Asks vs. Front

AsksFront
Pricing modelFlat $39 / $149 / $349 per month with AI credits included — no per-resolution or per-conversation meter$25 / $65 / $105 per seat per month; AI Copilot +$20/seat; Autopilot agent usage-priced from ~$0.05/conversation
Customer-facing AICore of every plan: trained on your website and docs, citations, groundedness check, human handoffAutopilot (its earlier AI Answers product was discontinued) — usage-billed, newer surface
Team size economics10 / 25 / 50 seats included in flat plansPer-seat: a 10-person team on Professional is $650/month before AI add-ons
ChannelsWebsite chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, Slack, Discord — one inboxEmail-first with chat and SMS; strong for shared email at scale
SetupPaste your URL, train the agent, connect channels — live in minutesReal configuration effort: rules, routing, and team structure to design

Competitor details from public pricing pages and docs, as of mid-2026 — verify before deciding.

Why teams switch
01

Resolve first, organize second

Front helps humans process conversations efficiently. Asks removes most conversations from the queue entirely — the AI answers them with citations before anyone triages anything.

02

Three AI meters become zero

Copilot per seat, QA per seat, Autopilot per conversation — Front's AI stack is a spreadsheet. Asks includes the agent, the copilot, and the summaries in the flat plan.

03

Hiring stops moving the bill

Per-seat pricing taxes growth. Asks Business includes 25 teammates at $149/month — add your weekend person without a procurement conversation.

Fair is fair

When Front is the better choice

  • You run complex, multi-team email operations (logistics, finance, agencies) where routing rules and analytics on human workflows are the product.
  • You need Front's calendar, CRM sync, and email-collaboration depth more than customer-facing AI.
  • Your conversations are high-stakes and low-volume, where AI answering matters less.
Questions

Is Asks cheaper than Front?

Almost always, and the gap grows with team size: 10 people on Front Professional with Copilot is $850/month. Asks Business — 25 seats, 4,000 AI answers, the copilot features included — is $149 flat.

Does Asks do shared email like Front?

Yes — forward your support address and email becomes conversations with assignment, internal notes, tags, and SLAs, in the same inbox as chat and messaging. The difference: Asks' AI answers the routine ones before your team sees them.

Can Asks replace Front's AI Copilot?

The inbox copilot is included: suggested replies drafted from your knowledge base, thread summaries, and tone rewrites. On Front those capabilities are a $20-per-seat add-on (bundled only at Enterprise).

Try the Front alternative today

Train Asks on your website in minutes, test it in the playground, and see the difference before your trial ends.