Freshdesk vs Front

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Our analysts compared Freshdesk 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

Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service solution that ensures increased satisfaction and engagement. It simplifies ticketing with customization options for agent roles, ticket forms, portals and more. Users can manage identity and information access for improved data security.

It offers field service modules that include omnichannel customer engagement, quick query resolution, automatic appointment management and a map view that lets users track dispatches in real time. Android and iOS support allow field employees to plan, monitor and track appointments, updates and customer communication conveniently. Its other offerings include widget customization, scheduled and customized reports, intelligent ticket assignment and more.

  • Pros
  • Easy to use interface
  • Scalable for large teams
  • Automation capabilities
  • Reporting & Analytics
  • Mobile app available
  • Cons
  • Limited free plan
  • Customization options
  • Reporting can be complex
  • Higher pricing for some plans
  • Limited multilingual support
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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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$15/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$19/User, Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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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

  • Improved Productivity:  Assign tickets automatically to agents and groups based on various details, including their workloads and skills. Also, auto-assign emails, calls and chats to agents based on keywords and available bandwidth for better productivity. 
  • Better Efficiency: Schedule regular reports to analyze and improve agent performance using different help desk metrics. Measure customer satisfaction based on their satisfaction reports to improve services. 
  • Stronger Teamwork: Facilitate better collaboration between different departments for quicker resolution of customer issues, with linked tickets to keep track of vast issues and team huddle for discussions with experts. 
  • Data Security: Secure confidential data and customer information with state-of-the-art data security. Whitelist IP ranges, restrict login access and set up single sign on script for credentials authentication. 
  • AI Support: Enable faster resolution of customer issues with AI supported chatbots that provide instantaneous answers. 
  • Accessibility: Allow agents exclusive access to login on the go. Conveniently access solutions via website, mobile app and chatbot. 
  • Save Time: Automate mundane tasks so that agents can focus better on resolving customer issues. 
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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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  • Ticketing Management: Deliver higher quality customer service with collaborative ticketing. Convert customer issues from different channels into resolvable tickets. Offers: 
    •  Team inbox to prioritize and assign tickets based on keywords. 
    •  AI-supported ticketing to improve agents’ efficiency and save time. 
    •  SLA management to measure agents’ performance and set customer expectations for response times. 
  • Omnichannel: Consolidate various support-related communications channels like email, phone, chat, website, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter to ensure a seamless customer experience as well as faster query resolution. 
  • Service Management: Create service tasks and field technician groups for tickets on the basis of location, priority and other aspects. To manage field operations, it also includes: 
    •  Scheduling dashboard to keep track of appointments, tasks and field team workloads. 
    •  Mobile field service to keep technicians updated on the fly. 
    •  Automated time-tracking to monitor billable hours. 
    •  Single swipe attachment of customer signatures to the service tasks via the mobile app. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Schedule reports at regular intervals and customize them according to various requirements. Access actionable insights using data in different chart styles and visualizations. 
  • Customization: Customize workflows, customer portal and agents for optimum productivity based on specific business requirements. Its customization can be leveraged in the following ways: 
    •  Customized ticket forms. 
    •  Custom URL for smooth customer experience. 
    •  Building and integration of customized apps. 
    •  Custom segmentation of customers for personalized support. 
  • Automation: Automate notifications to agents and customers for any updates in their tickets. Automatically execute maintenance activities and implement actions on tickets based on the time lapsed since an event. 
  • Identity and Access Management: Allow and restrict agents as well as customers to log in to their accounts using single sign on script from anywhere using IP whitelisting and a VPN. 
  • Customer Self-Service: Enable efficient customer self-service with automated suggestion pop ups, knowledge base articles and by converting critical issues in the community into resolvable tickets. 
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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

#7

among all
Help Desk Software

#44

among all
Help Desk Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

86
75
83
87
55
50
93
67
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Integrations and Extensibility
Platform Security
Platform Capabilities
Ticket Management
Team Collaboration
Email Management
Integrations and Extensibility
Team Collaboration
Agent Productivity

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Freshdesk
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 83 55 93 92 39 58 97 95 97 87 50 67 95 81 50 66 88 79 0 25 50 75 100
83%
0%
17%
67%
17%
16%
0%
92%
8%
0%
0%
100%
83%
17%
0%
50%
0%
50%
86%
0%
14%
86%
0%
14%
0%
45%
55%
73%
0%
27%
60%
0%
40%
40%
0%
60%
92%
4%
4%
54%
0%
46%
83%
17%
0%
83%
0%
17%
94%
0%
6%
71%
12%
17%

Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

100%
0%
0%
79%
0%
21%
100%
0%
0%
78%
0%
22%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 4697 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 1252 reviews
89%
of users recommend this product

Freshdesk has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 4697 user reviews from 5 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.

5.0 (22)
4.9 (11)
4.4 (2352)
4.6 (968)
4.63 (8)
n/a
4.5 (2229)
n/a
n/a
4.5 (211)
4.3 (86)
4.5 (62)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Freshdesk and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Ticket Management and Integrations and Extensibility.

Ticket Management 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

User-Friendly Interface: Freshdesk is praised for its intuitive design and straightforward navigation. This minimizes onboarding time for new agents and reduces the learning curve, allowing them to become productive more quickly. Think of it as a user-friendly smartphone app compared to a clunky, feature-laden desktop program. This ease of use translates into faster issue resolution and improved overall efficiency.
Scalability & Customization: Freshdesk caters to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. Its flexible plans and customization options allow businesses to tailor the platform to their specific needs. For instance, a small team might prioritize a simple ticketing system, while a larger organization can leverage features like custom automations or in-depth reporting for more complex workflows.
Mobile Accessibility: Freshdesk offers mobile apps for agents and customers, enabling them to access the platform and manage inquiries on the go. This is particularly valuable for remote teams or situations where agents need to be available outside the office. Imagine a field technician using the mobile app to update a customer ticket while on-site, improving responsiveness and streamlining the resolution process.
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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 Free Plan Functionality: While Freshdesk offers a free plan, it can be restrictive for businesses with growing needs. Features like custom automations, advanced reporting, and integrations are often reserved for paid plans. This can limit its usefulness for businesses seeking a comprehensive help desk solution without upfront investment.
Reporting Complexity: Freshdesk's reporting capabilities, particularly in lower-tier plans, can be cumbersome to navigate and require some technical expertise to generate insightful data. Some users report that creating custom reports or filtering data can be time-consuming, hindering efforts to effectively track key performance indicators (KPIs) and measure support team effectiveness. Imagine sifting through an overflowing email inbox to find a specific message compared to having a well-organized filing system with clear labels.
Limited Multilingual Support: Freshdesk's interface and support resources are primarily available in English. This can be a drawback for businesses operating in international markets or with a multilingual customer base. While some basic translations are available, they might be limited or not comprehensive, potentially hindering effective communication with non-English speaking customers and agents.
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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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Freshdesk garners praise for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design, which minimizes training time for new agents and gets them up to speed faster. This is particularly important for businesses with high agent turnover or seasonal spikes in support requests. When compared to competitors offering a steeper learning curve, Freshdesk allows teams to become productive quicker, leading to faster issue resolution and improved customer satisfaction. However, Freshdesk's free plan, while suitable for small teams or those starting out, can be limiting for businesses requiring advanced features. Features like custom automations, powerful reporting, and integrations are often reserved for paid plans. This can be a dealbreaker for businesses seeking a comprehensive help desk solution without a significant upfront investment. Here, competitors offering more robust functionalities in their free tiers might be more suitable. Overall, Freshdesk shines for its user-friendliness, scalability, and mobile accessibility. The ability to customize the platform to fit specific workflows and the availability of mobile apps for agents and customers are valuable assets. However, its limited free plan functionality and potentially complex reporting can be drawbacks. Freshdesk is best suited for small and medium-sized businesses seeking an easy-to-use and scalable help desk solution, particularly those with limited technical expertise or a mobile workforce. For larger enterprises with complex workflows or multilingual customer bases, competitors offering more powerful reporting capabilities or broader language support might be a better fit.

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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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