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Telecommunications · head to head

Exotel vs Front

Exotel logo

Exotel

Telecommunications

Indian cloud telephony and contact centre platform sold as prepaid credit bundles

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Front logo

Front

Customer Support

Where teams collaborate on customer communication

From
$25/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Exotel bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.; Front starter tier limited to single-channel support; omnichannel support requires Professional tier
  • They diverge on capability: Exotel covers Exophones, Front covers Shared inbox.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Exotel and Front actually diverge.

Attributes where Exotel and Front differ
AttributeExotelFront
Starting priceOn request$25/month
Pricing modelPrepaid credit bundle with a fixed validity periodsubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, APICloud-based SaaS
CategoryTelecommunicationsCustomer Support
FoundedUnknown2013

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Exotel

  • Exophones
  • IVR and call flows
  • Number masking
  • Contact centre
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Call recording and quality
  • CRM integrations
  • Communication APIs

Only in Front

  • Shared inbox
  • Email collaboration
  • Omnichannel messaging
  • Analytics
  • Workflows
  • Integrations
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Exotel

  • An Indian delivery or marketplace platform that must connect customers and riders without exposing either phone numbernot Front
  • A lending or insurance business running outbound collections that needs recorded, monitored calls from Indian numbers with DLT compliance handlednot Front
  • A healthcare aggregator routing patient calls to the right clinic by IVR with fallback to a queue outside working hoursnot Front
  • A product team that wants to trigger verification calls and SMS from its own application over a REST API rather than buy an agent productnot Front

Front

  • Omnichannel customer supportnot Exotel
  • AI-powered helpdesk automationnot Exotel
  • Team collaboration on support ticketsnot Exotel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Exotel

  • Bundles expire: the 9,999 rupee Dabbler pack has only five months of validity and unused credits are lost at the end, so seasonal or uneven calling volumes waste money that a pay-as-you-go carrier would not.
  • Voice, SMS and WhatsApp draw from one shared credit pool, which means a marketing SMS burst can consume the credits your support line needs and force an unplanned top-up.
  • Per-minute billing runs on a pulse of 30 or 60 seconds, so a 61 second call is charged as two full minutes; on high call volumes this materially inflates the effective rate against a per-second competitor.
  • Coverage and pricing are built around India, with a smaller footprint in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, so a business calling mainly North America or Europe gets worse rates and less carrier depth than a global CPaaS provider.
  • The enterprise contact centre tier publishes no pricing at all, so the transparent bundle prices only apply to the small end and larger buyers are back in an opaque sales process.

Front

  • Starter tier limited to single-channel support; omnichannel support requires Professional tier
  • AI Copilot, Smart QA, and Smart CSAT are included only in Enterprise tier ($105/seat/month); available as add-ons at higher cost in lower tiers
  • Starter tier limited to 10 automation rules; Professional tier allows 20; unlimited rules only in Enterprise
  • Advanced analytics excluded from Starter tier

Pricing, plan by plan

Exotel

On request
  • Dabbler$9999/year
    • Validity is five months, not twelve
    • Rental component of 4,999 rupees included in the price
    • 5,000 shared credits across calls, SMS and WhatsApp
  • Believer$19999/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 9,500 shared credits
  • Influencer$49499/year
    • Validity is eleven months
    • Rental component of 10,499 rupees included
    • 39,000 shared credits
  • Enterprise Contact Centre$undefined/year
    • Full contact centre with supervisor tooling and AI agents
    • Custom credit and agent volumes
    • Pricing quoted, not published

Front

$25/month
  • Starter$25/month
    • Up to 10 seats
    • Shared inbox and ticketing
    • AI Topics and up to 10 automation rules
  • Professional$65/month
    • Up to 50 seats
    • Omnichannel support (email, SMS, social)
    • Macros and up to 20 automation rules
  • Enterprise$105/month
    • Unlimited seats
    • Smart rules and unlimited macros
    • Multi-language knowledge base

Which should you pick?

Choose Exotel if

  • You need exophones.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want ivr and call flows.
Exotel review

Choose Front if

  • You need shared inbox.
  • You work on Cloud-based SaaS.
  • You also want email collaboration.
Front review

Questions people ask

Is Exotel or Front better?
Neither clearly leads. Exotel starts at On request and Front at $25/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Exotel or Front?
Exotel starts at On request and Front at $25/month.
Does Exotel or Front run on more platforms?
Exotel runs on Web, iOS, Android, API. Front runs on Cloud-based SaaS.
What is Exotel best used for?
Exotel is most often used for an indian delivery or marketplace platform that must connect customers and riders without exposing either phone number, a lending or insurance business running outbound collections that needs recorded, monitored calls from indian numbers with dlt compliance handled, a healthcare aggregator routing patient calls to the right clinic by ivr with fallback to a queue outside working hours, a product team that wants to trigger verification calls and sms from its own application over a rest api rather than buy an agent product. Of those, an indian delivery or marketplace platform that must connect customers and riders without exposing either phone number and a lending or insurance business running outbound collections that needs recorded, monitored calls from indian numbers with dlt compliance handled are not what Front is typically brought in for.
What can Exotel do that Front cannot?
Exotel covers Exophones, IVR and call flows, Number masking, Contact centre. Front covers Shared inbox, Email collaboration, Omnichannel messaging, Analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Exotel: Does Exotel publish prices?

Yes for its business phone system bundles: 9,999 rupees for Dabbler, 19,999 for Believer and 49,499 for Influencer. The enterprise contact centre is quoted.

Front: How much does Front's Starter plan cost per seat?

Starter plan is $25 per seat per month for up to 10 seats, with 14-day free trial and no credit card required.

Source
Exotel: Do unused credits roll over?

No. Credits are tied to the bundles validity period, five months on Dabbler and eleven months on the higher packs, and expire at the end of it.

Front: Does Enterprise include AI features?

Yes, Enterprise at $105 per seat per month includes AI Copilot, Smart QA, and Smart CSAT at no additional cost.

Source
Exotel: Can I use Exotel outside India?

Exotel operates in Southeast Asia and the Middle East as well, but India is where it holds licences, handles DLT registration and has the best rates and carrier relationships.

Front: What is the seat limit for Professional?

Professional plan supports up to 50 seats at $65 per seat per month.

Source
Exotel: Is there a free trial?

Yes, a seven-day trial with 500 rupees of credit and no commitment.

Front: Are there additional AI add-ons available?

Yes, Autopilot starts at $0.05 per conversation; Copilot, Smart QA, and other AI features range from $10-$20 per seat per month on lower tiers.

Source
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