Customer Support · head to head
Front vs Hiver
Front
Customer Support
Where teams collaborate on customer communication
- From
- $25/month per seat
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Hiver has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Front starter tier limited to single-channel support; omnichannel support requires Professional tier; Hiver hiver tiers as captured 28 December 2023: Lite at $15/user/month capped at 2 shared inboxes (up to 10 users each), Pro at $39/user/month capped at 5 shared inboxes and 50 shared labels, Elite at $59/user/month, all annual pricing with higher month-to-month rates of $19/$49/$69
- They diverge on capability: Front covers Email collaboration, Hiver covers Email assignment.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Front and Hiver actually diverge.
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Customer Support).
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 Front
- Email collaboration
- Omnichannel messaging
- Workflows
- Integrations
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- SSO
- Ios support
Only in Hiver
- Email assignment
- Collision detection
- Email notes
- Templates
- Gmail
- Google Workspace
- ISO27001
- Chrome-extension support
Both cover
- Shared inbox
- Analytics
- Slack
- Asana
- Jira
- SOC2
- GDPR
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Front
- Multi-team customer support across email, chat, SMS channelsnot Hiver
- Enterprises using AI to resolve complex multi-step customer requestsnot Hiver
Hiver
- Shared inbox managementnot Front
- Customer support via Gmailnot Front
- Team email collaborationnot Front
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Hiver
- Hiver tiers as captured 28 December 2023: Lite at $15/user/month capped at 2 shared inboxes (up to 10 users each), Pro at $39/user/month capped at 5 shared inboxes and 50 shared labels, Elite at $59/user/month, all annual pricing with higher month-to-month rates of $19/$49/$69
Pricing, plan by plan
Front
$25/month per seatNo published plan breakdown. See the Front review.
Hiver
Free- FreeFree
- 2 users
- Email management
- Basic analytics
- Lite$19/month
- Unlimited users
- Email templates
- Notes & @mentions
- Pro$49/month
- CSAT surveys
- SLA management
- Custom reports
- Elite$69/month
- Round-robin
- Skill-based routing
- Okta SSO
Which should you pick?
Choose Front if
- You need email collaboration.
- You work on Cloud-based SaaS.
- You also want omnichannel messaging.
Choose Hiver if
- You need email assignment.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Chrome-extension.
- You also want collision detection.
Questions people ask
- Is Front or Hiver better?
- Neither clearly leads. Front starts at $25/month per seat and Hiver at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Front or Hiver?
- Hiver has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $25/month per seat for Front and Free for Hiver.
- Does Front or Hiver run on more platforms?
- Front runs on Cloud-based SaaS. Hiver runs on Web, Chrome-extension.
- Can I use Hiver for free?
- Yes. Hiver has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Front starts at $25/month per seat.
- What is Front best used for?
- Front is most often used for multi-team customer support across email, chat, sms channels, enterprises using ai to resolve complex multi-step customer requests. Of those, multi-team customer support across email, chat, sms channels and enterprises using ai to resolve complex multi-step customer requests are not what Hiver is typically brought in for.
- What can Front do that Hiver cannot?
- Front covers Email collaboration, Omnichannel messaging, Workflows, Integrations. Hiver covers Email assignment, Collision detection, Email notes, Templates. Both handle Shared inbox, Analytics, Slack, Asana.