Front
Mattermost
| Feature | Front | Mattermost |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $19/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | customer-facing-teams, operations-teams, logistics-companies, professional-services | devops-teams, security-conscious-orgs, government, enterprise |
| Founded | 2013 | 2015 |
| Shared Inboxes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Automation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sla Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Internal Comments | ✓ | ✗ |
| Omnichannel | ✓ | ✗ |
| Messaging | ✗ | ✓ |
| Channels | ✗ | ✓ |
| Playbooks | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Compliance | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Front Pros
- Unified inbox combining email, chat, SMS, social
- Excellent team collaboration with internal comments
- Powerful automation rules and SLA management
- Familiar email-like interface (low learning curve)
✗ Front Cons
- Expensive per-seat pricing especially at scale
- No free plan for small teams to try
- Can be overwhelming with high email volumes
✓ Mattermost Pros
- Self-hostable
- Open source
- DevOps integrations
- Secure
✗ Mattermost Cons
- Smaller ecosystem
- Fewer integrations than Slack
- Self-hosting complexity
The Verdict
Front is built for customer facing teams and operations teams, with a focus on shared-inboxes and workflow-automation. Mattermost targets devops teams and security conscious orgs and leads with messaging and channels.
On pricing, Mattermost is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $10/mo compared to $19/mo for Front. That $9/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Mattermost has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Front requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, Front offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Mattermost takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Front has a slight overall edge — but if self-hostable matters most to you, Mattermost may still be the right call.