Front
Relay.app
| Feature | Front | Relay.app |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $19/mo | Free / from $16/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | customer-facing-teams, operations-teams, logistics-companies, professional-services | operations-teams, agencies, small-businesses, compliance-teams |
| Founded | 2013 | 2021 |
| Shared Inboxes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Automation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sla Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Internal Comments | ✓ | ✗ |
| Omnichannel | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Builder | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Steps | ✗ | ✓ |
| Human Approvals | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multiplayer Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Conditional Logic | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Relay.app Pros
- Human-in-the-loop approvals
- AI steps built in
- Collaborative workflows
- Clean modern interface
✗ Relay.app Cons
- Fewer integrations than Zapier
- Newer platform
- Limited advanced logic
The Verdict
Front is built for customer facing teams and operations teams, with a focus on shared-inboxes and workflow-automation. Relay.app targets operations teams and agencies and leads with workflow-builder and ai-steps.
Pricing is close: Relay.app starts at $16/mo versus $19/mo for Front — not a deciding factor on its own.
Relay.app 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 Relay.app takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for operations teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.