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They are expensive, and we'd be paying already had they been closer to 10 mo/user. But it seems they're going the customer service tool route, and this is a pai

by unabst 9y ago

They are expensive, and we'd be paying already had they been closer to 10 mo/user. But it seems they're going the customer service tool route, and this is a pain point businesses are willing to pay for. In this area I'd say their #1 rival is zendesk, which does a better job of justifying their pricing on their site (which had me return to Front for what they do better). But Front won't be replacing anyone's free web mail at any price point. I can't believe they don't have a free plan.

plehoux 9y ago
I'm the co-founder at Missive[1], an email client for teams. Our vision is to become the communication hub for any business, by both replacing email client and chat app. A lot of people compares us to Front, but we are more focused on the email/chat experience than customer support experience. Thus our pricing reflects this vision, where we charge ~$8-$12/seat/month. [1] https://missiveapp.com/ https://missiveapp.com/
- unabst 9y ago
  If you had said you were replacing outlook, I'd be less surprised. You seem more email focused. Front's front page slogan is "The shared inbox for teams." I'm always puzzled when they attack modern email in their PR. They should just stick to "universal team inbox". When I see missive, I see "team email with chat." Well, we chat on Discord already, so that's not the pain point. Front's main appeal to me at least was their multi-channel inbox. Customer support these days is not just email but social media and even texting. It can all be done through email, and even that can all be done through gmail, which is what we're doing now, and what I suspect a lot of people are doing. But removing inefficiencies in this day to day process immediately cuts costs when you're paying people for this work. Hence zendesk and their no free plan position, except, they're not multi-channel, and I was never impressed by them being on the customer end of a zendesk using company. I'd always think "crutch" when I saw an email from a business that didn't bother to re-brand their zendesk (assuming it's possible, if not, I guess they did well for themselves and my impressions were unimportant). PS. Your logo reminds me of men's underwear. I thought twice about mentioning it, and I know others would too. Not that I'd hold it against you, but (I do logo design, is my excuse for mentioning it).
  - plehoux 9y ago
    > When I see missive, I see "team email with chat." Well, we chat on Discord already, so that's not the pain point. Pain point here is when you start to have those internal conversations spread across many silos. There is beauty and simplicity to manage all your conversations whether email, chat or mixed of both in a one convenient place. > PS. Your logo reminds me of men's underwear. Firs time I hear that one. :)
    - unabst 9y ago
      > email, chat or mixed of both in a one convenient place. No, exactly. But you are always at risk of being just another channel. So you need to beat the rest. Or be above them. Or at least consolidate a few. Front does a better job of marketing themselves as such (not the outlook argument, their inbox argument). If you could pull in "channels" or have an open API for adding custom channels where users can participate in helping build your catalog, I think that would help. The beauty of discord is with webhooks. Slack has "integrations" but they needed 1st party support. And I'd use Zapier to bridge the gaps. But most API sets have webhook support. And Discord allows for postings via webhooks. So I have a simple REST webhook processor page that takes incoming webhooks and posts to discord and everything else. Not that webhooks are your answer, but just an example of a common chat app setup with a drastically better/easier feature set than their major competition. > Firs time I hear that one. :) It's the combination of white and the curves. Reminds me of boxer briefs every time. An easy fix would be to sharpen the rounded corners, but it's none of my business. Either way, I have nothing but respect for you and your business. I wish you only the best ;)
- a13n 9y ago
  We use Missive over at Canny for team email collaboration. It's super useful and pleasant to use. Read receipts, shared inboxes, team communication on emails, and much more. Definitely worth the money.
cdkee 9y ago
While they have a few similarities, I'm not sure I'd put Zendesk as Front's main rival. They're doing similar things, but approaching them in totally different ways. Front is fully backing the shared inbox, while Zendesk's main messaging is to get away from that concept and move more towards Ticketing for a larger support team. Good to see more competition in the space though. Disclaimer: I work at Zendesk
- ckluis 9y ago
  I agree and disagree. I need ticketing, but I'd prefer Front add it as an option to specific email accounts. sales@company.com - shared with sales team normal shared inbox support@company.com - "add ticket option" first.last@company.com - private email @company - twitter account A shared communication hub is a big win. If they could take over some of the internal chat as well - I'd gladly cut them a big fat check. Our helpdesk bill is not cheap. (not zendesk sadly).
  - plehoux 9y ago
    Curious to know the "@company - twitter account" importance compare to the other one you have listed?
    - ckluis 9y ago
      Less important for us as b2b/enterprisey, but omni-channel support could potentially allow a tweet to be turned into a ticket associated with a customer... that could be beneficial. Not so much for the day job, but for some of the companies I've been on the board of.
    - plehoux 9y ago
      Thanks, make sense. At Missive, we have yet to integrate with Twitter/Facebook... but as you mentioned even if it's less important, it's still a big sale argument for a platform like ours.
      - ckluis 9y ago

by unabst 9y ago

plehoux 9y ago

I'm the co-founder at Missive[1], an email client for teams. Our vision is to become the communication hub for any business, by both replacing email client and chat app. A lot of people compares us to Front, but we are more focused on the email/chat experience than customer support experience. Thus our pricing reflects this vision, where we charge ~$8-$12/seat/month. [1] https://missiveapp.com/ https://missiveapp.com/

unabst 9y ago
If you had said you were replacing outlook, I'd be less surprised. You seem more email focused. Front's front page slogan is "The shared inbox for teams." I'm always puzzled when they attack modern email in their PR. They should just stick to "universal team inbox". When I see missive, I see "team email with chat." Well, we chat on Discord already, so that's not the pain point. Front's main appeal to me at least was their multi-channel inbox. Customer support these days is not just email but social media and even texting. It can all be done through email, and even that can all be done through gmail, which is what we're doing now, and what I suspect a lot of people are doing. But removing inefficiencies in this day to day process immediately cuts costs when you're paying people for this work. Hence zendesk and their no free plan position, except, they're not multi-channel, and I was never impressed by them being on the customer end of a zendesk using company. I'd always think "crutch" when I saw an email from a business that didn't bother to re-brand their zendesk (assuming it's possible, if not, I guess they did well for themselves and my impressions were unimportant). PS. Your logo reminds me of men's underwear. I thought twice about mentioning it, and I know others would too. Not that I'd hold it against you, but (I do logo design, is my excuse for mentioning it).
- plehoux 9y ago
  > When I see missive, I see "team email with chat." Well, we chat on Discord already, so that's not the pain point. Pain point here is when you start to have those internal conversations spread across many silos. There is beauty and simplicity to manage all your conversations whether email, chat or mixed of both in a one convenient place. > PS. Your logo reminds me of men's underwear. Firs time I hear that one. :)
  - unabst 9y ago
    > email, chat or mixed of both in a one convenient place. No, exactly. But you are always at risk of being just another channel. So you need to beat the rest. Or be above them. Or at least consolidate a few. Front does a better job of marketing themselves as such (not the outlook argument, their inbox argument). If you could pull in "channels" or have an open API for adding custom channels where users can participate in helping build your catalog, I think that would help. The beauty of discord is with webhooks. Slack has "integrations" but they needed 1st party support. And I'd use Zapier to bridge the gaps. But most API sets have webhook support. And Discord allows for postings via webhooks. So I have a simple REST webhook processor page that takes incoming webhooks and posts to discord and everything else. Not that webhooks are your answer, but just an example of a common chat app setup with a drastically better/easier feature set than their major competition. > Firs time I hear that one. :) It's the combination of white and the curves. Reminds me of boxer briefs every time. An easy fix would be to sharpen the rounded corners, but it's none of my business. Either way, I have nothing but respect for you and your business. I wish you only the best ;)
a13n 9y ago
We use Missive over at Canny for team email collaboration. It's super useful and pleasant to use. Read receipts, shared inboxes, team communication on emails, and much more. Definitely worth the money.

cdkee 9y ago

While they have a few similarities, I'm not sure I'd put Zendesk as Front's main rival. They're doing similar things, but approaching them in totally different ways. Front is fully backing the shared inbox, while Zendesk's main messaging is to get away from that concept and move more towards Ticketing for a larger support team. Good to see more competition in the space though. Disclaimer: I work at Zendesk

ckluis 9y ago
I agree and disagree. I need ticketing, but I'd prefer Front add it as an option to specific email accounts. sales@company.com - shared with sales team normal shared inbox support@company.com - "add ticket option" first.last@company.com - private email @company - twitter account A shared communication hub is a big win. If they could take over some of the internal chat as well - I'd gladly cut them a big fat check. Our helpdesk bill is not cheap. (not zendesk sadly).
- plehoux 9y ago
  Curious to know the "@company - twitter account" importance compare to the other one you have listed?
  - ckluis 9y ago
    Less important for us as b2b/enterprisey, but omni-channel support could potentially allow a tweet to be turned into a ticket associated with a customer... that could be beneficial. Not so much for the day job, but for some of the companies I've been on the board of.
  - plehoux 9y ago
    Thanks, make sense. At Missive, we have yet to integrate with Twitter/Facebook... but as you mentioned even if it's less important, it's still a big sale argument for a platform like ours.
    - ckluis 9y ago