Free alternatives to Front

A proper support inbox with chat, email and a help center; free software, billable server chores.

Versus paying: It is support-inbox oriented and weaker than Front for email-first shared drafting, internal collaboration, routing rules and multi-inbox operations.

Setup: Hosted signup or Docker Compose

Watch for: Self-hosting requires a VM or Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis, SMTP, persistent or object storage, HTTPS, backups and upgrades

35,534 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

Email becomes an assigned team inbox with notes and collision warnings; the nicer modules open a wallet.

Versus paying: Its rules, integrations, mobile experience and collaboration are less polished than Front's, and several useful modules are separately paid.

Setup: Upload the PHP application and run its Laravel web installer

Watch for: PHP and a web server, MySQL or MariaDB, cron, IMAP or SMTP or OAuth, backups and separately paid modules for several extras

4,400 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

A two-seat shared inbox and live chat bolted to a CRM; free until the limits become colleagues.

Versus paying: Its shared inbox is a basic CRM feature, not Front's mature email-first assignment, commenting, drafting, rules and multi-inbox workspace.

Setup: Hosted signup

A serious ticket desk with email, chat, SLAs and a knowledge base; setup is the first ticket.

Versus paying: It treats messages as help-desk tickets rather than preserving Front's lighter, email-native team collaboration model.

Setup: Hosted signup or Docker Compose, Portainer or OS package

Watch for: Self-hosting normally means Docker plus PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, mail channels, a domain and backups

5,800 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

Live chat, tickets, email, and a help centre for zero dollars; the tiny tawk.to badge pays the rent.

Versus paying: It is chat-first and much weaker for shared email drafting, comments, assignments and rules than Front.

Setup: Hosted signup plus a JavaScript snippet or CMS plugin

Watch for: The website widget or plugin must be installed; removing tawk.to branding is paid

A hosted shared inbox, live chat, and ticket queue for two users; the knowledge base lives upstairs.

Versus paying: It is a basic ticket and inbox queue rather than Front's polished email-first collaboration, shared drafting and rule system.

Setup: Hosted signup

A real hosted ticket desk for unlimited users, as long as Helpdesk is your one free Odoo app.

Versus paying: It is ticket-centric and lacks Front's fluid shared-mailbox collaboration, drafting, comments and email automation.

Setup: Hosted signup

Watch for: None for Helpdesk alone; installing another Odoo app ends the one-app-free arrangement

A modern email-and-live-chat desk in one compact stack, because apparently that was allowed.

Versus paying: It is a much younger product with a smaller integration, mobile, reporting and administration ecosystem than Front.

Setup: Docker or prebuilt binary with PostgreSQL

Watch for: Docker or a binary plus PostgreSQL, mail channels, a domain, HTTPS, persistent storage and backups

2,682 GitHub stars (checked Aug 7, 2026)