FrontHelpshiftFront vs Helpshift

Front vs Helpshift: Telegram and the price of five seats

A team inbox against an in-app support for games and apps: one prints a price and one quotes. Where Front and Helpshift split, and a third option for small teams.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Front if email is the channel and you want shared drafts, comments and sequences on every thread. Pick Helpshift if you ship a mobile game or app and want support inside it with device data attached. For five people it is $325 a month on Front, and a quote on Helpshift, before AI; Sellio Mini is $45 for the workspace. Front and Helpshift both include website chat and email in the price; only Front has Instagram; only Helpshift has WhatsApp. Neither Front nor Helpshift includes Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Front against Helpshift, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceFrontFrontHelpshiftHelpshift
Built aroundShared email · comments and drafts on every threadIn-app support for games · SDK first
Entry plan$25/seat/mo · Starter: one channel typeQuote · priced by interaction volume
Chat in the price$65/seat/mo · Professional: omnichannelQuote · in-app and web
AI agentFrom $0.05 per conversation · AutopilotIn the quote · AI agents by volume
Copilot for agents$20/seat/moIn the quote
Free planNone · 14-day trialNone · request pricing

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    FrontFront

    As a thread in a shared inbox that teammates comment on and draft together; it is email first. Helpshift raises a ticket where Front keeps a conversation.

    HelpshiftHelpshift

    As an issue raised inside the game or app through the SDK, with device and player data attached. Front has no ticket queue behind its conversations.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    FrontFront

    $25 buys one channel type and up to ten seats. Omnichannel and fifty seats start at Professional, $65. $325 for five people; Helpshift prints no figure to set beside it.

    HelpshiftHelpshift

    There is no seat price; the quote is built from interaction volume, solutions and regions. No figure for five people here; Front prints $325.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    FrontFront

    Autopilot, the AI agent, from $0.05 a conversation; Copilot is $20 per seat and Smart QA $20 per seat. Helpshift meters AI (in the quote) above the seats as well.

    HelpshiftHelpshift

    AI agents are part of the modular quote, priced by the volume they handle. Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    FrontFront

    Email on Starter; chat, SMS, WhatsApp and voice on Professional and up. Instagram is here and not on Helpshift.

    HelpshiftHelpshift

    In-app, web, email, WhatsApp and Discord; no Instagram or Telegram. WhatsApp is here and not on Front.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    FrontFront

    Sequences, calendar, account views and analytics for logistics, finance and account teams. Helpshift is an in-app support for games and apps instead.

    HelpshiftHelpshift

    Player engagement, trust and safety, community, and outsourced human support. Front is a team inbox instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    FrontFront

    A day: connect the mailboxes, set rules and assignments, then add the chat widget. Helpshift is a sales cycle, then an SDK integration by your developers.

    HelpshiftHelpshift

    A sales cycle, then an SDK integration by your developers. Front is a day.

Sources: Front pricing · Helpshift pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Front inbox: the thread with internal comments beside it and the assignment bar on top
FrontFront. The Front inbox: the thread with internal comments beside it and the assignment bar on top
The Helpshift agent dashboard: an in-app issue with the player's device and session data
HelpshiftHelpshift. The Helpshift agent dashboard: an in-app issue with the player's device and session data

Pricing references: Front pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06); Helpshift pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Front, Helpshift and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureFrontFrontHelpshiftHelpshiftSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per seat; channels tiered; AI add-ons per seat.
Quote by interaction volume
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
14-day trial.
None
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
Chat channel; Starter allows one channel type.
In-app and web
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
The core of the product.
Included
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Professional and up, via add-on.
Included
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Professional and up.
Not offered
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Discord instead
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack and Teams integrations.
Discord as a customer channel
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Autopilot.
AI agents in the quote
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat.
By volume, quoted
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to teammates.
Hands to an agent
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
Conversations with tags and status.
Issues with states
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Rules engine; visual on higher plans.
Automations and bots
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Analytics on Professional and up.
Reporting
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Mac and Windows apps.
Browser only
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Front if

  • Email is the channel and you want shared drafts, comments and sequences on every thread.
  • You run logistics, finance or account management where a thread is a piece of work.
  • You need Instagram in the price, which Helpshift does not include outright.
  • You want native desktop apps, which Helpshift does not ship.

Pick Helpshift if

  • You ship a mobile game or app and want support inside it with device data attached.
  • Discord and WhatsApp are where players write.
  • You need WhatsApp in the price, which Front does not include outright.
  • You need a ticket queue, which Front does not have.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $325 a month on Front, and a quote on Helpshift for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats, Helpshift meters AI (in the quote) above the seats, and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and a free plan with no trial clock, which neither Front nor Helpshift includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Front on Professional: $130, $325 and $650 a month for two, five and ten people, before AI. Helpshift quotes per team, so two, five and ten people are three conversations with sales. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $280 less than Front and against a quote on Helpshift for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included. At ten people, Essentials at $95 is $555 under Front.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Front is a team inbox built around shared email; Helpshift is an in-app support for games and apps built around in-app support for games. Neither has a free plan: Front offers a 14-day trial of Professional, Helpshift no trial. Front and Helpshift both include website chat and email in the price; only Front has Instagram; only Helpshift has WhatsApp. Neither Front nor Helpshift includes Telegram outright. Front (from $0.05 per conversation) and Helpshift (in the quote) both meter AI above the seats. Helpshift has tickets and Front does not, and only Front ships desktop apps. Front is a day; Helpshift is a sales cycle, then an SDK integration by your developers.

What each price leaves out

Front: Autopilot AI agent from $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat per month and Smart QA $20 per seat (included on Enterprise). Helpshift: AI agents are part of the modular quote. Beside Front's from $0.05 per conversation and Helpshift's in the quote, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    FrontFront$0.05$24
    HelpshiftHelpshiftSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    FrontFront · 14-day trial of Professional
    HelpshiftHelpshift · None; request pricing
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Front vs Helpshift: the questions people ask

Front is a team inbox built around shared email; Helpshift is an in-app support for games and apps built around in-app support for games. Helpshift has tickets and Front does not, and only Front ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Front $25/seat/mo (Starter: one channel type); Helpshift Quote (priced by interaction volume).
  • Chat in the price: Front $65/seat/mo (Professional: omnichannel); Helpshift Quote (in-app and web).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: Telegram, which neither Front nor Helpshift has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Front and Helpshift rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

Get startedRead the docs

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