FrontProProfsFront vs ProProfs

Front vs ProProfs: team inbox or live chat for a small team

A team inbox against a live chat software: ProProfs is $225 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

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 ProProfs if one person answers chat and you want every feature free. For five people, ProProfs is $225 a month cheaper than Front ($325 a month on Front against $100 on ProProfs), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $55 under ProProfs. Front and ProProfs both include website chat in the price; only Front has email and Instagram. Neither Front nor ProProfs includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Front and ProProfs sell here at one price.

At a glanceFrontFrontProProfsProProfs
Built aroundShared email · comments and drafts on every threadThe chat widget · free for one operator
Entry plan$25/seat/mo · Starter: one channel type$0 · one operator, all features
Chat in the price$65/seat/mo · Professional: omnichannelAbout $20/operator/mo · Team plan
AI agentFrom $0.05 per conversation · Autopilot$450/year · 2,500 AI interactions a month
Copilot for agents$20/seat/moIn the AI add-on
Free planNone · 14-day trialYes · a single operator

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. ProProfs has no ticket queue either.

    ProProfsProProfs

    As a chat in the widget, greeted by a rule or the AI add-on, with the visitor's page shown. Front has no ticket queue either.

  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, against $100 on ProProfs.

    ProProfsProProfs

    One operator is free with every feature; a team pays per operator, about $20 a month each. $100 for five people, against $325 on Front.

  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. ProProfs folds AI ($450/year) into the plan instead.

    ProProfsProProfs

    AI chat automation is $450 a year for 2,500 interactions a month, a flat add-on. Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    FrontFront

    Email on Starter; chat, SMS, WhatsApp and voice on Professional and up. email and Instagram are here and not on ProProfs.

    ProProfsProProfs

    Website chat, with WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger on the team plan; no Telegram. Front adds email and Instagram, which ProProfs lacks.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    FrontFront

    Sequences, calendar, account views and analytics for logistics, finance and account teams. ProProfs is a live chat software instead.

    ProProfsProProfs

    A help desk, a knowledge base and surveys as sibling products; a suite from $499 a month. 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. ProProfs is minutes.

    ProProfsProProfs

    Minutes: paste the widget. Front is a day.

Sources: Front pricing · ProProfs 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 ProProfs Chat operator view: the chat with the visitor's page and history
ProProfsProProfs. The ProProfs Chat operator view: the chat with the visitor's page and history

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

Front, ProProfs 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.

FeatureFrontFrontProProfsProProfsSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Per seat; channels tiered; AI add-ons per seat.
Per operator; AI flat
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
14-day trial.
One operator
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

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

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
Autopilot.
AI add-on
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
From $0.05 per conversation; Copilot $20 per seat.
$450 a year flat
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to teammates.
Hands to an operator
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

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

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Mac and Windows apps.
Windows and macOS apps
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 email and Instagram in the price, which ProProfs does not include outright.
  • Time to the first reply is a day here and minutes on ProProfs.

Pick ProProfs if

  • One person answers chat and you want every feature free.
  • A flat yearly AI add-on beats a per-conversation meter for you.
  • Five people cost $225 a month less than on Front ($100 against $325), before AI.
  • You want a free plan to start on; Front offers a 14-day trial of Professional.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Front or ProProfs who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $325 a month on Front against $100 on ProProfs for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats, ProProfs folds AI ($450/year) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and tickets raised from a chat, which neither Front nor ProProfs 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. ProProfs: $100 a month for five (5 operators × about $20); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $280 less than Front and $55 less than ProProfs 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; ProProfs is a live chat software built around the chat widget. Only ProProfs has a free plan (a single operator); Front offers a 14-day trial of Professional. Front and ProProfs both include website chat in the price; only Front has email and Instagram. Neither Front nor ProProfs includes WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Front meters AI (from $0.05 per conversation) above the seats; ProProfs folds AI ($450/year) into the plan. Neither Front nor ProProfs has a ticket queue, and both ship desktop apps. Front is a day; ProProfs is minutes.

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). ProProfs: AI Chat Automation $450 a year for 2,500 interactions a month. Beside Front's from $0.05 per conversation and ProProfs's $450/year, 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 these figures were read

ProProfs does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Free for one operator; the team plan is priced per operator and shown after sign-up, so its figure is from published summaries.), so they are marked unverified here beside Front's, and ProProfs's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

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
    ProProfsProProfsSee 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
    ProProfsProProfs · 15-day trial of the team plan
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Front vs ProProfs: the questions people ask

Front is a team inbox built around shared email; ProProfs is a live chat software built around the chat widget. Neither Front nor ProProfs has a ticket queue, and both ship desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Front $25/seat/mo (Starter: one channel type); ProProfs $0 (one operator, all features).
  • Chat in the price: Front $65/seat/mo (Professional: omnichannel); ProProfs About $20/operator/mo (Team plan).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Front nor ProProfs has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Front and ProProfs 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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