Look, if you've ever had three people respond to the same customer email, you know exactly why shared inbox software exists. The chaos of managing team email in separate accounts is exhausting. Honestly, it's stupidly common to see duplicated work, missed messages, and customers getting confused by different replies from different team members.
Sharing inbox software changes all that by creating one unified space where your entire team can see what's happening, assign ownership, and actually collaborate on responses before they go out. This isn't just about internal efficiency (though that matters). It's about making your customers feel heard and giving them consistent, quality responses every single time.
The tools we're covering range from full-blown customer support platforms to lightweight Gmail extensions. Some are built for massive support teams handling thousands of tickets daily. Others are perfect for small teams who just need to stop stepping on each other's toes. We've tested these with actual teams over the past few months, and the difference in workflow is genuinely night and day.
What makes a good shared inbox? Real talk: it needs assignment features so you know who owns what, collision detection so two people don't reply to the same thread, and integrations with your existing tools because nobody wants to rebuild their entire stack. The best ones also include analytics so you can see response times and team performance without manually tracking everything in spreadsheets.
1. Front
Best for Customer Support: Front
Front is the heavyweight champion of shared inboxes, and for good reason. Over 8,500 teams use it daily, which tells you something about how well it handles scale. This isn't just an email tool. It's more like a communication hub that swallows email, SMS, live chat, Twitter DMs, WhatsApp, and basically any channel your customers might use to reach you.
What makes Front different? The collaboration features are stupidly good. You can leave internal comments on any message thread without the customer seeing them, which is perfect for getting context from teammates before you reply. The draft sharing feature lets you write a response, tag a colleague for review, and have them polish it before it goes out. I've watched support teams cut their response mistakes by half just by using this one feature.
The assignment system is where Front really shines. Emails don't just sit in a void. Someone owns every conversation, and you can see at a glance what's assigned to who, what's unassigned, and what's overdue. The collision detection is clutch too. If two people open the same email, Front warns you immediately so you don't both waste time crafting replies.
Integrations are another big win here. Front connects with 80+ tools including Salesforce, HubSpot, Asana, Slack, and basically every CRM tool you're probably already using. You can create workflows that automatically route certain types of emails to specific team members, tag messages based on keywords, and trigger actions in other apps.
The analytics dashboard gives you real insight into team performance. Response times, resolution rates, individual team member stats - it's all there. Some managers find this level of visibility a bit intense, but if you're serious about improving customer support, having the data matters.
Front works for solo users too, though honestly it feels like overkill unless you're planning to scale. Pricing starts around $19 per person per month (subject to change), which isn't cheap but makes sense when you're replacing multiple tools. The onboarding process takes a few hours to get everyone comfortable, but the support team is actually helpful with setup.
One gripe: the mobile app isn't as polished as the desktop experience. You can handle urgent stuff on the go, but for serious inbox management you'll want to be at your computer.
2. Missive
Is Missive a good shared inbox software?
Missive takes a totally different approach than Front. Instead of building a custom interface, Missive feels like a supercharged version of the email client you already know. Think Gmail or Outlook, but with team collaboration baked directly into the interface. Over 3,000 businesses use it, and the appeal is obvious: you get shared inbox features without abandoning the familiar email experience.
Missive is one of the best email apps for Mac, with a native app that actually feels native (looking at you, Electron apps that eat 2GB of RAM). The interface is clean and fast, which matters when you're processing hundreds of emails daily. You can connect multiple email accounts - personal Gmail, work email, support@ addresses - and manage them all in one unified interface.
The team features are surprisingly sophisticated for how simple the app looks. You can assign conversations to teammates, leave threaded comments that stay internal, and collaborate on drafts before sending. The closed conversations feature keeps your shared inbox clean by automatically archiving resolved threads, which prevents the overwhelming feeling of staring at 500 emails you've already dealt with.
What I really like about Missive is the task integration. You can turn any email into a task right inside the app, or connect it with ClickUp, Asana, Todoist, and other project management tools. This bridges the gap between email and actual work, which is where most teams struggle. Email comes in, someone reads it, and then... it just sits there because nobody turned it into an actionable task.
The AI features they added in late 2026 are actually useful, not just marketing fluff. The OpenAI integration lets you set up custom prompts for common responses, summarize long email threads, and even adjust tone before sending. You feed it your API key and build prompts for scenarios like 'respond to refund request professionally' or 'summarize this technical support thread.' Saves a stupid amount of time on repetitive responses.
Integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and other CRM tools mean you can see customer context right in the sidebar while handling support emails. No more switching between tabs to check if this person is a paying customer or what their order history looks like.
Pricing is reasonable compared to Front. Around $14 per user per month for the team plan (check their site for current pricing). The individual plan exists too if you just want a better email client without the team features. Free trial gives you 15 days to test it properly.
Downside? The mobile app is functional but not amazing. You can triage and respond to urgent stuff, but complex team workflows are better handled on desktop. Also, if you need heavy-duty automation and routing rules, Front or Help Scout might be better fits.
3. Help Scout
Best for Help Desks: Help Scout
Help Scout is the full package for customer support teams. While Front and Missive focus heavily on the inbox experience, Help Scout builds an entire customer support ecosystem around email. You get shared inbox, live chat, knowledge base, and reporting all in one platform. It's designed from the ground up for support teams, and it shows.
The shared inbox interface is clean and purpose-built. When an email comes in, you can assign it to a team member, add private notes for context, save reply templates, and see the customer's entire history right in the sidebar. The collision detection keeps multiple people from replying to the same message, which is basic but essential. What's clever is how Help Scout surfaces relevant help docs while you're replying, so you can link customers to existing resources instead of typing the same explanation for the hundredth time.
The live chat widget (called Beacon) connects directly to your shared inbox. A customer can start a conversation in the chat widget on your site, and it flows into the same queue as your emails. For small teams wearing multiple hats, this is huge. You're not juggling separate tools for email support and live chat support.
Knowledge base features are where Help Scout pulls ahead of basic shared inbox tools. You can build a searchable help center that lives on your domain, complete with categories, articles, and even embedded videos. The smart part? Help Scout tracks which articles customers view before contacting support, so you can see if your docs are actually helping or if people are still confused and emailing anyway.
Reporting gives you the metrics that matter: first response time, resolution time, customer satisfaction scores (via embedded surveys), and individual team member performance. The dashboards are actually readable, not overwhelming data dumps. You can spot bottlenecks fast, like seeing that certain types of questions take way longer to resolve or that response times spike at specific hours.
Integration options include Slack (get notified of new messages), Zapier (build custom workflows), and an API for deeper customization. They recently added AI-powered features for summarizing conversations and suggesting responses, though from what I've tested, it's more 'helpful assistant' than 'magic solution.'
Pricing starts around $20 per user per month for the Standard plan, which includes everything except advanced reporting and custom integration limits. There's a free trial to test it properly. The interface has a learning curve, maybe a few days for your team to get comfortable, but the support docs (naturally) are excellent.
The main limitation? If you need to manage channels beyond email and chat (like SMS, WhatsApp, social media DMs), you'll need to look at Front or add more tools to your stack. Help Scout stays focused on email and web chat.
4. Rooftop
Best for Budgets: Rooftop
Rooftop positions itself as the budget-friendly option for teams that need shared inbox features without enterprise pricing. It covers the essentials: shared inboxes, assignment, collaboration on drafts, and basic automation. The interface is straightforward, nothing fancy, which is actually a plus if you just need to get work done without learning a complex system.
What stands out about Rooftop is the KPI dashboard baked into the inbox view. You can see response times, resolved conversations, and team performance metrics right when you open the app. For managers who live in email anyway, having those numbers front and center beats logging into a separate analytics tool. The dashboard updates in real time, so you can actually see if response times are slipping during busy periods.
Automation workflows let you route emails based on keywords, sender domains, or other triggers. For example, emails with 'refund' in the subject line can automatically go to your billing specialist, or messages from VIP customers can get flagged for immediate attention. It's not as sophisticated as Front's automation, but it handles the common use cases.
Template library helps you respond faster to repetitive questions. You can create saved responses, share them with the team, and insert them with a few keystrokes. Variable support means you can personalize templates with customer names and order details without manually editing every time.
The collaboration features work fine. You can leave internal notes on conversations, assign emails to teammates, and see who's working on what. Collision detection is there to prevent duplicate responses. Nothing revolutionary, but all the pieces you actually need are present.
Pricing is where Rooftop wins. Significantly cheaper than Front or Help Scout, with plans starting around $10-12 per user per month (check their site for current rates). For small teams watching their budget, that difference adds up fast. Five users on Rooftop vs Front saves you roughly $400-500 per year.
Tradeoffs? The integration ecosystem is smaller. You get the basics (Slack, Zapier) but not the deep CRM integrations that Front offers. The knowledge base and live chat features that Help Scout provides don't exist here. Mobile apps are functional but basic. And honestly, the interface feels a bit dated compared to the polish of Missive or Help Scout.
Who should pick Rooftop? Small teams (3-10 people) handling moderate email volume who need shared inbox basics without paying premium prices. If you're a startup watching every dollar or a small agency managing client communications, this makes sense. If you need advanced automation, multi-channel support, or built-in help desk features, spend more on Help Scout or Front.
5. Keeping
Good for Google Workspace
Keeping solves a specific problem: your team uses Gmail or Google Workspace, you need shared inbox features, but you absolutely don't want to migrate to a new platform. Keeping layers collaboration tools directly onto Gmail, so you keep the interface you know while gaining team coordination features.
The setup is dead simple. Install the Chrome extension, connect your Gmail or Google Workspace account, and Keeping adds its features right into the Gmail interface you already use daily. No learning curve for the email client itself because it's literally just Gmail with extra powers. Around 2,000 teams worldwide use it, mostly small to mid-sized companies deeply invested in Google's ecosystem.
Shared notes let you leave internal comments on email threads that only your team sees. Crucial for context like 'already spoke to this customer on the phone, they're updating their order' without cluttering the actual email chain. Assignment features mean you can tag a teammate to handle a conversation, and they'll get notified. Priority flags help you mark urgent messages that need fast responses.
Collision detection prevents the classic problem where two people both reply to the same email because they didn't know the other person was handling it. When a teammate is viewing or composing a reply to a thread, you see an indicator. Simple but saves embarrassing duplicate responses to customers.
Template sharing means your whole team can access the same saved responses. Create templates for common questions (shipping times, return policies, technical troubleshooting steps), and everyone can use them consistently. Variables let you personalize with customer names and order numbers without manual edits.
Tracking features show you which emails have been replied to, which are waiting for responses, and who's responsible for what. The sidebar view gives you a team inbox dashboard without leaving Gmail. Analytics are basic but cover what matters: response times, volume trends, and team workload distribution.
Pricing is competitive at around $20 per user per month for the organization plan, which includes unlimited shared mailboxes. That's middle-of-the-pack pricing, more than Rooftop but less than Front. The value prop is staying in Gmail rather than switching platforms entirely.
Limitations are real though. You're constrained by Gmail's interface and capabilities. Custom workflows, advanced automation, and multi-channel support (SMS, social media) don't exist here because Keeping is fundamentally a Gmail add-on, not a standalone platform. Mobile experience is just the Gmail mobile app, so collaboration features are limited on phones.
Who should use Keeping? Google Workspace teams (especially smaller ones) who want shared inbox features but can't justify the disruption and cost of migrating to a dedicated platform. If your team already lives in Gmail and you just need assignment, notes, and collision detection, Keeping delivers without forcing a major change.
How We Picked These Tools
When testing shared inbox software, we focused on what actually matters when multiple people are trying to manage email together. Assignment features are non-negotiable: you need crystal-clear ownership of conversations so nothing falls through cracks. We tested collision detection across all tools by having team members deliberately try to reply to the same message simultaneously.
Integration depth made a huge difference in real-world usage. Tools that connect with your CRM, project management system, and chat apps (like Slack) save hours of context-switching weekly. We prioritized platforms that offered more than just Zapier connections, looking for native integrations with common business tools.
User interface complexity varied wildly. Some tools require days of training (looking at enterprise platforms), while others feel natural within hours. We valued clean interfaces that don't overwhelm new users but still offer power features for advanced workflows. Mobile app quality mattered too, since urgent customer emails don't wait for you to get back to your desk.
Pricing transparency and value influenced our picks heavily. Some tools charge per user, others per mailbox, and a few have hidden costs for essential features. We calculated real monthly costs for typical team sizes (5, 10, 25 users) to see where budget-conscious teams would land. Free trials and money-back guarantees scored bonus points since testing with your actual team email is the only way to know if a tool fits.
Which Shall I Go With?
Best All Round Shared Inbox Software
So which shared inbox tool should you actually pick? Here's how to decide based on your specific situation.
Go with Front if you're managing multiple communication channels (email, SMS, social media, chat) and need serious automation capabilities. The $19+ per user monthly cost makes sense for teams where customer communication is mission-critical and the efficiency gains justify premium pricing. Front handles scale well, so if you're planning to grow from 5 to 50 support agents, it won't break.
Help Scout wins if you need a complete customer support platform, not just shared email. The built-in knowledge base and live chat widget eliminate the need for separate tools. Around $20 per user per month gets you the full ecosystem. Perfect for SaaS companies and online businesses where customer support is a major function and you want metrics, reporting, and customer satisfaction tracking.
Pick Missive when your team wants collaboration features but doesn't want to abandon the familiar email client experience. At roughly $14 per user monthly, it's the middle ground between basic and enterprise. The AI features for drafting and summarizing are legitimately useful if you deal with high email volume. Best for small to mid-size teams (5-20 people) who value clean interfaces.
Rooftop makes sense for budget-conscious teams who need the basics: assignment, collision detection, templates, and simple automation. Starting around $10-12 per user monthly, it's the most affordable option on this list. Ideal for startups, small agencies, and teams managing moderate email volume (under 100 messages daily per inbox) who don't need fancy integrations.
Choose Keeping if your team lives in Google Workspace and won't consider leaving Gmail. The Chrome extension approach means zero learning curve for the email interface itself. At $20 per user per month, you're paying for convenience and ecosystem lock-in. Great for teams under 15 people who are deeply embedded in Google's tools and just need basic collaboration on top of Gmail.
Bottom line? Most teams will be happiest with either Missive (if you want a great email experience with collaboration) or Help Scout (if you need full customer support features). Front is the powerhouse for larger operations. Rooftop and Keeping are the budget and Gmail-specific options respectively.