6 Best AI Assistants for Front in 2026
Front is a shared inbox, and shared inboxes have a specific failure mode: the reply is the easy part. What takes the time is everything the reply commits you to. A refund promised, a record that needs updating, a call that needs booking, a document that needs sending.
Front’s own AI is good at the reply. The tools below split by how far past the reply they go.
TL;DR: Carly is the pick when work leaves the inbox, because it acts on the promise rather than just drafting it. Front’s built-in AI is the best in-app drafting you will get and worth using, though the strongest pieces sit on higher tiers. Front is a Carly integration, so the two run together.
1. Carly
Carly is an AI agent with its own real email address, connected to Front and to the rest of your stack.
The difference shows on the second half of a conversation. A customer writes asking to move their onboarding call and confirm the new seat count. Front’s AI drafts a reply. Carly checks the calendar, rebooks the call, updates the record, sends the confirmation, and leaves the thread in the state it should be in.
It also works the doors Front does not own. Carly holds its own mailbox, so requests that arrive by forward, by text, or from another system land in the same queue as the ones in Front.
What makes it different: it takes instructions in plain language rather than rules, and it acts unattended, so the overnight queue is triaged before the team logs on. It connects to thousands of apps, which is what turns “I’ll get that over to you” into a thing that happened.
Best for: Teams whose inbox work spills into a CRM, a calendar, and a billing system. Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month
Connect it at carlyassistant.com/integrations.
2. Front AI
Front ships AI drafting, summaries, AI Topics for tagging, and AI Answers drawing on your knowledge base. In the inbox it is fast and it is good.
What makes it different from Carly: it is scoped to the conversation in front of it, and the pricing is the catch. AI Copilot, QA and CSAT are included on Enterprise at $105 per seat per month annually, and sold as add-ons below that. Automation rules are capped too: 10 on Starter, 20 on Professional, uncapped on Enterprise. See Front pricing for the full ladder.
Best for: Drafting and tagging inside Front.
3. Front rules
Front’s own rules engine routes, tags, assigns, and auto-replies, and for a support team it removes a lot of manual triage. Included with your plan, up to the tier cap.
What makes it different from Carly: rules are conditions you write and maintain, and they do the same thing every time. They cannot decide that this particular message deserves a refund and that one does not.
4. Missive
A shared inbox with internal chat threaded next to each conversation, and AI drafting on top. The most credible direct alternative to Front for small teams.
What makes it different from Carly: it is a better place to read and discuss mail. The doing still leaves the app.
5. ChatGPT and Claude
Both connect to a mailbox and will draft, summarize, and reason about a thread well. Useful for the hard reply.
What makes it different from Carly: each holds one account per connection, and neither runs while you are away. A shared inbox where three people work is not the shape they are built for.
6. Zapier and Make
Trigger-action platforms that connect Front to the rest of your systems, firing when a conversation is tagged or assigned.
What makes it different from Carly: every path is plumbing you define and maintain, and it fires on every match with no view on which ones matter. See Zapier alternatives and Make alternatives.
Front AI Assistants Compared
| Tool | Drafts in Front | Acts outside the inbox | Judges what deserves action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Yes | Yes | Yes | From $35/mo |
| Front AI | Yes | No | No | Add-on; included on Enterprise |
| Front rules | Templates only | Limited | No | Included, capped by tier |
| Missive | Yes | No | No | Per user |
| ChatGPT / Claude | Yes | Limited | Partly | ~$20/mo |
| Zapier / Make | No | Yes | No | Free; paid tiers |
How to pick
If your team’s problem is writing replies faster, Front AI is already in the product and is the shortest path. Check which tier you are on first, because the good parts are Enterprise or an add-on.
If the problem is that every reply creates work in three other systems, go with Carly and keep Front as the place your team reads mail. The two are complementary: one owns the conversation, the other owns what the conversation promised.
FAQ
What is the best AI assistant for Front? Carly, when the work extends past the reply. It connects to Front and to the CRM, calendar, and billing tools the reply commits you to.
Is Front AI included in every plan? No. AI Topics appear on Starter, while AI Copilot, QA and CSAT are included on Enterprise and sold as add-ons below it. Automation rules are capped at 10 on Starter and 20 on Professional.
Can an AI assistant act on Front conversations automatically? Yes. Carly runs unattended, so the overnight queue is triaged, drafted, and actioned before the team starts.
Do Carly and Front work together? Yes, and that is the usual setup. Front is where the team reads and answers shared mail; Carly does the work those answers create, across thousands of apps. Teams that want one assistant handling intake as well run Carly on its own mailbox alongside it.
More: Front AI · Front pricing · Best shared inbox tools · AI for shared mailboxes
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