Front vs Rocket.Chat
Front and Rocket.Chat are both team communication tools. Front is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while Rocket.Chat is aimed at enterprise and developers. Only Rocket.Chat has a free plan.
Front
Shared inbox for customer-facing teams
Rocket.Chat
Open-source team chat and omnichannel
| Pricing | Paid · $35 | Open source |
| Starting price | $35/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Enterprise | Enterprise, Developers |
| Platforms | web, macos, windows, ios, android | web, macos, windows, ios, android |
| Country | FR · 2013 | BR · 2015 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Front if
Email-heavy, collaborative customer teams in B2B and services.
- Natural for teams living in email
- Excellent collaboration features
- Omnichannel without a ticket mindset
Look elsewhere if: High-volume consumer support (Zendesk, Freshdesk) or small teams on a budget (Help Scout).
Choose Rocket.Chat if
Organizations wanting open-source chat plus omnichannel.
- Open source
- Omnichannel built in
- Data control
Look elsewhere if: Teams wanting turnkey polish.
Front vs Rocket.Chat pricing
Front
- Starter$35/seat/mo$25 billed annually; up to 10 seats
- Professional$85/seat/mo$65 billed annually; up to 50 seats, omnichannel
- Enterprise$105/seat/moAnnual billing only; advanced AI tools
Rocket.Chat
- Community$0Free self-managed open source workspace
- Starter$0Free premium features for up to 50 users (docs.rocket.chat)
- CommercialCustomGet pricing from sales
- GovernmentCustomCustom quote
- DefenseCustomContact us
Front · Key features
- Shared and personal inboxes in one email-like interface
- Internal comments, assignments and collision detection
- Rules, SLAs and workload balancing
- Front AI for drafts, summaries and tagging
- Knowledge base, chat widget and customer profiles
- Analytics and CRM integrations
Cons
- Expensive per seat
- Starter plan limited to 10 seats
- Ticket-style reporting is weaker than Zendesk
Rocket.Chat · Key features
- Team chat and video
- Omnichannel customer service
- Federation
- Self-hosting
- E2E encryption
- Marketplace apps
Cons
- UX less polished
- Self-hosting upkeep
- Fewer integrations
Front vs Rocket.Chat: FAQ
Do Front and Rocket.Chat have a free plan?
Front has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Rocket.Chat has a free plan.
Which is better for small businesses, Front or Rocket.Chat?
Front lists small businesses as a core audience, while Rocket.Chat is aimed more at enterprise and developers.