Hour Cap vs Front
Front is built for teams whose whole job is the inbox. Hour Cap is built for agencies who bill the hours that inbox costs them, at a fraction of the per-seat price.
Front and Hour Cap are built for different jobs
Front has been building a shared inbox for over a decade: channels beyond email, a rule builder that can express almost anything, analytics, and an integrations directory with a few hundred entries. All of it is aimed at teams whose day is the queue itself.
For an agency, the thing that decides it is what happens to the hour after the email is answered.
In Front, that hour goes into a different application, if anybody remembers. Its connection to the client, the project and the retainer is rebuilt by hand at the end of the month, from memory, by whoever is doing the invoicing. Often it is lost.
In Hour Cap that hour was logged from the conversation, against the client the sender was matched to, and it is already on the draft invoice. Same inbox work, one fewer subscription, and nothing left to memory at invoicing time.
Side by side
| Feature | Hour Cap | Front |
|---|---|---|
| Shared inbox for client email | ||
| Assignment, snooze, internal notes | ||
| SMS, WhatsApp, live chat | ||
| General rule builder | ||
| Track billable time on a conversation | Via a separate tracker | |
| Retainer cap visible while replying | ||
| Draft an invoice from the work | Into Xero | |
| One-click Linear issue | Via an integration | |
| Send from your own domain | ||
| Per-seat price, billed monthly | $12 add-on | $33 and up |
Compiled August 2026 from Front's published pricing. Vendors change, so check current figures before deciding.
One subscription instead of two
Front does the inbox and nothing else, so billing the time means buying a tracker as well and connecting the two. That is a second subscription, a second login, and a link between a conversation and an hour that somebody has to maintain.
Here it is one screen. The sender is matched to a client from your Xero contacts, the retainer meter is right there, and the hour you log goes onto the same draft invoice as the project work.
- One bill, not an inbox subscription plus a tracker subscription
- The retainer cap in view before you decide how long to spend
- Replies still go out from your own domain
Morning, the partners want the Q3 numbers before Thursday's meeting. Same format as last time is fine.
Morning Dan, no problem. I will pull Q3 in the same layout and have it with you tomorrow, well ahead of Thursday.
Pricing at a glance
Six people, everyone on the inbox, both paying monthly.
Hour Cap
Inbox + time trackingIncludes the time tracking, retainer budgets and Xero invoicing. Inbox seats are given out per person, so you only buy them for the people who answer client mail.
Front
Front's published rates are the annual-billing prices; paying monthly costs roughly a quarter more. Starter caps at ten seats. August 2026, re-check before relying on it.
$90 a month less for 6 people, with the time tracking and Xero invoicing included rather than bought separately.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hour Cap a Front alternative?
For an agency that bills by the hour, often yes. Front is a shared inbox with more channels, more automation and a large app directory, built for teams whose whole job is the inbox. Hour Cap gives you the shared inbox part inside the tool that already knows your rates, retainers and invoices, so the time spent answering client email stops being invisible.
How does the pricing compare?
Front publishes $25 per seat per month on Starter (capped at ten seats), $65 on Professional and $105 on Enterprise, but those are the annual-billing rates and paying monthly costs roughly a quarter more. Hour Cap's Customer Support Inbox is $12 per seat per month on top of a plan starting at $10 a month. Comparing month to month, six people all on the inbox costs $108 on our Team plan against about $198 for six seats on Front's Starter tier, and that $108 already includes the time tracking and Xero invoicing. Inbox seats are given out per person, so you only buy them for the people who answer client mail. Re-check current vendor pricing before relying on these figures.
Does Hour Cap support SMS, WhatsApp or live chat?
No. Hour Cap's inbox is email only. If your clients reach you across several channels and you need them in one queue, that is exactly what Front is for.
Does Hour Cap have rules and automation like Front?
Not to the same depth. Front has a mature rule builder. Hour Cap has the automations agencies ask for: auto-assign by client, auto-file by sender, snooze with presets, and issue creation for known clients. There is no general rule engine.
Can Front track billable time?
Only through an integration with a separate time tracker, which means a second subscription and a second place the answer lives. Hour Cap logs the time on the conversation and it lands on the same timesheet and the same Xero invoice as everything else.
Who should choose Front?
A team whose inbox is the whole job: multiple channels, high volume, complex routing rules, and a need for the integrations directory. That is the job Front is built for. Hour Cap is built for agencies who have to bill the hours the inbox costs them.
The inbox, and the invoice
Answer the client, log the hour, and watch the retainer cap while you do it.
Keep exploring
The other shared inboxes we are measured against, and the product itself.
Hour Cap vs Help Scout
Help Scout is built for support teams. Compare that with an inbox that turns the conversation into an invoice.
Read onHour Cap vs Missive
Missive collaborates on the email. Compare that with knowing what the email costs the retainer.
Read onHour Cap vs Productlane
Both do the inbox and one-click Linear issues. Hour Cap also tracks what the reply cost you.
Read onCustomer Support Inbox
The shared inbox itself: what it does, what it costs, and how it is set up.
Read onAll comparisons
Every shared inbox and time tracker Hour Cap is measured against.
Read onComparison note: competitor features and pricing were researched on a best-effort basis in June 2026 and can change at any time. We aim to be accurate and fair, but details may be out of date, so always confirm the latest information on the vendor's own website before making a decision. Hour Cap capabilities described here reflect the product at the time of writing.