According to a recent survey by McKinsey Global Institute, the average worker today spends 61% of their workday doing a combination of managing email, searching for information, and communicating internally. That leaves only 39% of the day for the completion of role-specific tasks and represents a significant opportunity to unlock new levels of productivity by leveraging emerging social technologies.
One innovation that helps customer-facing teams manage communications is a shared inbox. These platforms unite multiple collaboration features in a single interface and give team members the ability to complete numerous unique tasks directly, without the need to switch between software screens or accounts. Some shared inbox platforms offer other features such as ticket management, customer management, and even knowledge base capabilities to further streamline team workflows.
Here is a look at 25 of our favorite shared inbox tools for managing team emails. Each of these tools is designed to help make your work more visible and – best of all – simpler! Please note, the following tools are organized alphabetically. Thus, they are not ranked or rated in any way.
Buffer Reply
Buffer a social media and brand building platform centered around three core tools- Publish, Analyze, and Reply. The Reply tool provides a shared inbox from which all team members can view, organize, and reply to conversations. It was created for speed and transparency with a streamlined workflow that makes it easy for the entire team to see who is viewing each conversation to avoid miscommunication.
Three key features of Buffer Reply:
- Reply to conversations across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
- Assign social conversations to team members
- Leave internal notes for team members who pick up a conversation
Cost: $15-35/user per month
Cerb
Cerb is a web-based team collaboration and workflow automation platform that serves as a fully customizable team inbox. You can connect the software to any email accounts and create collaborative workspaces, shared mailboxes, and calendars. One of the real strengths of Cerb is the ability to extend the service with multiple plugins for other applications and full integration with third-party APIs.
Three key features of Cerb:
- Create bots to automate repetitive workflow tasks
- Monitor activity logs with time tracking capability
- Create community portals and project boards
Cost: $30-$35/user per month
Acquire
Acquire is a customer engagement software that houses a host of tools to enhance the customer experience and engagement. Acquire’s Unified Inbox as the name suggests is a tool that unifies all customer interactions across all touchpoints. With this tool, not only can you gather and track all user interactions from one place, but also receive and respond to messages.
This shared inbox is a smart way to manage all your customer interactions. Agents can send & receive customer service emails, live chat messages, social media messages, VoIP, SMS texts, and more all through one unified dashboard.
Three key features of Acquire:
- Easy team-member tagging
- DIY routing workflows
- Email SLAs, quick-access email templates, and email tags for itemization
Cost: Contact them for pricing.
ClientFlow
ClientFlow is an all-in-one tool for managing client communication and projects from a single interface. You begin by syncing multiple shared Gmail accounts with ClientFlow, and then you can create a team inbox to manage all communications. There are numerous collaboration tools available to enhance productivity, including mail tracking, reminders, tags, and advanced filters.
Three key features of ClientFlow:
- Send standardized approval requests to clients
- Activate a follow function to track progress on specific emails
- Use pre-built or customized message templates
Cost: $19/user per month (minimum of 2 users)
Dossier
Dossier is a comprehensive app for organizing all of your customer conversations. You can connect email and chat accounts to Dossier and then sync it with your favorite collaboration apps such as G-Suite, Slack, Box, and Asana. The software helps you automatically streamline customer communications across all these accounts so your team members can work in the software they are comfortable with.
Three key features of Dossier:
- A secure customer portal for client access
- Reply to incoming email in Slack, Asana, HubSpot, and Salesforce
- Assign incoming client emails and chats to team members
Cost:
- $199-$349/user per year (individual)
- $99-$599/user per year (5+ users)
Drag
Drag is an everything inbox for your team that features a Kanban board-style layout and an easy drag-and-drop interface. You can navigate from the central all-in-one workspace to several useful tools, including task management, email assignments, and internal team chat. Multiple boards can be created to align various teams, and they can be color-coded by time zone, urgency, or other priorities to keep everything organized.
Three key features of Drag:
- An internal team chat for easy collaboration
- Kanban and list views for managing emails visually
- Delegate and assign emails directly from the shared inbox
Cost: Free - $12/user per month
Emailtopia
Emailtopia is an email workflow management platform for creating shared mailboxes. It includes a streamlined messaging distribution system where you can set up rules to automatically route incoming messages to the appropriate team member. There are integrations available with many CRM and ERP systems, and Emailtopia is fully compatible with Outlook. You can also connect the platform to Active Directory and use a unified login.
Three key features of Emailtopia:
- Integration with existing CRM and ERP systems
- Create rules to route messages to the right person automatically
- A real-time reporting dashboard to monitor performance data
Cost: Contact for pricing
Gmelius
Gmelius creates a shared inbox environment for your Gmail accounts that operates as a fully functional help desk. You can manage all emails from a central display board and automate your company processes. In many ways, Gmelius allows you to operate as a CRM directly from a Gmail environment and maximize your effectiveness without changing your entire workflow. Streamlined email delegation and sharing make it easy for your team to get organized.
Three key features of Gmelius:
- Utilize Trello-like boards to organize your messages
- Use and create email templates to create messages quickly
- Integrations available with other CRM software such as Salesforce
Cost: Free - $49/user per month
HappyFox
HappyFox is a help-desk ticket support system that integrates with all your existing email and messaging platforms to centralize your communications. It will convert messages from your connected sources into tickets that can be organized, managed, and completed from the shared inbox. There is support for multilingual knowledge bases giving you the ability to address the needs of customers around the world effectively.
Three key features of HappyFox:
- Speak directly with customers using voice integration
- Automatically convert Facebook page messages into tickets
- Embed customer support forms into your website
Cost: $29-89/user per month
Helpmonks
Helpmonks is a collaborative shared inbox solution that features email management, CRM capabilities, and automation. From the interface, you can quickly view the incoming message load, assignments, and important reminders. Helpmonks can be deployed in three different configurations, giving you the flexibility to choose the right setup based on your company needs.
Three key features of Helpmonks:
- Deployable as hosted, cloud server, or self-hosted editions
- Complete conversation histories are archived and searchable
- Built-in CRM tools for tracking details of your sales process
Cost: $19-$49/mailbox per month, team plans available
Hiver
Hiver is a shared inbox platform for streamlining your email management directly from within Gmail. It adds core capabilities to your Gmail interface, such as delegation, tagging, automation, and customized views. You can also manage email templates, and your team can collaborate on shared drafts in real-time. Analytics are also included for tracking performance, and Hiver can be integrated with Slack and Zapier.
Three key features of Hiver:
- Send short customer surveys at the end of emails
- Track SLAs only during defined business hours
- Collaborate on draft responses with teammates in real-time
Cost: $14-34/user per month
HubSpot
HubSpot is a unique CRM platform that offers a free version, including marketing, sales, and service functions. With the software, you can set up a shared team inbox in minutes by connecting your email accounts with no integrations required. It is easy to manage your contacts, assign tasks, and track all progress of communication in the included dashboards. HubSpot can also grow alongside your business with numerous plans for starter, professional, and enterprise rollouts.
Three key features of HubSpot:
- Set up routing rules to automatically send emails to the right team members
- Utilize templates and canned responses to streamline replies
- Information for each email contact is displayed in a sidebar
Cost: Free - $4200/month
Ibby
Ibby is a messaging platform that features co-browsing and is designed for sales, marketing, and support teams. The co-browsing capability allows your team to interact with visitors as they browse your website and offer help as they interact with the forms. Additional features include chat automation, live visitor analytics, and customizable pipelines for lead or customer lifecycles.
Three key features of Ibby:
- Utilize the co-browsing features to assist customers real-time
- Automations available to customize chat responses
- Full ticketing support for tracking support requests
Cost: Free - $33/user per month
Keeping
Keeping is a Gmail-based email manager software built for customer support. This tool brings email management features to your current inbox, allowing you to collaborate with team members and interact with customer requests from a familiar interface. Support emails are easily organized in a separate section of your mailbox, where they can be assigned and monitored until completed.
Three key features of Keeping:
- Receive automatic response suggestions based on past emails
- Works with both Gmail and G Suite platforms
- Supports the use of multiple mailboxes
Cost:
- $29/month (5 users)
- $59/month (15 users)
- $99/month (25 users)
Loop
Loop is a business hub for email management that includes an integrated chat and the ability to attach and manage files. With Loop, you can organize your business around clients, projects, partners, and teams. The interface gives you easy access to your important messages, and daily reports keep you informed of the team performance at all times. You can quickly get started with Loop by signing in using your existing account login with no registration required.
Three key features of Loop:
- Turn any email into a chat discussion with team members
- Track and assign emails to team members
- Available on iOS, Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and Android
Cost: $6.50-$13/user per month
Mailor
Mailor is a free shared inbox and team portal software for managing workspaces by team, project, company, or department. The comprehensive dashboard makes finding information easy, and any team members can create custom notifications and personalized dashboards. It provides a lot of value for a free tool, and you can also attach files such as documents and images to any conversations.
Three key features of Mailor:
- Create dashboards with links to relevant information
- Automatic sorting of files and images attached to conversations
- Consolidate communications to one email address per team
Cost: Free
Missive
Missive is a centralized communication tool for managing emails, chats, and tasks. Beyond email, you can also connect to social media and SMS for collaboration around any type of inbox. Team members can easily pin meaningful or priority conversations to the sidebar, join or create team rooms for discussions, and manage contacts in a shared or provide contact book. Missive also comes with integrations for multiple platforms such as Asana, Trello, Todoist, and Shopify.
Three key features of Missive:
- Assign conversations and create tasks directly in the emails or chats
- Automate your workflow by assigning rules
- Push content from Missive to other applications via webhooks
Cost: Free - $15/user per month
NetHunt
NetHunt is a powerful CRM application that reshapes your Gmail inbox so you can manage all aspects of your sales pipeline and customer details. The app is built within Gmail and retains its intuitive user interface. You can transfer your existing data and set up team member permissions with just a few clicks, making the transition to NetHunt very smooth compared to starting with a new platform.
Three key features of NetHunt:
- Generate and send bulk email campaigns
- Fully customizable folders, user permissions, and pipelines
- Files uploaded are automatically placed in matching Google Drive folders
Cost: $24-48/user per month
Outpost
Outpost gives you the simple tools you need for managing a shared inbox effectively. With this platform, you can assign emails to team members, track internal communications on messages with notes, and use templates for drafting quick responses. There is also a complete analytics and reporting function for tracking essential metrics such as email response times by mailbox, user, and date.
Three key features of Outpost:
- A template library for easy reference to common questions
- Automation available for assignments, archiving, and replies
- Manage an unlimited number of mailboxes
Cost: $14.95/user per month
ProProfs
A shared inbox for help desks, ProProfs has a cloud-based ticketing system that is designed to be highly collaborative. Team members can easily assign, prioritize, update, and close tickets through their interface. You can also send surveys to customers for feedback and create online training courses to help educate your user base. The free version gives you a single inbox for one user, and ProProfs offers tiered pricing suitable for teams of all sizes.
Three key features of ProProfs:
- Tag messages with labels and assign a priority
- Tickets can be assigned to a team for quicker resolution
- Set up rule-based automated messages
Cost: Free - $399/mo for unlimited users
Qonvo
Qonvo is a business messaging app created for managing omnichannel customer communications. It gives teams the ability to interact with customers via a live web chat, SMS messaging, email, and social platforms from within a shared team inbox. One of the unique features of the software is the Qonvo Assistant, which is a bot that learns from your team’s interactions with customers and will offer automation suggestions.
Three key features of Qonvo:
- A Qonvo Assistant for managing automation for routine tasks
- Modify messages with annotations, tagging, and automation
- A Qonvo mobile app for managing communications on the go
Cost:
- $79/mo for up to 3 users
- $20/mo for each additional user
Salesmate
Salesmate is a fully functional CRM that features 360° contact management, smart emails, and a built-in phone. Automation is a strength of the software, giving you the ability to auto-update contact profile data using ClearBit technology, create bulk actions for routine tasks, and sync contacts among your favorite cloud apps. Salesmate also supports multiple currencies and time zones, making it a useful tool for global contact and product management.
Three key features of Salesmate:
- A built-in phone allowing calls with a single click
- Add and track detailed product information associated with deals
- Manage your sales process in a simplified pipeline view
Cost: $12-$24/user per month
SharedBox
SharedBox creates a shared inbox and help desk inside of Slack collaboration software. For users of Slack, this has the benefit of allowing team members to collaborate on shared email and Twitter accounts without sharing passwords. You can connect ShareBox to any email accounts, and you will receive a custom email address after signing up that can be used to forward messages directly to your shared inbox in Slack.
Three key features of SharedBox:
- Operates within Slack with no new installation or application
- Customizable analytics for measuring performance
- Create and attach custom email signatures to messages
Cost: Free - $49/month for up to 25 users
Spike
Spike is a productivity application that combines several useful features from different apps into a single platform. You start with a shared inbox where all messages will be routed from your attached accounts. Spike automatically prioritizes important messages based on customer contacts, and you can schedule replies for a later date, add voice message replies, and even make direct voice or video calls.
Three key features of Spike:
- Integration with iCloud, Drive, or Dropbox for sharing attached files
- Create a group for any topic and invite others to join
- Manage your time from a single screen with a unified calendar
Cost: Free - $5.99/user per month
SupportBee
SupportBee is a shared inbox for customer support teams that offers many must-have features for email collaboration. One of the first benefits users will notice is the rapid speed with which new tickets appear in the inbox. There is also a simple workflow for ticket management that has them categorized as Answered, Unanswered, or Archived. Team members will receive email assignments in a private inbox for easy delegation, and the entire system can be set up in less than five minutes.
Three key features of SupportBee:
- Customize the ticket workflow with unique labels
- Create private comments for team collaboration on tickets
- Support for multiple brands and custom email signatures
Cost: $13-17/user per month
Threads
Threads is an intelligent message hub that organizes all of your business communications into a single platform. Messages are managed from an intuitive dashboard, which will automatically index any email, phone call, or SMS for easy search and filtering. An intelligent search helps you locate data quickly, and Threads can even record, transcribe, and store inbound and outbound phone calls.
Three key features of Threads:
- Integration with HubSpot for complete CRM support
- Record, transcribe and store phone calls
- A storage-based pricing model for easy scaling
Cost: $30-700/month based on storage space used
