Shared Inbox for Talent Managers: Gmail, Front or QKAP Agency?
How talent managers share brand enquiries across a team: delegated Gmail, a shared-inbox tool like Front, or QKAP's unified agency inbox. Pros, limits and costs.
On this page
Gmail delegation is the simplest free way for a talent team to share one brand inbox, and teams on Google Workspace can turn a group address into a collaborative inbox with basic assignment. Dedicated shared-inbox tools such as Front, Missive or Help Scout add team features like assignment or ticketing, priced per user. QKAP's agency inbox gathers the messages that arrive through your clients' QKAP pages into one list, answered as the page. Because brands still send most briefs, contracts and invoices by email, many talent teams end up combining an email tool for email with QKAP for page messages.
Key takeaways
- Gmail delegation is free and quick, but a delegate can read, send and delete every email in the account, and there's no assignment.
- Google Groups Collaborative Inbox adds take, assign and resolve states for Google Workspace teams.
- Front, Missive and Help Scout are per-user shared inboxes; as of October 2026, Front starts at $25 per seat a month billed annually and Help Scout has a free plan for 5 users.
- QKAP's agency inbox only covers messages sent through clients' QKAP pages; it doesn't receive email or Instagram DMs.
- A practical setup is one shared email inbox for brand mail plus QKAP for page messages, with access set client by client.
How we compared
We compared each option on six criteria: assignment, who replied, per-client access control, creator consent, cost and setup effort. We also noted which messages each one handles, because email and page messages are different channels. Facts come from Google's help centre and each vendor's pricing page, checked on 17 October 2026 and listed under Sources.
QKAP is our product. Its inbox is not an email tool, and we say plainly where an email tool is the better fit.
Delegated Gmail and Google Groups collaborative inbox
Gmail delegation
Gmail lets an account owner add delegates. According to Google's help centre, a delegate "can read, send, and delete emails in your account for you", but "can't chat with anyone or change your password". When a delegate sends a message, their email address appears on it, so the brand can see who replied.
A personal Gmail account can have up to 10 delegates, and a work or school account up to 1,000. You add delegates from Gmail on a computer, not the app; the invite expires after a week, and access can take up to 24 hours to start working. Some features, including Smart Compose and Smart Reply, aren't available to delegates.
Good for: a manager who looks after one or two creators' brand inboxes. Limits: no assignment, and full access to everything in that inbox.
Google Groups Collaborative Inbox
With Google Workspace, a group address such as a shared collabs address can become a collaborative inbox. Members with the right permissions can take, assign and drop conversations, mark them "complete", "no action needed" or "duplicate", and search by assignment. Google's help page is written for work and school accounts.
Good for: a small team already on Google Workspace that wants basic assignment at no extra tool cost. Limits: simple workflow, and it depends on your Workspace setup.
Shared-inbox tools: Front and similar
Front is a per-seat shared inbox and customer-operations platform. As of October 2026, its pricing page lists, billed annually, Starter at $25 per seat a month (up to 10 seats), Professional at $65 (up to 50 seats, with omnichannel, multiple workspaces and SSO) and Enterprise at $105 (adding custom roles and permissions). Every plan includes a shared inbox and ticketing. Starter has 1 workspace, Professional up to 5 and Enterprise unlimited.
Missive lists, billed yearly, Starter at $14 per user a month (up to 5 users), Productive at $24 (up to 50 users, with rules, integrations and an API) and Business at $36, with a 30-day free trial. It includes team inboxes, internal threads and chat, assignment and collaborative drafting.
Help Scout has a free plan with 5 users, 1 inbox and 1 Docs site; check Help Scout's pricing page for its paid per-user plans.
Good for: teams where email is the main channel and conversations need owners, history and handover. Limits: per-seat costs grow with the team, and these tools handle email and connected channels, not messages sent through a creator's page.
QKAP agency inbox
QKAP's agency accounts include one inbox for messages from every client's QKAP page. Those messages come from the "Message me" or "Partnerships" style button that creators add under their bio with the QKAP inbox. Brand requests can include a brand name, website, offer type and budget.
- Reply as the page. Followers and brands see the creator's page, and each reply shows internally which team member sent it.
- Access client by client. Staff have their own logins, and you choose which clients and pages each person works on.
- Creator consent. Each creator approves what your agency can do on each page, for example the Inbox preset (read and reply, plus analytics), and can remove access in one click.
- Inbox tools on each page. A creator's inbox has views for unread, starred, archived and blocked conversations, plus search, spam marking and CSV export.
It doesn't receive email, connect to Instagram DMs or take attachments, and senders must log in with a free QKAP account. Agency pricing is custom; the inbox itself is free on every creator plan.
Gmail vs Front vs QKAP: side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | Gmail delegation | Google Groups Collaborative Inbox | Front (and similar tools) | QKAP agency inbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messages it handles | Email in one account | Email sent to a group address | Email and other connected channels | Messages sent through clients' QKAP pages |
| Assignment | None | Take, assign, drop, resolve states | Shared inbox with ticketing | No per-conversation assignment; staff only see the clients and pages you give them |
| Who replied | Delegate's address appears on sent mail | Assignee is searchable | Each user has their own seat | Reply goes out as the page; staff member shown internally |
| Per-client access control | No; delegates see the whole inbox | By group membership | Workspaces (1 on Front Starter) | Yes, client by client |
| Creator consent | Creator adds and removes delegates | Set by the group owner | Set by your team | Creator approves per page, one-click revoke |
| Cost (as of October 2026) | Free with Gmail | Part of Google Workspace | Front from $25 per seat a month billed annually | Custom agency pricing |
| Setup | Minutes; up to 24 hours to work | Workspace admin turns it on | Connect each address and invite seats | Creator turns on the inbox and approves your request |
A combined workflow for a five-person talent team
Say your team has a lead, three managers and a coordinator, looking after 20 creators.
- Give every creator a collabs email address used only for brand work, not their personal email. Route these into one shared inbox (Front, Missive or a Workspace collaborative inbox) so contracts and invoices stay in email with an owner.
- Turn on each creator's QKAP inbox with a Partnerships or Sponsorships button, and ask each creator to approve your agency with the Inbox preset, or a wider preset if you also manage their page.
- Assign staff by client. Each manager gets the same creators in both tools, so nobody hunts for who owns a brand.
- Set an auto-reply on each page telling brands that detailed briefs and contracts go to the collabs email. The creator can set it, or your team can if the creator's grant includes managing the inbox: Full management does, while the Inbox preset covers reading and replying only.
- Keep one deal tracker in Notion, Airtable or a sheet, whichever channel a deal started in.
- Review access monthly. Remove delegates and staff who have left, and check what each creator has granted.
This keeps email in an email tool, page messages in QKAP, and gives every creator a clear view of who can see what. For the wider question of how many tools a creator business needs, see all-in-one creator pages vs multiple tools, and our guide to landing direct brand partnerships covers what to send once a brand writes in.
Frequently asked questions
Can QKAP receive brand emails?
No. QKAP's inbox only holds messages sent through a creator's QKAP page, from senders logged in with a free QKAP account. Keep brand email in Gmail or a shared-inbox tool and use QKAP for page messages.
Is Gmail delegation safe for creators' accounts?
It avoids sharing a password, because delegates can't change it, but a delegate can read, send and delete every email in that account. Use a separate brand-only address per creator, delegate that one rather than a personal inbox, and remove delegates when people leave. Our guide to privacy basics for creators covers handling personal data carefully.
What does Front cost?
As of October 2026, Front's pricing page lists Starter at $25 per seat a month, Professional at $65 and Enterprise at $105, all billed annually. Starter allows up to 10 seats. Check Front's pricing page for current prices in your currency.
Do brands see which staff member replied on QKAP?
No. Brands and followers see the creator's page name, while your team sees which member sent each reply. With Gmail delegation, by contrast, the delegate's own email address appears on messages they send.
Is there a free shared inbox for a small talent team?
Gmail delegation is free with Gmail, and Help Scout lists a free plan for 5 users and 1 inbox. Teams already paying for Google Workspace can use Google Groups Collaborative Inbox without adding another tool. QKAP's page inbox is free on every creator plan; agency accounts are priced on request through the pricing page.
Sources
All checked on 17 October 2026.