Best AI email triage tools, and where sorted mail goes

The best AI email triage tool is Alrighty if you use iCloud, Gmail or Outlook accounts on a computer: you describe the mail you never want to see, such as cold sales, and its AI moves that mail to Archive before it reaches your Inbox, while mail from people you've written to stays. SaneBox triages on any provider and reads only headers. Superhuman and Shortwave triage with AI labels for Gmail users who pay per seat. Fyxer and Inbox Zero add AI triage to Gmail or Outlook without a new app. Gmail's AI Inbox is Google's own, on paid Google AI plans.

AI email triage means the AI decides which mail needs you now and which can wait. Most lists that rank for this search are written by a company selling a triage tool, and they rank it first. They skip the three questions that matter once an AI is choosing what you see: what does it read to decide, where does it put the mail it thinks can wait, and how do you find out when it got one wrong? A tool that hides an important email in a folder you never open is worse than no tool. This page answers all three for each one.

This page is about AI that decides. For sorting you set up yourself (categories, folders, rules), see our list of email organizer apps. For AI that also drafts and answers, see the best AI email assistants and AI email clients.

How we checked

We read each vendor's own help, pricing and privacy pages on November 4, 2026, and every fact about another product links to its source. For Alrighty, we read our own code. Where a vendor's page doesn't answer a question, we say "not stated" and don't guess. We did not test the tools. Alrighty is our app, and it's listed first.

AI email triage tools at a glance

Tool	AI triage costs	Accounts	What the AI reads to sort	Where mail that can wait goes	How you correct it
Alrighty	14-day trial with no card, then Free or Pro	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook	Sender, subject, start of the body	Filters: Archive. Groups: filed under the group	Edit or delete the filter or group
SaneBox	From $7 a month	Gmail, Microsoft 365, iCloud, Yahoo, IMAP	Headers only, unless you opt in to AI	A @SaneLater folder in your account	Drag the message back to the Inbox
Superhuman	$25 a member a month, billed yearly	Gmail, Microsoft 365	Not stated	The Other split, or Auto Archived	Not stated on the pages we read
Shortwave	$30 a seat a month	Gmail	Not stated	Labels, splits, or archived	Reapply filters to see what it did
Fyxer	Pro, $37 a month billed yearly	Gmail, Outlook	Not stated in full	Folders such as FYI and Marketing	Move the email; it learns
Inbox Zero	$18 a month billed yearly	Gmail, Outlook	Email content and metadata	Labeled, or archived	Change the rule in plain English
Gmail AI Inbox	Google AI Plus, Pro or Ultra, or Workspace	Gmail	Not stated	Stays in your inbox; it shows priorities	Not stated

"Not stated" means the vendor's pages we read don't say. It does not mean the answer is bad.

Why does it matter where triaged mail goes?

Every triage tool makes wrong calls. What changes is how much a wrong call costs you.

• Moved out of the Inbox. SaneBox, Alrighty's filters, Superhuman's Auto Archive and Inbox Zero's archive rules take mail out of sight. Your Inbox gets quiet, but a misfiled email stays hidden until you look in the folder.
• Labeled in place. Superhuman's Auto Labels, Shortwave's labels and Fyxer's To Respond label mark mail and split the view. Nothing leaves, so a wrong call is easy to spot, and the Inbox stays as full as before.
• Summarized on top. Gmail's AI Inbox shows what it thinks matters and leaves the rest where it was.

Two safeguards help. The first is a digest or a list of what was moved, so you can scan it. The second is a rule that people you write to are never moved. Check for both before you let a tool move your mail.

Alrighty: best AI email triage with iCloud, Gmail and Outlook

Alrighty is a desktop mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux that puts iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts in one inbox. Its triage starts from one idea: some mail should never reach your Inbox at all, and the rest should be easy to find.

• Filters for mail from new senders. Describe a kind of mail in a sentence, such as cold sales pitches. When new mail arrives, Alrighty's AI checks it before the Inbox shows it, and mail that fits moves to Archive. Mail from people you've written to, and replies in conversations you wrote in, are never moved. If the AI can't decide in a few seconds, the mail shows in your Inbox. A filter can also have plain rules, such as a word in the subject, and those run on your computer.
• Groups for mail you want, sorted. Name a group and describe it, such as "receipts and order confirmations." Alrighty's AI files new Inbox mail that fits under it. When you make a group, it looks through the last 90 days of your Inbox and shows what it would file. Nothing files until you confirm.
• Clean up for senders. It lists the senders you probably don't want (scams, cold outreach, newsletters you never open), and Stop mail ends them all at once.
• Phishing checks. A sure phishing message goes to Junk, and a likely one stays with a warning. This check runs on your computer.

What the AI reads. To sort into groups and filters, Alrighty sends each email's sender, subject and the start of its body to its server, which asks Jev, a model from TypeSafe AI. Clean up sends each sender's address, three facts the receiving server found, and up to 3 of their newest emails. Signed out, nothing goes to Alrighty's server, and AI filters leave your mail in the Inbox.

On by default. Partly. Groups and filters do nothing until you make one. Once you're signed in, Clean up sorts senders in the background, and opening a reply starts a suggested draft.

Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro. Sorting into groups is part of Pro and the trial, not the Free plan. Free has a small monthly AI allowance.

What it can't do. There's no iPhone or web app. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, not Yahoo, Fastmail or other IMAP. It has no calendar. It's a new app with no long track record.

Pick it if you're on a Mac with more than one account, and you want the mail you never asked for kept out before you see it.

SaneBox: best AI email triage that works in any mail app

SaneBox sorts on its own servers, so it works with the app you already use, on every device. It finds unimportant mail "based on headers (sender, subject, etc.)" and moves it to "a folder called '@SaneLater'" in your own account (SaneBox). "Your daily SaneBox Digest summarizes new emails in SaneLater," so you can scan what was moved (SaneBox).

What the AI reads. "We only access the envelope and header data associated with your emails." Its optional AI features change that: "SaneBox may now process the body content of your emails," and "If you do not opt in to these features, we will continue to access only your email header data" (privacy).

How you correct it. "Moving an email back to your Inbox 'retrains' SaneBox for future messages." Drag a message into SaneBlackHole and you won't see that sender again; "After 7 days, SaneBox moves them to your Trash folder" (SaneBox).

Price and accounts. Plans "start at just $7 per month" (SaneBox). Its home page offers "a 7-day free trial for each plan" with "No credit card required," though another help page says two weeks. It "works with every major email service such as Gmail, Microsoft 365, Apple iCloud, Yahoo! Mail and Fastmail" (SaneBox).

What it can't do. No free plan. It sorts by headers, so it can't tell a real request from a newsletter that comes from the same sender.

Pick it if you want triage on any provider, in any app, with the least of your mail read.

Superhuman: best AI email triage for Gmail and Microsoft 365 teams

Superhuman's Split Inbox lets you "Automatically triage incoming email" and "Split out emails from your team, your VIPs, or your most used tools" (Superhuman). Auto Labels "automatically classify every email into built-in categories" such as marketing and cold pitches, and "move these emails from Important to Other" (Superhuman). Auto Labels are "available on all Superhuman plans."

Where mail goes. By default, labeled mail moves to the Other split. With Auto Archive, "Superhuman can now also automatically archive marketing, cold pitches, and social network updates," into an Auto Archived view (Superhuman).

Your own labels. Custom Auto Labels take a prompt such as "job applications." They need the Business plan.

What the AI reads. Not stated on the pages we read. Superhuman's privacy policy says it receives "the content you upload or enable our products to access, such as emails and drafts."

Price. Starter is $25 a member a month and Business is $33, both billed yearly (plans).

What it can't do. It's "Built for teams that use Gmail or Outlook," so no iCloud, Yahoo or other IMAP. See our Superhuman alternatives.

Pick it if you're on Gmail or Microsoft 365 and want built-in AI labels on day one.

Shortwave: best AI email triage you write in plain English

Shortwave's AI filters "Automatically label, star, archive, and more with scripts you write in plain English" (Shortwave). Its examples include "Archive low-priority messages" and a filter that will "Include cold sales emails, generic marketing blasts, and promotional emails" (Shortwave).

Where mail goes. Wherever the filter says: a label, a split, or out of the Inbox. A label can "automatically mark these emails as done so they skip your inbox" (Shortwave).

How you correct it. Select emails and use Reapply filters to see what the AI did, then change the filter's wording.

What the AI reads. Not stated per filter. Its security page says "All Shortwave data is stored in Google Cloud," and that besides Google Cloud it uses OpenAI, Anthropic and Pinecone.

Price. Business is $30 a seat a month with 3 AI filters, Premier $45 with 10, and Max $120 with 50 (pricing).

What it can't do. It's for Gmail. Microsoft 365 and Exchange are "not supported at this time," and iCloud works only by forwarding (Shortwave).

Pick it if you're on Gmail and want to write your own triage rules in plain words.

Fyxer: best AI email triage inside Gmail or Outlook

Fyxer sorts your existing Gmail or Outlook inbox into labels: "To Respond," "FYI," "Notifications," "To Follow Up," "Comment," "Meeting Update" and "Marketing" (Fyxer). Fyxer's post says mail that needs no action is filed into folders, and that it learns when you move an email it misfiled.

Price. "Automatic labeling starts with Pro; the Free plan doesn't sort your inbox for you." Pro is $37 a person a month billed yearly, or $49 monthly. The 14-day trial is of the Team plan, and "When your trial ends you move to the Free plan" (pricing).

What the AI reads. Fyxer says it will "process your emails and meetings" and that "Your data is never used to train third-party AI models" (security). It doesn't name its model vendor.

What it can't do. "Fyxer securely connects to Gmail and Outlook," and no other providers are listed. It's credit-based.

Pick it if you live in Gmail or Outlook and want a To Respond pile without changing apps.

Inbox Zero: best open-source AI email triage

Inbox Zero lets you tell it "how to handle your email in plain English." Mail that needs an answer is "labeled To Reply," and marketing and cold email are "archived out of the way" (Inbox Zero). Its cold email blocker works from your own definition: "Tell Inbox Zero what constitutes a cold email for you" (Inbox Zero). The code is on GitHub.

What the AI reads. "Email content, metadata (sender, recipient, subject lines, timestamps, folders/labels), and email account settings." It says "We do NOT permanently store: Full email content (body text)" (privacy).

Price. Starter, which "Sorts and labels every email" and "Blocks cold emails," is $20 a user a month, or $18 billed yearly (Inbox Zero). AI features have a 7-day free trial.

What it can't do. Gmail and Outlook only. Plus, at $35 a month, lists "2 email accounts included per user."

Pick it if you want triage rules in plain English and value code you can read or host.

Gmail AI Inbox: best built-in AI triage for Gmail

Gmail's AI Inbox lets you "Review top priorities and topics to catch up on from your inbox" (Google). It doesn't move mail. It shows what Gemini thinks matters, on the web, iPhone and Android.

Who gets it. It needs "Google AI Plus, Pro, or Ultra, or eligible Google Workspace plan," and it's "English, US only" (same page).

What the AI reads. Google's Gemini, inside Google, so no new company sees your mail. Google's Gmail AI page says it uses "automated tools to remove personally identifiable information (PII) from data subsets used to train Gemini."

What it can't do. Gmail only, US and English only, and not on free personal accounts. Gmail's free category tabs are fixed: "You can't create your own categories" (Google).

Pick it if you already pay for a Google AI plan and want a priority view with nothing moved.

What about Apple Mail, Outlook and Spark?

They sort, but you don't direct the AI. Apple Mail sorts into four fixed categories, Outlook splits mail into Focused and Other by the people you interact with, and Spark's free Smart Inbox "sorts new emails into personal, newsletter and notification categories" (Spark). Our email organizer guide compares them.

How to choose

• On a computer with iCloud, Gmail or Outlook, unwanted mail kept out before you see it: Alrighty.
• Any provider, any app, headers only: SaneBox.
• Gmail or Microsoft 365, built-in AI labels: Superhuman.
• Gmail, triage rules you write in plain words: Shortwave.
• A To Respond pile inside Gmail or Outlook: Fyxer.
• Open source, Gmail or Outlook: Inbox Zero.
• Gmail with a paid Google AI plan, nothing moved: Gmail's AI Inbox.
• Free, fixed categories, nothing to set up: Apple Mail, Outlook or Spark.

If most of your triage is mail you never wanted, stop it at the sender instead. See our email cleaner guide, or what Alrighty does about it.

Questions

What is AI email triage?

AI email triage is an AI deciding which emails need you now and which can wait. It labels the first kind and moves, labels or summarizes the second. Rules and fixed categories also sort mail, but you or the app set them in advance.

Will an AI triage tool hide an important email?

It can. A tool that moves mail out of the Inbox can move the wrong one. Look for a digest, like SaneBox's, or a rule that keeps mail from people you write to, like Alrighty's filters. A tool that only labels, like Fyxer or Gmail's AI Inbox, leaves every email where you'd see it.

What does an AI triage tool read?

It depends. SaneBox reads headers only unless you opt in to its AI. Alrighty sends the sender, subject and start of the body to sort. Inbox Zero reads email content and metadata. Superhuman and Shortwave don't say exactly what each sort reads.

Is there a free AI email triage tool?

Not with AI deciding. Fyxer's Free plan "doesn't sort your inbox," and Gmail's AI Inbox needs a paid plan. Alrighty's Free plan has no sorting into groups. Free sorting with fixed categories comes in Apple Mail, Gmail's tabs, Outlook's Focused Inbox and Spark.

Which AI triage tool works with iCloud?

Alrighty and SaneBox take iCloud accounts directly. Shortwave takes iCloud only by forwarding into Gmail. Superhuman, Fyxer, Inbox Zero and Gmail's AI Inbox don't list iCloud.