Best spam blocker and filter for Mac mail

The best spam blocker for Mac is Alrighty if you use iCloud, Gmail or Outlook: it checks new mail for phishing on your Mac, sends sure phishing to Junk, and lists the scams and cold outreach your spam filter let through so you can stop them at once. If you want to keep Apple Mail, add SpamSieve, a spam filter that runs on your Mac. Gmail's and Outlook's own filters are free and already on. SaneBox, Spark, HEY, Clean Email and Canary each block unwanted mail in a different way, and the sections below say how.

Most lists for this search are years old and name one or two filters. They skip two questions that decide what you get. First, where does the filtering run: on your provider's server, on your Mac, or on a third company's server? Second, what does the tool do with mail that has no unsubscribe link, such as a scam, a fake sender or a cold sales pitch? This page answers both for each tool.

How we checked

We read each tool's own help, feature and pricing pages on November 3, 2026, and every fact about another product links to its source. Where a vendor's page didn't say something, such as where its checks run, we say so instead of guessing. We compared price, the accounts each tool works with, where it filters, what it does about phishing, and what it does with unwanted mail that has no way to unsubscribe. Alrighty is our app, and it is listed first.

Spam blockers for Mac at a glance

Tool	Price	Accounts	Where it filters	Phishing	Mail with no unsubscribe link	AI on by default
Alrighty	14-day trial with no card, then Free or Pro	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook	Your Mac; Clean up sorting on its server	Sure phishing to Junk, likely phishing warned	Clean up lists scams and cold outreach; Stop mail keeps them out	Your own AI: off until you connect it. Reply drafts and Clean up: on when signed in
Apple Mail junk filter	Comes with macOS	Any account in Mail	Your Mac	Not described	Junk filter, Block Sender	Not stated
Gmail	Free	Gmail	Google's servers	Warnings on suspicious mail	Spam folder, Report spam	Not stated
Outlook.com and Microsoft 365	Free with the account	Outlook.com, Microsoft 365	Microsoft's servers	Dangerous links disabled in Junk	Junk Email folder, Blocked senders	Not stated
SpamSieve	$39.99 once	IMAP, Exchange, POP in Apple Mail and others	Your Mac	Decodes disguised phishing	Learns from your mail	None stated
SaneBox	From $7 a month	Gmail, Microsoft 365, iCloud, Yahoo, IMAP	SaneBox's servers, headers only	Not described	BlackHole, trashed after 7 days	Opt-in
Spark Gatekeeper	Paid Spark plans	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, IMAP	Spark's servers for some features	Not described	Accept or block each new sender	Paid plans
HEY Screener	$99 a year	A @hey.com address only	HEY's servers	Not described	Screen each first-time sender	No AI
Clean Email Screener	Plans for 1, 5 or 10 accounts	Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL, iCloud, IMAP	Clean Email's servers	Not described	Holds new senders for review	None stated
Canary Mail	Pro+ $100 a year	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, IMAP	Not stated	Phishing and impersonation protection	1-Click Unsubscribe; block not described	Paid plans

Where does spam filtering run?

Spam filtering runs in one of three places, and a Mac user often has two of them stacked. Your provider filters first, on its servers, before the mail reaches any app. A filter on your Mac then judges what got through. A third-party service sits on its own servers and moves mail in your account.

• On the provider's server. Gmail, Outlook.com and iCloud all filter before you open an app. Microsoft says "Most junk email will be blocked by the email server that hosts your account" (Microsoft). iCloud Mail "blocks most junk mail, or spam, from your inbox" (Apple). This filter works in every app, on every device.
• On your Mac. Apple Mail's junk filter, SpamSieve and Alrighty's phishing checks run on the Mac. They judge mail the provider already let in. Nothing new leaves your Mac for the check itself.
• On a vendor's server. SaneBox, Clean Email and Spark's server features connect to your account from their own servers. They work no matter which app you read in, and they keep working when your Mac is asleep. In return, one more company has access to your mailbox.

The provider's filter is the one that matters most, and it is free. The question for a Mac app is what to do with the mail it misses.

What does a spam blocker do with mail that has no unsubscribe link?

Mail with no unsubscribe link is the spam that gets through. A newsletter you signed up for has a link, and our guide to unsubscribe apps covers it. A scam, a fake invoice, a lookalike "PayPal" message and a cold sales sequence have no link, or a link you shouldn't click. Our guide on how to stop spam emails matches each kind to the step that stops it. Each tool on this page has a different answer for them:

• A filter guesses from the message and moves it to Junk. Apple Mail, Gmail, Outlook and SpamSieve work this way.
• A screener holds every first-time sender until you say yes. Spark Gatekeeper, HEY and Clean Email's Screener work this way. It catches cold mail well, but you have to answer for each new sender.
• A phishing check looks for signs that a message is pretending to be someone else, such as a lookalike domain or a failed sender check. Alrighty, Canary Pro+ and Gmail's warnings work this way. To check one email you aren't sure of, see the best phishing email checkers.
• A block sends one address to Junk or Trash after you find it. Every mail app has one, and the steps are in how to block a sender in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail.

Alrighty: best spam blocker for Mac 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. Your provider's spam filter still runs first. Alrighty works on what gets past it.

• Phishing checks. Alrighty checks new Inbox mail for signs of phishing. A message that is sure to be phishing goes to Junk before you see it. A likely one stays in your Inbox, with a warning in the message that says what looks wrong, such as a sender domain that imitates a brand, a link whose text names one site but goes to another, or a file that runs when you open it. No one sign moves a message. The signs add up, and a sender you have written to before isn't sent to Junk by the check.
• Clean up. It lists the senders you probably don't want, including scams and cold outreach that have no unsubscribe link, so you can stop them all at once.
• Stop mail. One action ends a sender's mail. It unsubscribes in every way the message offers, archives their mail, and moves new mail from them out as it arrives. When there is no way to unsubscribe, the archive and the move still work. Alrighty unsubscribes only from senders whose mail passed DMARC and wasn't marked spam, so a scammer never learns your address is live.

Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.

Where it filters. The phishing check runs on your Mac, against your own mail. Your mail stays with iCloud, Google or Microsoft, and Alrighty keeps its copy on your Mac. To sort senders for Clean up, Alrighty sends each sender's address, three facts the receiving server found, and up to 3 of their newest emails (2,000 characters each) to its server, which asks an AI model. While you're signed in, Clean up sorts senders in the background, and opening a reply starts a suggested draft.

What it can't do. On a Mac, it needs Apple silicon. There's no iPhone or web app, so the phishing check doesn't follow you to your phone. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, not Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail or other IMAP. It has no calendar. It's a full mail app, so you switch apps to use it, and it's new, with no long track record.

Pick it if you're on a Mac and want phishing caught and the cold mail your filter missed listed for you, inside the app you read mail in.

Apple Mail junk filter: best free filter on a Mac

Apple Mail has a junk filter built in. Choose Mail, Settings, then click Junk Mail, and check that Enable junk mail filtering is selected (Apple).

What it does. You pick what happens to junk: "Mark as junk mail, but leave it in my Inbox," "Move it to the Junk mailbox," or "Perform custom actions." It learns from you: "Each time you confirm a message as junk or not junk, the junk mail filter improves." You can tell it to trust the junk headers your provider adds, and to exempt messages from people who use your full name.

Mail with no unsubscribe link. The filter guesses, and you correct it with Junk or Not Junk. For a sender it keeps missing, Block Sender takes up to 3,000 addresses.

Where it filters. It is a setting in Mail on your Mac. iCloud also filters on its side, and deletes mail in the Junk folder "after 30 days" (Apple).

What it can't do. Apple's junk mail page doesn't describe a phishing warning. The filter has no list of the cold senders it let through, so you find them one at a time.

Pick it if you already use Apple Mail and your provider's filter catches most of your spam.

Gmail spam filter: best free filter for Gmail

Gmail filters spam on Google's servers, so it works in any app you read Gmail in, including Apple Mail and Alrighty. Mail it flags goes to Spam, and so does mail you report (Google).

Phishing. Gmail shows warnings on suspicious mail. It warns when "The email address looks very similar to the email address of a known sender," when an email "may be a trick to get you to share personal information, like passwords or credit card numbers," and when it can't confirm who sent a message.

Mail with no unsubscribe link. Select it and click Report spam. Google says your reports help it catch similar messages later. To rescue a message, open More, Spam, select it, and click Not spam.

What it can't do. It covers Gmail accounts only. It has no list of the cold senders that reached your inbox, so you report them one at a time.

Pick it if all your mail is Gmail. It's on, it's free, and you don't have to do anything.

Outlook.com and Microsoft 365: best free filter for Outlook accounts

Outlook filters junk on Microsoft's servers. "Most junk email will be blocked by the email server that hosts your account," and "Mail identified as possible junk email is automatically moved to the Junk Email folder" (Microsoft).

Phishing. Microsoft calls phishing junk mail that "appears to come from a trusted source, such as your bank." In the Junk Email folder, "any potentially dangerous content within the message, for example, links or executable code, is disabled."

Mail with no unsubscribe link. Right-click it and select Mark as junk. Marking a message as not junk adds the sender to your Safe senders list. To block an address or a whole domain, use the steps in our block a sender guide.

What it can't do. It covers Microsoft accounts only. Microsoft's page doesn't describe a warning banner for likely phishing that stays in the inbox.

Pick it if you use Outlook.com, Hotmail or Microsoft 365.

SpamSieve: best spam filter to add to Apple Mail

SpamSieve is a spam filter for the Mac that works inside the mail app you already use. It names Apple Mail, Outlook, Airmail and MailMate among its supported apps, with IMAP, Exchange and POP accounts (C-Command). It came up in most of the top results for this search, so we checked its page.

How it filters. It uses Bayesian filtering that learns from your own mail, and it keeps an allowlist of people you've written to so their mail isn't marked as spam. You can add your own allow and block rules. It says it decodes disguised spam to find what a message really wants, including phishing.

Where it filters. On your Mac. It doesn't need your mail login and doesn't send your mail anywhere.

Price. $39.99 for one license, or $63.98 for two users (store). There's a free 30-day trial. It supports macOS 10.13 through macOS 27; its page doesn't mention Apple silicon.

What it can't do. Its page describes filtering only: no unsubscribing, and no list of cold senders to review. It runs on the Mac, so it doesn't filter on your iPhone.

Pick it if you want to keep Apple Mail and want a stronger filter that runs on your Mac. Our SpamSieve alternatives compare it with filters that work while your Mac sleeps, and our MailWasher alternatives cover tools that check mail before you open it.

SaneBox: best for pushing unwanted senders out of any app

SaneBox sorts mail on its own servers and works with "Gmail, Microsoft 365, Apple iCloud, Yahoo! Mail and Fastmail," plus "any IMAP, Microsoft Exchange or ActiveSync server" (SaneBox). It reads headers only: "We only access the envelope and header data associated with your emails" (privacy).

Mail with no unsubscribe link. Drag a message to the SaneBlackHole folder in any mail app. That "teaches SaneBox to always send future emails from that sender straight to SaneBlackHole." After 7 days, SaneBox moves them to your Trash (help).

Phishing. Its home page doesn't describe spam or phishing filtering. It decides what's important "based on headers (sender, subject, etc.)" (help).

Price. Plans "start at just $7 per month" (SaneBox). No free plan.

Pick it if you want unwanted senders gone in every app and on every device, and you're fine paying monthly. SaneBox's main job is sorting, which our email organizer guide covers.

Spark Gatekeeper: best for screening new senders across devices

Spark's Gatekeeper screens strangers. "The first time someone emails you, Spark screens the sender," and you choose to accept or block their future mail (Spark). "You always have the option to block a specific sender or domain." Gatekeeper is a paid-plan feature (Spark help).

Mail with no unsubscribe link. A cold sender waits in Gatekeeper until you answer. Block them and their future mail stays out.

Where it filters. Spark says some features "require our server-side email processing to work," and it stores the login and password for IMAP, AOL and Exchange accounts, encrypted (privacy). Its Gatekeeper page doesn't say where screening runs.

What it can't do. Gatekeeper's page doesn't describe phishing checks. Paid plans are $99 or $199 a year (pricing).

Pick it if you want a screener on Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android. See our Spark alternatives for more on its servers.

HEY Screener: best if you'll move to a new address

HEY's Screener asks you about every new sender: "The first time someone emails you, you get to decide if you want to hear from them again" (HEY). It also says "HEY's spam filters catch spam so you never have to see it, but sometimes spam sneaks through."

What it can't do. HEY is its own mail service. It can't check your Gmail, iCloud or Outlook inbox: "HEY does not import your existing email from Gmail, Outlook, iCloud," and "HEY doesn't support IMAP or POP" (FAQ). You can forward new mail from another service into HEY. Its features page doesn't describe phishing checks. It's $99 a year after a 30-day trial (pricing).

Pick it if you're ready to give out a new @hey.com address and want every stranger screened.

Clean Email Screener: best screener that works with Apple Mail

Clean Email's Screener "intercepts messages from new senders and safely holds them in quarantine for your review" (Clean Email). You choose what it holds: mailing list messages, automated messages, or people writing for the first time. For each sender, you allow them, block them for good, or send their mail to a folder. It works alongside Apple Mail, since it connects to your account directly.

Accounts. The Screener page names Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL, iCloud and any IMAP service.

Where it filters. On Clean Email's servers, which index your mailbox's "sender and recipient details, subjects, dates, folders, labels" (privacy).

What it can't do. The page makes no phishing claims. Its plans page showed no amounts when we read it. Our email cleaner guide covers its bulk cleanup tools.

Pick it if you want to screen strangers and keep using Apple Mail, on your phone too.

Canary Mail: best for phishing protection on several devices

Canary's Pro+ plan "adds end-to-end encryption with PGP and SecureSend, plus phishing and impersonation protection" (Canary). It says "Built-in phishing detection scans every email in real time" and "Detects spoofed senders and fake links."

Price. Pro+ is $100 a year, and Canary has no monthly billing (pricing). The free plan has 1-Click Unsubscribe.

Where it filters. The security page doesn't say whether the phishing scan runs on your device or on Canary's servers. Its privacy policy says account details are "stored on your device," except that push notifications "temporarily store your email address, credentials" on its server (privacy).

What it can't do. Phishing protection is only on Pro+. Its pages don't describe a list of cold senders or a sender screener.

Pick it if you want phishing protection in one app on Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android.

How to choose

• On a Mac with iCloud, Gmail or Outlook, phishing caught and leftover cold mail listed for you: Alrighty.
• Free, with Apple Mail: Apple Mail's junk filter, on top of your provider's filter.
• All Gmail, free: Gmail's own filter. Report what it misses.
• Outlook.com or Microsoft 365, free: Outlook's own filter and Junk Email folder.
• Keep Apple Mail, with a stronger filter on your Mac: SpamSieve.
• Unwanted senders gone in every app, for a monthly fee: SaneBox.
• Screen every stranger: Spark Gatekeeper on your current accounts, Clean Email's Screener with Apple Mail, or HEY with a new address.
• Phishing protection on your phone too: Canary Pro+.
• A newsletter, not spam: unsubscribe. See our unsubscribe app guide, or stop emails for big brands.

Questions

Is the Apple Mail junk filter enough?

For many people, yes, because iCloud, Gmail and Outlook filter most spam on their servers first. Apple Mail's filter then learns from each message you mark as junk or not junk. What it doesn't do is warn about phishing or list the cold senders it let through, which is where a second tool helps.

Should I click unsubscribe in a spam email?

No. A scam's unsubscribe link can confirm that your address is read, or lead to a fake page. Mark it as junk or block the sender. Unsubscribe only from companies you recognize.

Why does spam still get through my filter?

Filters guess from the message, and senders change their wording and addresses to beat them. Cold sales mail often comes from real, well-configured domains, so it looks like normal mail. A screener or a list of unwanted senders catches what a filter misses.

Do spam blockers read my email?

Every spam blocker reads some of your mail, because that's how it judges it. What differs is where. Apple Mail's filter, SpamSieve and Alrighty's phishing check read it on your Mac. SaneBox reads headers on its servers, and Clean Email indexes sender, subject and folder data on its servers.

What is the difference between spam and phishing?

Spam is mail you didn't ask for. Phishing is a message that pretends to be someone you trust, such as your bank, to get a password or a payment. Phishing is the dangerous kind, so a tool that checks for fake senders and fake links matters more than one that only filters ads.