Airmail vs Spark, which Mac mail app to pick

Pick Airmail if you live on Apple devices, want to send mail into apps like OmniFocus, Things or Fantastical, and like to tune every setting. Pick Spark if you need the same app on Windows or Android, want a free plan that covers the basics, or share an inbox with a team.

Both are paid, multi-account mail apps with long histories on the Mac, so they often end up side by side. They differ most in where they run, how they charge, and how much they do on their own servers. Every fact below links to the vendor's page, as of November 2026.

Airmail and Spark at a glance

Alrighty is our app. It's in the first column as a third option, and it has its own section after the comparison.

	Alrighty	Airmail	Spark
Runs on	Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux	Mac (macOS 14.6 or later), iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro	Mac (macOS 12 or later), iPhone, Windows, Android
Accounts	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook	iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, Outlook.com, Yahoo, AOL, IMAP, POP3	Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, GMX, IMAP
Price	14-day trial, then Free plan or Pro	Free download; Pro $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year	Free; Plus $99 a year; Pro $199 a year
Where mail is kept	Your computer, searched on your computer	Your device; a Privacy mode keeps processing local	Your provider; some features run on Spark's servers
Unwanted mail	Stop mail, Clean up, Filters	Smart inbox filters out newsletters; blocks tracking pixels in Privacy mode	Gatekeeper screens new senders; block sender or domain
AI, and its default	Reply drafts start when you open a reply, signed in; your own AI is off until you connect it	Ai Composer, a separate purchase; connects to Claude and Codex	Spark +AI on paid plans; free plan gets a preview

Is Airmail or Spark cheaper?

Spark is cheaper to start, because its free plan has "unlimited email accounts," the Smart Inbox and a calendar at $0 (Spark pricing). Airmail is a free download, but its own site lists no prices, and its features sit behind in-app purchases.

Here is what each one charges, from the Airmail Mac App Store listing and Spark's pricing page:

Plan	Monthly	Yearly
Airmail Pro	$7.99	$49.99
Airmail Ai Composer	$14.99	n/a
Spark Plus	$10	$99
Spark Pro	$20	$199

Airmail also sells "Ai Composer" at $4.99; the listing doesn't say what term that covers. And airmailapp.com says "Airmail for Business has no subscription," without a price.

For a paid plan billed yearly, Airmail Pro at $49.99 costs about half of Spark Plus at $99. But Spark Plus includes its AI, and Airmail sells its AI composer as a separate purchase. Airmail's pages don't say what Pro unlocks over the free download.

Does Airmail or Spark work on Windows and Android?

Only Spark. Its pricing page says one subscription unlocks paid features on "Windows, Mac and Android devices that have Spark installed," as well as iPhone.

Airmail is built for Apple's devices only: it lists "iPhone, iPhone Duo, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro," plus Apple Watch (Airmail). If you're all-Apple, that's a strength: Airmail reaches places Spark doesn't, like your wrist and a Vision Pro. If you use a Windows PC at work, it rules Airmail out.

Which works with more email accounts?

Both take the big providers. Airmail adds POP3 and local accounts. Its App Store listing names "iCloud, MS Exchange, Gmail, IMAP, POP3, Yahoo, AOL, and Outlook.com." Spark's listing names "Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, IMAP, GMX, and iCloud" (App Store). Spark doesn't name POP on the pages we read.

If you still have an old POP account from an internet provider, Airmail is the one that says it takes it.

Which is more private, Airmail or Spark?

Airmail does more on your device. It offers a Privacy mode that will "process all the data locally on your device," block tracking pixels and stop images loading on their own (Airmail).

Spark is open that some features need its servers. Its privacy page says templates, Send Later, shared drafts, delegation and team features "require our server-side email processing to work," and push notifications sync "the subject and a part of your message" in encrypted form. For Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo, Spark stores a token, not your password. For AOL, Exchange and custom IMAP, it says "this access token is your email login and password," encrypted in its database.

Both apps share some data with their developer. On the Mac App Store, Airmail's privacy label lists Purchases, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics as data linked to you. Spark's label lists Contact Info, User Content and Identifiers as linked, and Usage Data and Diagnostics as not linked.

Airmail's site had no privacy page we could open, so we can't say whether Privacy mode is on when you install it.

Does Airmail or Spark have better AI?

Spark has more AI features, and Airmail has the open door to your own AI.

Spark +AI comes with Plus and Pro: compose, summaries, translation, "My Writing Style," meeting notes and an AI Assistant. Pro adds Auto-Drafts, Autopilot and a "Spark CLI with triage access." It runs on "the Azure OpenAI Service," which keeps data no more than 30 days and doesn't train on it (Spark).

Airmail sells Ai Composer as a separate purchase. Its Mac App Store notes also say "Airmail now connects to AI assistants like Claude, Codex, and other compatible chatbots," that the connection runs on your Mac, and that you approve each assistant and choose what it may do. Airmail's site also points to Apple's Writing Tools in the composer.

Which works better with OmniFocus, Things and other apps?

Airmail, by a wide margin on paper. Its App Store listing names OmniFocus, Fantastical, Evernote, Things and Todoist as places to send a message, and its site says you can "ask Siri to send or search mail" and use its actions "as building blocks in the Shortcuts app." Spark lists "productivity integrations" on its Plus plan but doesn't name them on the pricing page.

If your email turns into tasks in another app many times a day, this alone can decide it.

Which is better for a team?

Spark. Shared emails with comments, shared drafts, shared links and delegation are all named on its privacy page, and Pro adds a HubSpot integration. Airmail's pages describe no shared-inbox features.

Where Alrighty fits

Alrighty is a third choice for someone whose accounts are iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, and who mostly wants less unwanted mail and search that finds things.

• Stop mail. One action unsubscribes every way a message offers, archives that sender's mail, and moves their new mail out as it arrives. Clean up lists likely scams, cold outreach and newsletters you never open, so you can stop them all at once. Neither Airmail nor Spark describes an unsubscribe tool on the pages we read.
• Search on your computer that matches what you mean as well as the words, across every account.
• Your own AI, watched. Like Airmail, it connects Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex or a local model to your mail once you turn it on with Connect AI. That AI works in a window you watch, and nothing sends until you click Send.

What it doesn't do. Alrighty runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, but has no iPhone or Watch app. It takes no Yahoo, AOL, POP or other IMAP accounts. It has no calendar, no task-app links and no team features. Signed in, its suggested replies and Clean up send the emails they read through Alrighty's server to AI model companies, OpenAI among them. It's a new app. The price is a 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.

Which should you pick

• iCloud, Gmail and Outlook on a Mac, with junk stopped and search that works: Alrighty.
• All-Apple, with mail sent to OmniFocus, Things or Shortcuts: Airmail.
• A POP3 account, or Apple Watch and Vision Pro apps: Airmail.
• One app on your computer and an Android phone, or a free plan with unlimited accounts: Spark.
• Shared drafts, comments and delegation for a team: Spark.
• The most AI features in one subscription: Spark Plus or Pro.

For more apps like these, see our Airmail alternatives and Spark alternatives, or the best email apps for Mac. More pairs are on our compare page.

Questions

Is Airmail still being updated?

Yes. The Mac App Store shows version 27.0.2 released on October 19, and Airmail's notes for recent versions are mostly bug fixes. Spark's Mac app was updated within the last day when we checked.

Can I use Spark and Airmail with the same accounts?

Yes. Both take Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo, AOL and IMAP accounts, so you can add the same accounts to each and run them side by side while you decide. Spark says your mail itself "is stored on the server of your email account," not in Spark.

Does Airmail have a free version?

Airmail is a free download from the Mac App Store, with Pro sold as an in-app subscription. Airmail's pages don't list what the free version leaves out, so try it before you subscribe.

Which one lets Claude read my email?

Airmail's Mac release notes say it connects to assistants "like Claude, Codex, and other compatible chatbots," locally on your Mac. Spark's pages describe its own AI and a Spark CLI on Pro, but not a connection for Claude. Our guide on how to let Claude read your email covers the other ways.