Superhuman vs HEY, which email to choose

Pick Superhuman if you want to keep your Gmail or Outlook address, work on a team, and want AI that drafts and sorts your mail. Pick HEY if you're willing to move to a new @hey.com address in exchange for a Screener that decides who can reach you, at a lower price and with no built-in AI.

These aren't two apps for the same mail. Superhuman is an app on top of the Gmail or Microsoft account you already have. HEY is its own email service, and it doesn't read your existing inbox at all. Everything below comes from each vendor's own pages, as of November 2026.

Superhuman and HEY at a glance

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

	Alrighty	Superhuman	HEY
What it is	Mail app for your existing accounts	Mail app for your existing accounts	An email service with its own address
Runs on	Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux	Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, web (Chrome extension)	Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android
Accounts	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook	Gmail or Outlook	A @hey.com address or your own domain on HEY
Price	14-day trial, then Free plan or Pro	From $25 per member a month, billed yearly	$99 a year; 30-day trial
Where mail is kept	Your provider, with a copy and search index on your computer	Your provider; vendor pages differ on what its servers receive	HEY's servers in the US
Unwanted mail	Stop mail, Clean up, Filters	Split Inbox, auto labels, an unsubscribe feature	The Screener, the Feed, the Paper Trail, tracker blocking
AI, and its default	Reply drafts start when you open a reply, signed in; your own AI is off until you connect it	Superhuman AI on every plan; Ask AI and MCP on Business	No built-in AI; your own agent through the HEY CLI

What is the difference between Superhuman and HEY?

Superhuman makes the email you have faster. HEY replaces it.

Superhuman says it is "built for teams that use Gmail or Outlook" (Superhuman). You sign in with that account, and your address, contacts and history stay the same.

HEY is a separate email provider from 37signals. Its FAQ says "HEY does not import your existing email from Gmail, Outlook, iCloud," and "HEY doesn't support IMAP or POP," so no other mail app can open a HEY account. You get a new @hey.com address, or move your own domain to HEY for Domains.

Can I keep my Gmail address and use HEY?

Partly. HEY lets you forward new mail from any service into HEY, and "send from an external email address using SMTP" (HEY features). Your old mail stays in Gmail, and you'd read new mail in HEY. If you want to keep working in Gmail itself, Superhuman is the one built for that.

If you leave HEY later, its FAQ says a paid-for address is yours for good after the first year. Otherwise "your @hey.com email address will be recycled after 90 days."

Is Superhuman or HEY cheaper?

HEY is much cheaper for one person. HEY for You is "$99 per year," with a 30-day trial and no card needed to try it (HEY pricing). HEY for Families adds up to four people for $179 a year in total.

Superhuman sells per seat. Its plans page lists:

• Starter: $25 per member per month, billed yearly, with Superhuman AI.
• Business: $33 per member per month, billed yearly, adding Auto Drafts, Ask AI, Custom Auto Labels and the Superhuman Mail MCP.
• Enterprise: custom pricing, with single sign-on and an admin console.

Each plan "bundles Mail, Grammarly, Docs, and Go." Billed monthly, Starter is $30 and Business is $40 a month, and yearly is marked "17% off," and the page mentions no free trial.

For a team on its own domain, HEY for Domains is $10 a month for the first user and $12 for each one after. HEY offers no free trial of Domains.

Does Superhuman or HEY have AI?

Superhuman is an AI product. HEY has no AI of its own.

Superhuman calls its assistant "your AI-powered inbox assistant." It sorts mail, drafts replies, and can send "fully written emails on your behalf" if you let it (Superhuman). Starter includes Write with AI, Instant Reply and Auto Summarize. Business adds Ask AI, Auto Drafts and an MCP server so other AI tools can reach your mail.

37signals' privacy policy says "Our products don't include built-in AI features that process your content" and "we don't use your content to train AI models." But HEY does let you bring your own agent. Its help page explains how the HEY CLI connects Claude Code, Codex or any agent that speaks MCP. It warns that "the agent can write as well as read," and offers a read-only mode. You pay for the AI service yourself.

Which one blocks unwanted mail better?

HEY, if you want to choose who gets in. The Screener holds mail from a new sender until you say yes or no, and HEY "blocks these trackers and tells you who's spying on you" (HEY features). Newsletters go to the Feed and receipts to the Paper Trail, so the Imbox holds only people and services you care about.

Superhuman sorts instead of screening. Split Inbox separates mail "from your team, your VIPs, or your most used tools," and Business adds AI auto labels. Its mail page has a feature titled "Unsubscribe once and for all" but doesn't explain how it works.

The two also point in opposite directions on tracking. HEY blocks the pixels that tell senders you opened their mail. Superhuman lets you "see when people read your email and on which device."

Where does each one keep my email?

HEY holds your mail on its servers. 37signals says its products are "primarily housed in the United States," and the FAQ says "HEY is not end-to-end encrypted (we still hold the keys)."

Superhuman's own pages don't agree with each other. A Superhuman blog post says "your inbox is never stored on our servers" and that "it is stored on your machine." Its privacy policy, which covers all its products, says "We receive the content you upload or enable our products to access, such as emails and drafts." Your mail itself stays with Google or Microsoft either way. Ask Superhuman how its AI features handle your mail before you sign a team up.

Where Alrighty fits

Alrighty is for someone who likes HEY's idea of an inbox with less junk but wants to keep their iCloud, Gmail or Outlook address, and doesn't want to pay per seat for a team product.

• 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. Filters catch kinds of mail that come from a new sender each time, like cold sales.
• Your own AI, and you click Send. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex or a local model can read your mail once you turn it on with Connect AI, and work in a window you watch. Nothing sends until you click Send.
• Search on your computer that matches meaning as well as words, across every account.

What it doesn't do. Alrighty is not a screener like HEY's: a new sender's mail lands in your Inbox, and you stop the ones you don't want. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, with no iPhone, Android or web app, and it takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook only. It has no calendar and no team features. Signed in, suggested replies and Clean up send the emails they read through Alrighty's server to AI model companies, OpenAI among them. The price is a 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.

Which should you pick

• Keep your iCloud, Gmail or Outlook address, stop junk, and use your own AI on your computer: Alrighty.
• A team on Gmail or Microsoft 365 that wants AI drafts and speed: Superhuman.
• A fresh address where nobody reaches you until you say yes: HEY.
• The lowest price for one person: HEY at $99 a year.
• Read receipts and follow-up reminders: Superhuman.
• No AI in the product at all: HEY.

For more choices, see our Superhuman alternatives and HEY alternatives. If you want Claude or ChatGPT in your mail, see email apps for Claude and ChatGPT. More pairs are on our compare page.

Questions

Can I use Superhuman with a HEY account?

No. HEY doesn't support IMAP or POP, and says "off-the-shelf 3rd party email apps won't work with HEY." Superhuman is built for Gmail and Outlook accounts.

Does HEY work with iCloud mail?

Only by forwarding. HEY doesn't import mail from iCloud, Gmail or Outlook, but you can forward new mail from those accounts into HEY. Your old mail stays where it was.

Can Claude read my mail in Superhuman or HEY?

Both offer a way. Superhuman's Business plan includes the Superhuman Mail MCP. The HEY CLI runs as an MCP server for Claude Code, Codex and other agents, with a read-only option. Our guide on how to let Claude read your email covers more.

Is HEY end-to-end encrypted?

No. HEY's FAQ says "HEY is not end-to-end encrypted (we still hold the keys)." It encrypts your data at rest and in transit.