← AI automation toolsInbox workflow guide
AI email assistants: choose around your inbox
Compare Fyxer, Shortwave and Lindy for inbox organization, search and reply drafts. Start with your mailbox, decide where you want to work, and check what can change or send a message before connecting an account.
Which is the best AI email assistant for your workflow?
The best fit depends on your mailbox and the job you want done. These three options have different working environments: help inside an existing inbox, an email client, or a teammate connected to work apps. Compare documented capabilities before running a small pilot.
Inbox fit, output and approval boundaries| Starting option | Where you work | What it helps prepare | Sending and limits |
|---|
| Fyxer | Works with Gmail or Outlook; organize and draft inside the connected inbox. | Inbox labels, replies in your tone, meeting notes and follow-up drafts. | The pricing FAQ says Fyxer drafts emails and does not send them. Sorting and other metered work use credits. |
|---|
| Shortwave | An email client requiring Gmail or Google Workspace sign-in. Microsoft 365 / Exchange is not supported. | Thread search and summaries, attachment analysis, writing assistance and AI filters. | Review and send replies in the client. AI filters can change the inbox; search history, filter count and AI quota vary by plan. |
|---|
| Lindy | A connected teammate for inbox, calendar, meetings and work apps. Verify your exact mailbox integration before paying. | Inbox drafts, meeting follow-up, scheduled routines and connected app work. | Sending email or changing an outside system waits for approval. Work consumes pooled credits, with paid seats for active users. |
|---|
Consider Fyxer when keeping your current mailbox is important. Confirm inbox count and paid-plan entitlements; the Free plan does not include the paid inbox sorting and reply-drafting features.
Free includes 400 monthly credits but not the paid inbox sorting and reply-drafting features. On monthly billing, Pro is USD 49 per person/month and Team is USD 99 per person/month. The pricing page offers a 14-day paid-plan trial and unlimited credits for the first three months, then 3,000 credits per paid Pro member or 6,000 per paid Team member, pooled for Team. Annual billing has different rates; Enterprise needs a quote.
Official pricing ↗Evidence & sources →
Choose Shortwave only if its Gmail-based setup fits. Its docs say drafts do not sync with Gmail or other clients. A forwarding workaround is not native Outlook support.
Paid per-seat plans with a 14-day trial. The pricing page displays Business USD 30, Premier USD 45 and Max USD 120 per seat/month; confirm the selected billing cycle and business or individual plan before paying. AI search history, daily usage and filter quotas vary by plan. Separate Tasklet automation has its own terms.
Official pricing ↗Evidence & sources →
Consider Lindy when the inbox is one step in a broader workflow. Its public pricing page and docs disagree on free-start terms and plan names; confirm your signup path and billing before connecting the team.
Paid usage starts at USD 29.99 per active user/month with 3,000 credits; team credits are pooled. The public page calls this Team and offers larger credit allocations. Top-ups are USD 10 per 1,000 credits; plan credits reset, purchased top-ups carry over. The public page advertises USD 50 of free credits lasting seven days, while pricing docs still restrict the free week to eligible Slack joins and say direct signups are billed immediately. Confirm the signup terms before proceeding.
Official pricing ↗Evidence & sources →
Choose a Gmail or Outlook AI email assistant
For Gmail, decide whether to stay in the existing inbox or use a separate client. For Outlook, Fyxer explicitly offers Outlook sign-in. Shortwave requires a Gmail bridge for some other providers, supports Outlook.com forwarding only and excludes Microsoft 365 / Exchange in its docs. Check the actual provider, not just the word Outlook.
Check inbox access and changes before connecting
Read the permission screen and official data-handling documentation. Separate permission to read, label or archive mail from permission to send. Check who can see shared threads, how to revoke access and what happens to labels and drafts when you stop using the product.
- Connect a test mailbox first. Record the requested permissions and the changes you permit.
- Verify the draft location and approval rule; check the recipient, amounts and commitments before sending.
- Check the cancellation, account deletion and mailbox access-revocation instructions for each product.
Run the same inbox task before choosing
Use five fictional messages: an urgent request, a newsletter, a meeting recap, an ambiguous question and a message with an attachment. Ask each candidate to identify what needs a reply, summarize the thread and prepare a draft. This is a proposed evaluation, not a recorded test result.
- Compare missed action items, incorrect priorities and unsupported facts in each draft.
- Keep sending manual. Check that uncertainty stays visible and that no discount or deadline is invented.
- Record setup, review and correction time together with the actual plan and credit use.