An AI email assistant is software that drafts replies, triages incoming mail, summarizes long threads and tracks follow-ups inside Gmail or Outlook. This list ranks seven: EmailAnalytics, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini in Gmail, Superhuman Mail, Missive, Fyxer and Shortwave. EmailAnalytics ranks #1 because it measures whether any assistant here cut your team’s response time.
Key takeaways:
- Microsoft 365 Copilot and Gemini in Gmail are the default picks for teams already paying for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
- Copilot in Outlook doesn’t run in shared or delegate mailboxes, per Microsoft’s FAQ, so shared-inbox support teams should look at Missive.
- Vendor “hours saved” figures come from the vendor. Measure response time before and after rollout with a neutral tool.
- EmailAnalytics costs $19 per inbox per month and reports per-person response time in Gmail and Outlook.
Quick disclosure: EmailAnalytics is our product, and it sits at #1 here. Here’s exactly why, and when you should pick something else.
Every AI email assistant, in my book, is an intern who never sleeps. The intern drafts replies at 2 a.m., sorts the pile and summarizes the thread you skipped. Nobody hires an intern and skips the performance review, and that review is the job EmailAnalytics does.
AI Email Assistants at a Glance (Comparison Table)
Here are all seven picks with starting prices, checked September 30, 2026.
| Rank | Tool | Best for | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EmailAnalytics | Proving an AI assistant cut response time | $19 per inbox per month |
| 2 | Microsoft 365 Copilot | Outlook teams on Microsoft 365 | $18 per user per month add-on (promo, paid yearly) |
| 3 | Gemini in Gmail | Google Workspace teams | Included in Workspace business plans |
| 4 | Superhuman Mail | High-volume sales and success reps | $25 per user per month |
| 5 | Missive | Shared-inbox teams choosing their own AI model | $24 per user per month with AI |
| 6 | Fyxer | Founders who want drafts waiting | Free plan; paid from $37 per person per month (annual) |
| 7 | Shortwave | Gmail power users who want an AI agent | $30 per seat per month |
What an AI Email Assistant Does (Drafting, Triage, Summaries, Follow-Up)
An AI email assistant handles four jobs: drafting replies, triaging new mail, summarizing threads and flagging follow-ups. Some tools cover all four; others do one well.
- Drafting: writing a reply from a prompt or the thread, often in your tone.
- Triage: labeling, prioritizing or archiving new mail so urgent threads rise.
- Summaries: condensing a long thread into a few bullet points.
- Follow-up: reminding you when nobody replied, or drafting the nudge.
AI agents for email management go further and act on their own, based on rules or prompts. Missive’s AI Rules and Shortwave’s agent both work this way.
One job is missing from that list: measurement. The intern who never sleeps can write 200 drafts a day, and you still won’t know if customers got faster answers.
How We Evaluated These AI Email Assistants
Our ranking uses five criteria, and every price was checked on September 30, 2026. The first two carried the most weight.
- Verifiable impact: can you prove faster replies with data from outside the tool?
- Platform fit: Gmail, Microsoft 365 and shared mailbox support.
- Team features: shared context, assignment and manager visibility.
- Cost: the real per-seat price, including AI credits or add-ons.
- Setup effort: whether the team must switch email clients.
For every competitor, we read the website, pricing page and help docs before writing. Where a vendor publishes results, we cite them and note whether the method is disclosed.
The 7 Best AI Email Assistants (Profiles)
Each profile covers features, pricing, fit and limits, plus a direct comparison with EmailAnalytics.
1. EmailAnalytics: Best for proving whether your AI assistant cut response time
Quick summary: EmailAnalytics measures per-person email response time, volume and workload across Gmail and Outlook. Managers use EmailAnalytics to see whether an AI email assistant made replies faster.
EmailAnalytics is an email analytics tool that connects to Gmail and Outlook through their APIs and reports team email activity. EmailAnalytics shows response time, volume per person and workload for managers of sales, support and customer success teams.
Why is an analytics tool at #1 on a list of assistants? Because the intern who never sleeps still needs a manager who checks the work. EmailAnalytics syncs up to two years of history, so your pre-AI baseline exists on day one.
EmailAnalytics is used by 10,000+ teams, with a 42.5% average response time improvement, per its homepage. Smartsites cut average response time 60.4% in two months, per the Smartsites case study.
Key Features of EmailAnalytics
- Response time per person and per inbox, in work hours or elapsed time.
- Gmail and Microsoft 365 API connection with no install, including Outlook shared mailboxes.
- PDF or CSV export in the Pro plan, plus AI sentiment analysis and SLA alerts by email as a paid add-on.
- HubSpot contact sync, so you can analyze email by customer.
Pricing: EmailAnalytics has one plan, Pro, at $19 per inbox per month. Annual billing saves 10%, and there’s a 14-day free trial.
Who Should Choose EmailAnalytics
- Managers who rolled out Copilot, Gemini or another assistant and need proof it paid off.
- Support and sales leads who track response time without changing email clients.
Limitations: EmailAnalytics doesn’t draft, sort or send email, so you’ll still want an assistant below. EmailAnalytics works from timestamps, so it can’t see minutes spent composing a draft.
2. Microsoft 365 Copilot: Best for Outlook teams already on Microsoft 365
Quick summary: Microsoft 365 Copilot adds drafting, thread summaries, email coaching and inbox prioritization inside Outlook. Microsoft 365 Copilot is the lowest-friction pick for Outlook users, but it works only in each person’s primary mailbox.
Microsoft 365 Copilot in Outlook summarizes threads, drafts emails from a prompt and coaches drafts on tone and clarity. Copilot also tags new mail high, normal or low priority, per Microsoft’s Copilot in Outlook FAQ.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat comes at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans, including in Outlook, per Microsoft’s pricing page. The paid license adds full Outlook features, prebuilt agents and usage analytics.
Key Features of Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Thread summaries that pull key points from long chains.
- Drafts built from a prompt, thread context and organizational information.
- Email coaching on tone, sentiment and clarity before you send.
- Priority tags on incoming mail: high, normal or low.
Pricing: the Copilot Business add-on is $18 per user per month paid yearly through December 31, 2026, down from $21. The enterprise license is $30 per user per month paid yearly.
Who Should Choose Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Companies already paying for Microsoft 365 business or enterprise plans.
- Reps and account managers who work from their own mailbox.
Limitations: Microsoft 365 Copilot doesn’t work in shared, delegate, group or archive mailboxes, per Microsoft’s FAQ. The Business add-on also requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 license.
Microsoft 365 Copilot vs EmailAnalytics
Microsoft 365 Copilot writes and sorts email in Outlook, and EmailAnalytics measures how fast each person and shared mailbox replies. Copilot’s usage analytics track Copilot activity, so the two tools pair well.
| Point | Microsoft 365 Copilot | EmailAnalytics |
|---|---|---|
| Drafts replies | Yes | No |
| Shared mailboxes | Not supported | Supported in Outlook |
| Gmail support | No | Yes |
| Per-person response time | No | Yes |
| Starting price | $18 per user per month (promo) | $19 per inbox per month |
3. Gemini in Gmail: Best for Google Workspace teams that want AI with no new app
Quick summary: Gemini in Gmail summarizes threads, drafts emails and organizes the inbox from a side panel in Gmail. Gemini in Gmail is included in Google Workspace business plans.
Gemini in Gmail summarizes long threads, drafts or polishes emails, and labels, archives or deletes messages on request. Gemini also finds details like flight times and proposes meeting times, per Google’s Gemini in Gmail help page.
Google folded Gemini into Workspace Business and Enterprise plans in January 2025. Google said a Business Standard customer paying $32 with the Gemini add-on would then pay $14, per its announcement.
Key Features of Gemini in Gmail
- Side-panel summaries of long threads.
- Drafting and rewriting for tone and clarity.
- Inbox actions by prompt: delete, label, archive, mark read.
- Meeting-time suggestions from Google Calendar availability.
Pricing: Gemini in Gmail is included in every Google Workspace business plan. Google shows per-seat prices through a calculator on its pricing page, with 16% off a one-year commitment.
Who Should Choose Gemini in Gmail
- Google Workspace teams that don’t want another subscription.
- Individuals who want summaries and drafts inside Gmail.
Limitations: Gemini in Gmail works one inbox at a time and gives managers no team response-time reporting. Gemini in Gmail doesn’t cover mail in Microsoft 365.
Gemini in Gmail vs EmailAnalytics
Gemini in Gmail helps each person write and sort faster. EmailAnalytics shows whether the whole team’s replies got faster after Gemini arrived, and Gemini’s $0 add-on cost is a real edge.
| Point | Gemini in Gmail | EmailAnalytics |
|---|---|---|
| Drafts replies | Yes | No |
| Outlook support | No | Yes |
| Manager dashboards | No | Yes |
| Extra cost for Workspace teams | None | $19 per inbox per month |
| Setup | Already in Gmail | API connection, no install |
4. Superhuman Mail: Best for sales and customer success reps who live in email
Quick summary: Superhuman Mail is a standalone email client for Gmail and Outlook accounts. Every plan includes AI writing, instant replies and auto labels. Superhuman Mail fits reps who handle high email volume.
Superhuman Mail includes Write with AI, Instant Reply, Auto Summarize, Auto Labels and Auto Reminders on all plans, per its pricing page. The Business plan adds Auto Drafts, Ask AI and Voice and Tone Match.
Brex’s customer success team responds to three times as many customer emails, with a 3.5-hour faster response time, per Superhuman’s Brex story. The story doesn’t describe how the figures were measured.
Key Features of Superhuman Mail
- Instant Reply and Write with AI on every plan.
- Auto Labels, Auto Archive and Auto Reminders for triage and follow-up.
- Shared conversations, team comments and shared drafts.
- Support for Gmail and Outlook accounts.
Pricing: Superhuman Mail starts at $25 per user per month on Starter and $33 on Business. Enterprise pricing is custom.
Who Should Choose Superhuman Mail
- Sales reps and account executives handling hundreds of emails a day.
- Customer success teams with mixed Gmail and Outlook accounts.
Limitations: Superhuman Mail requires every user to switch email clients. Superhuman’s pricing page lists no manager-level response-time reports.
Superhuman Mail vs EmailAnalytics
Superhuman Mail speeds up the person writing the email. EmailAnalytics measures the team result from the native inbox, which makes it a neutral before-and-after check.
| Point | Superhuman Mail | EmailAnalytics |
|---|---|---|
| Drafts replies | Yes | No |
| New email client required | Yes | No |
| Gmail and Outlook | Yes | Yes |
| Manager response-time reports | Not listed | Yes |
| Starting price | $25 per user per month | $19 per inbox per month |
5. Missive: Best for shared-inbox teams that want to pick their own AI model
Quick summary: Missive is a collaborative inbox for Gmail, Outlook, IMAP, WhatsApp and SMS, with AI drafts, summaries and AI Rules. Missive lets teams choose OpenAI, Anthropic Claude or Google Gemini.
Missive describes itself as “inbox collaboration for teams that run on email,” and 6,000+ companies use it, per its homepage. Named customers include Buffer, WeTransfer and Everlane.
Missive’s AI runs on Missive credits, at a 25% markup on provider pricing, or on your own API key. Productive and Business plans get $5 of free credits, per Missive’s AI docs.
Key Features of Missive
- Team inboxes with assignment, internal threads and collaborative drafts.
- AI Rules that run prompts on incoming email automatically.
- SLA and team performance reports on Productive and Business.
- WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and SMS alongside email.
Pricing: Missive AI requires the Productive plan at $24 per user per month, or $19.20 billed annually. The $14 Starter plan excludes AI.
Who Should Choose Missive
- Support and operations teams that share team inboxes.
- Teams that want control over which AI model reads their mail.
Limitations: Missive requires everyone to work inside the Missive app. AI usage beyond the $5 credit is billed on top unless you bring your own key.
Missive vs EmailAnalytics
Missive gives shared-inbox teams assignment, AI drafting and SLA reports in its own app, which EmailAnalytics doesn’t offer. EmailAnalytics reports from native Gmail and Outlook, and our Missive alternatives guide covers the tradeoffs.
| Point | Missive | EmailAnalytics |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment and shared drafts | Yes | No |
| AI drafting | Yes, Productive and up | No |
| Response-time reporting | Inside Missive | In native Gmail and Outlook |
| New email client required | Yes | No |
| Starting price with AI | $24 per user per month | $19 per inbox per month |
6. Fyxer: Best for founders and small teams that want drafts waiting in the inbox
Quick summary: Fyxer is a Gmail and Outlook assistant that labels mail, drafts replies in your tone and takes meeting notes. Fyxer has a free personal plan and paid plans from $37 per person per month billed annually.
Fyxer calls itself “the email assistant that organizes your inbox, writes draft replies in your tone, and takes meeting notes.” Fyxer says 100,000+ people use it, and its homepage names ClickUp and eXp Realty as customers.
Fyxer records meetings on Google Meet, Teams and Zoom and keeps a running follow-up list. The Pro plan includes Fyxer’s own analytics on hours and value provided.
Key Features of Fyxer
- Automatic labeling that lifts important emails to the top.
- Draft replies in your tone, waiting for review.
- Meeting notes and follow-up lists from Meet, Teams and Zoom.
- Shared company context and team reporting on the Team plan.
Pricing: Fyxer Pro costs $49 per person per month, or $37 billed annually. Team costs $99, or $64 annually, and the free plan includes 400 monthly credits for personal use.
Who Should Choose Fyxer
- Founders and executives who want replies drafted before they open the inbox.
- Small teams that want meeting notes from the same tool.
Limitations: Fyxer’s Team plan costs more per seat than most tools here. Fyxer runs on monthly credits, so heavy users can hit the cap.
Fyxer vs EmailAnalytics
Fyxer drafts replies and takes meeting notes, which EmailAnalytics doesn’t do. Fyxer reports hours saved by its own math, while EmailAnalytics reports reply times from Gmail and Outlook timestamps.
| Point | Fyxer | EmailAnalytics |
|---|---|---|
| Drafts replies | Yes | No |
| Meeting notes | Yes | No |
| What reports measure | Hours saved by Fyxer | Response time and workload |
| Free plan | Yes, personal use | No, 14-day trial |
| Starting paid price | $37 per person per month (annual) | $19 per inbox per month |
7. Shortwave: Best for Gmail power users who want an AI agent in the inbox
Quick summary: Shortwave is an AI email client for Gmail with an agent that organizes, writes, searches and schedules from a prompt. Shortwave doesn’t support Microsoft 365 or Exchange accounts.
Shortwave calls its product “agentic AI that helps you organize, write, search, schedule, and more with just a prompt.” Shortwave’s homepage shows logos from Twilio, Gusto and Zapier.
Shortwave connects to its sister product, Tasklet, to draft replies automatically and reach 3,000+ apps. The Business plan includes roughly 150 to 300 AI requests a day, per Shortwave’s pricing page.
Key Features of Shortwave
- An AI agent that acts on mail from a prompt.
- AI filters that label, star or archive automatically.
- AI search across five years of history on Business.
- Thread sharing, team comments and assignees.
Pricing: Shortwave starts at $30 per seat per month on Business, $45 on Premier and $120 on Max. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
Who Should Choose Shortwave
- Gmail users who want to run the inbox through prompts.
- Small Workspace teams that want AI search across years of mail.
Limitations: Shortwave doesn’t support Microsoft 365 or Exchange, and Outlook.com works only through forwarding, per Shortwave’s docs.
Shortwave vs EmailAnalytics
Shortwave gives Gmail users an agent that acts on mail. EmailAnalytics measures the team’s reply speed across Gmail and Outlook, so it fits mixed-provider teams.
| Point | Shortwave | EmailAnalytics |
|---|---|---|
| Drafts replies | Yes | No |
| Microsoft 365 support | No | Yes |
| New email client required | Yes | No |
| Manager response-time reports | Not listed | Yes |
| Starting price | $30 per seat per month | $19 per inbox per month |
How the 7 AI Email Assistants Compare on Every Criterion
The master table below compares all seven tools on our core criteria, verified September 30, 2026.
| Tool | Drafts replies | Gmail | Microsoft 365 | New client | Team response-time reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EmailAnalytics | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Gemini in Gmail | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Superhuman Mail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
| Missive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, inside Missive |
| Fyxer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Hours saved, Team plan reports |
| Shortwave | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Not listed |
Best AI Email Assistant for Outlook and Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 Copilot is the best AI email assistant for Outlook users who work from personal mailboxes. Superhuman Mail and Fyxer are the non-Microsoft options for Outlook.
Wait, Copilot doesn’t work in the shared support mailbox? Nope. Microsoft limits Copilot to a user’s primary mailbox, per its FAQ.
Ouch. For Outlook support teams built around a shared mailbox, that gap decides the purchase. EmailAnalytics still tracks response time in Outlook shared mailboxes while Copilot helps in personal inboxes.
Best AI Email Assistant for Gmail and Google Workspace
Gemini in Gmail is the best AI email assistant for most Google Workspace teams because it’s included in Workspace business plans. Shortwave is the upgrade for Gmail power users.
Take a 12-person Workspace sales team. Gemini adds $0, while Shortwave Business adds 12 x $30 = $360 a month. Test Shortwave with two heavy users before paying for twelve.
Best AI Email Assistant for Support Teams
Missive is the best AI email assistant for shared-inbox support teams. Missive combines assignment, AI drafts, AI Rules and SLA reports in one app.
Teams staying in native Gmail or Outlook can pair Gemini or Copilot with EmailAnalytics SLA alerts. Volume adds up fast: six agents x 90 emails = 540 threads a day.
Average email response time was 4h 10m in work hours across 25,384,649 emails in Q2 2026, per the EmailAnalytics benchmark report. Saturday was slowest at 7h 49m.
Set targets with our guide to SLA monitoring. For outsourced queues, see our list of email management services.
Best AI Email Assistant for Sales Teams
Superhuman Mail is the best AI email assistant for sales teams that live in email. Instant Reply and Auto Reminders work on Gmail and Outlook. Fyxer suits founder-led sales, because meeting notes feed its follow-up list.
Pearl Lemon cut sales response time by about 40% and delayed or missed replies by 60%, per the Pearl Lemon case study. EmailAnalytics syncs HubSpot contacts, so managers see response time to real prospects.
Free vs Paid AI Email Assistants
Free AI email assistants cover summaries and light drafting for individuals. Paid plans add team context, automatic drafts and higher usage limits.
Gmail’s AI Overview summaries are free for all Gmail users in supported languages, per Google. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat comes at no additional cost with eligible plans, and Fyxer’s free plan gives 400 monthly credits.
Can a team run on free tiers alone? For a week or two, sure. Free tiers are built for one person, so shared context and team rollouts push you onto a paid plan.
My take: spend the first dollar on measurement and the second on the assistant. A free assistant plus a clean baseline beats a paid assistant with no numbers.
How to Choose an AI Email Assistant: 4 Decision Rules
Choose an AI email assistant by matching it to where your mail lives, then checking shared mailboxes, client switching and measurement.
- Match the platform: Copilot for Microsoft 365, Gemini for Workspace, and Superhuman Mail, Missive or Fyxer for mixed teams.
- Check shared mailboxes first, because Copilot doesn’t work in them.
- Decide on client switching: Superhuman Mail, Missive and Shortwave need a new app.
- Set a baseline before rollout, or you’ll never know if the intern who never sleeps earned the seat price.
For more options, see our roundups of unified inbox apps and workload management tools.
How to Measure Whether an AI Assistant Sped Up Your Team
Measure an AI email assistant by comparing a pilot group’s work-hours response time with a control group’s. Vendor dashboards measure the assistant’s activity; they don’t measure how long your customer waited.
Can’t I just trust the vendor’s hours-saved number? Read it as the intern’s self-review. Superhuman’s Brex story, for example, doesn’t disclose its method.
Okay, ready for the good stuff? Here’s how I’d run it in EmailAnalytics.
- Connect pilot and control inboxes in EmailAnalytics; two years of history gives you the baseline.
- Give the assistant to half the reps and keep the other half as the control.
- After 30 days, compare work-hours response time and emails sent per person.
- Subtract the control group’s change from the pilot’s. The difference is the assistant’s effect.
Say five pilot reps averaged 5h 30m before and 4h 00m after. That’s 330 minus 240 = 90 minutes, a 27% drop. If the control group improved 15%, the assistant earned about 12 points.
Always run a control group. Work-hours response time fell 21% in one quarter, from 5h 17m to 4h 10m, per the Q2 2026 benchmark.
Nice. A 12-point gain is a number you can defend to finance. For method details, read our guides to email response time tracking and AI-powered email analytics.
Response time is one metric among several; our team email management guide covers the rest. Start the baseline this week, and let the numbers decide whether the intern who never sleeps stays.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best AI email assistant for teams?
EmailAnalytics is the best AI email assistant for teams that need proof, because it measures per-person response time in Gmail and Outlook. For drafting, pair it with Copilot or Gemini.
What is the best AI email assistant for Outlook?
Microsoft 365 Copilot is the best AI email assistant for Outlook users working in their own mailbox. Copilot doesn’t work in shared mailboxes, so shared-inbox teams should consider Missive.
Do AI email assistants work in shared mailboxes?
Some AI email assistants work in shared mailboxes, and Missive is the better fit for shared-inbox support teams. Microsoft 365 Copilot doesn’t support shared mailboxes.
Is there a free AI email assistant?
Yes, Gmail’s AI Overview summaries are free for all Gmail users in supported languages. Copilot Chat comes free with eligible Microsoft 365 plans, and Fyxer has a free personal plan.
What are AI agents for email management?
AI agents for email management act on email by themselves, labeling, archiving or drafting replies from rules or prompts. Missive’s AI Rules and Shortwave’s agent are two examples.
How do you know if an AI email assistant saves time?
An AI email assistant saves time when a pilot group’s response time drops more than a control group’s. EmailAnalytics tracks both groups from Gmail and Outlook metadata.
Does EmailAnalytics read the content of my emails?
EmailAnalytics accesses only email metadata: email addresses, subject lines and timestamps. EmailAnalytics doesn’t read body content unless you turn on optional AI functionality. In that case, body content is briefly accessed for AI analysis, then discarded and never stored, per the security page.
Pick the assistant that fits where your mail lives, and measure it before you renew.
Jayson is a long-time columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, Inc.com, and various other major media publications, where he has authored over 1,000 articles since 2012, covering technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship. He keynoted the 2013 MarketingProfs University, and won the “Entrepreneur Blogger of the Year” award in 2015 from the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. In 2010, he founded a marketing agency that appeared on the Inc. 5000 before selling it in January of 2019, and he is now the CEO of EmailAnalytics and OutreachBloom.
