Email is a crucial tool in modern communication, both for personal and professional purposes. With the sheer volume of emails we handle daily, having the right tools to manage, automate, and streamline email tasks can significantly boost productivity.
If you’re running an outreach or cold-email campaign, it’s impossible to survive in the market without a proper workflow in place. More often than not, that workflow is going to be comprised of multiple applications — and not just one.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the best email productivity apps and provide a comprehensive guide on what these apps have to offer.
8 Top Email Productivity Apps Reviewed in Detail
1. Spark
Spark is an email application that prioritizes efficiency and collaboration. Its smart inbox automatically categorizes emails into Personal, Notifications, and Newsletters, and helps businesses focus on what matters most.
Spark also supports email delegation, allowing users to assign emails to team members, set deadlines, and track progress. When it comes to team collaboration features, Spark enables private discussions within emails, enhancing team communication.
Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with popular productivity tools like Trello, Asana, and Dropbox, as well and that’s a plus!
Pros
- Smart inbox categorization helps prioritize important emails and reduces clutter
- Team collaboration features streamline communication and project management within the app
- Quick replies and templates speed up responses with predefined replies and templates
- Integrates with other productivity tools to enhance workflow
Cons
- Some advanced features require a subscription
- Team features may be unnecessary for individual users
2. Newton Mail
Newton Mail is known for its clean interface and powerful features designed to enhance email management. Key features include read receipts to track when emails are opened, send later to schedule emails, and snooze emails to deal with them at a more convenient time.
The undo send feature allows users to quickly recall sent emails if a mistake is noticed. Newton Mail also integrates with various apps such as Evernote, Pocket, and Trello, making it a versatile tool for productivity.
Pros
- Read receipts and send later features ensure timely follow-ups
- Snooze emails to handle them at a more convenient time
- Undo send feature helps avoid mistakes
- Wide range of integrations with other apps
Cons
- Limited customization options compared to other email apps
3. Brevo
Brevo is a comprehensive email marketing and automation platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It offers a range of features including email marketing, SMS marketing, chat, CRM, marketing automation, transactional emails, and detailed analytics.
Brevo’s drag-and-drop email editor allows users to create professional-looking emails without any coding knowledge.
The best part? It comes with one of the most practical free-plans so even if you’re skeptical about it, you can go for a trial run for as long as required. Additionally, its automation tools help streamline marketing efforts by setting up workflows for sending emails based on user behavior, segmenting contacts, and managing customer relationships.
The platform also integrates with various other tools such as WordPress, Salesforce, and Shopify, making it a versatile solution for businesses looking to enhance their marketing efforts.
Pros
- A comprehensive suite of tools including email marketing, SMS marketing, and CRM
- User-friendly drag-and-drop email editor
- Advanced marketing automation capabilities to streamline workflows
- Detailed analytics and reporting to track campaign performance.
- Flexible pricing plans, including a free tier for basic usage.
Cons
- Customer support can be slow during peak times
- Limited customization options for some templates
4. Airmail
Airmail is a customizable email client that supports a unified inbox for managing multiple email accounts. It offers customizable actions, email templates, and iCloud sync for seamless use across Apple devices.
Airmail’s third-party app integration includes Todoist, Evernote, and Google Drive, making it a flexible tool for handling emails and related tasks. The app’s focus on customization allows users to tailor their email experience to their specific needs.
Pros
- Highly customizable with actions and templates
- Unified inbox for managing multiple accounts
- Seamless iCloud sync across Apple devices
- Integrates with popular productivity tools
Cons
- Available only on Apple devices
- Customization can be complex for new users
5. Mailbird
Mailbird is designed to streamline email management with a unified inbox, app integrations, speed reader, and email snooze features. It supports integration with productivity apps like Asana, Dropbox, and Google Calendar. Mailbird’s speed reader feature helps users quickly go through long emails, and the attachment search makes finding files easy.
What’s more — the app’s intuitive design and powerful features make it a popular choice for managing multiple email accounts efficiently. So just in case previous options don’t fit you for some reason, Mailbird is simple enough that it might just be the right fit!
Pros
- Unified inbox for easy management of multiple accounts
- Speed reader helps process long emails quickly
- Extensive app integrations enhance productivity
- Attachment search simplifies finding files
Cons
- Windows-only application
- Some features locked behind a premium subscription
6. Boomerang
Boomerang, unlike most platforms, focuses on enhancing email scheduling and follow-up capabilities and that’s why we’re listing it at #6! The users can basically schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders to follow up on emails, and track when emails are read.
The inbox pause feature helps minimize distractions by temporarily halting new email notifications. With the advent of AI — Boomerang now also offers an AI-powered writing assistant to help users craft better emails.
Pros
- Schedule emails to be sent at optimal times
- Follow-up reminders ensure timely responses
- Read receipts provide insights into email engagement
- AI-powered writing assistant improves email quality
Cons
- Some features require a premium subscription
- Limited to Gmail and Outlook
7. Clean Email
Clean Email helps users maintain a clutter-free inbox by offering bulk email cleaning, email filters, unsubscribe options, and auto-clean rules. The app’s smart views allow users to view emails by category, such as unread, social, or subscriptions.
Clean Email’s powerful tools make it easy to manage large volumes of emails and keep the inbox organized, reducing stress and increasing productivity.
Pros
- Bulk email cleaner helps manage large volumes of emails
- Email filters and auto-clean rules keep the inbox organized
- Unsubscribe feature reduces email clutter
- Smart views categorize emails for easy management
Cons
- Some advanced features require a subscription
- May require initial setup time to configure filters and rules
8. Yet Another Mail Merge (YAMM)
Yet Another Mail Merge (YAMM) is a powerful email merge tool that works seamlessly with Google Sheets and Gmail. It is designed to simplify the process of sending personalized bulk emails. Users can draft their email in Gmail, create a list of recipients in Google Sheets, and then use YAMM to merge the two, sending out customized emails to each recipient.
It also comes home with features such as email tracking, automated follow-ups, and personalization fields — which makes it an ideal tool for email marketing campaigns, newsletters, and personalized communication.
The integration with Google Sheets allows for easy management and segmentation of contact lists, however, does come with a learning curve.
Pros:
- Seamless integration with Google Sheets and Gmail
- Easy to use for sending personalized bulk emails
- Email tracking and reporting to monitor open and click rates
- Automated follow-ups to increase engagement
Cons:
- The free tier has a cap on the number of emails sent per day
- Some advanced features are only available in the paid version
Guide for Choosing the Best Email Productivity Apps
Emails have so many applications — for instance, the first and most basic use is for businesses to communicate with each other, without hindrance. The second most ideal benefit is to have custom-domain email IDs that help any business — from small and beginner entrepreneurs to full-fledged enterprises.
If we keep aside these basic features, emails are a need of the hour for recruitment purposes, HR-related concerns, and cold outreach.
When there’s a need to execute those processes in bulk, regular Gmail IDs, for instance, tend to have a limit and that can be a major hindrance. However, having a few extra tools at hand, including some AI-aid tools to help with email copy creation and automation, goes a long way.
This guide will tell you how many different kinds of email productivity tools there actually are and what you might want to choose, depending on your business’s needs. Our editors have carefully picked the products listed above and serve multiple need points.
What Are Different Types of Email Productivity Tools?
Email productivity tools come in various forms, each designed to enhance specific aspects of email management and communication. These tools can be broadly categorized as follows:
1. Email Marketing Platforms
These tools help businesses create, send, and analyze email marketing campaigns. They often feature email templates, contact segmentation, automation workflows, and detailed analytics. Examples include Mailchimp and Brevo.
2. Email-Automation Tools
These tools automate repetitive tasks and ensure timely communication. They can schedule emails, set up automated follow-ups, and send emails based on user behavior. Examples include Boomerang and ActiveCampaign.
3. Tracking and Analytics Tools
Tracking and Analytics-focused tools basically provide insights into email performance by tracking open rates, click-through rates, and link engagement. YAMM, Yesware, etc. are a few examples.
4. Email Management and Organization Tools
Tools that fall in this category help organize inboxes, reduce clutter, and streamline email handling with features like bulk cleaning, email filters, and smart categorization. Examples include Clean Email and SaneBox.
5. Collaboration and Shared Inbox Tools
Designed for teams, these tools offer shared inboxes, email delegation, and internal communication features to enhance teamwork and accountability. Examples include Spark and Front.
6. Writing Assistance Tools
These use AI to help craft better emails with grammar checks, AI-powered suggestions, and email templates. Examples include Grammarly and Boomerang’s AI assistant.
7. Email Integration Tools
These connect email with other productivity tools like calendars, task managers, and CRM systems, ensuring a cohesive workflow. Airmail and Mailbird are perfect examples of this category.
What Email Productivity Apps Have to Offer
Let’s begin by building a nice synopsis about what email productivity apps can actually help us achieve.
Automation and Scheduling
Email productivity apps offer a wide array of functionalities that go beyond mere email management. One of the primary benefits of these apps is automation and scheduling. Automating repetitive tasks and scheduling emails to be sent at optimal times can save considerable time and ensure follow-ups are timely.
Apps like Boomerang and Newton Mail, for instance, that we’ve listed above excel in this area, and allow users to set up automated follow-ups and schedule emails to be sent during recipients’ working hours, ensuring better engagement and response rates.
By automating these processes, users can focus on more strategic tasks, knowing that their email communication is being handled efficiently.
Team Collaboration
Team collaboration is another crucial aspect offered by email productivity apps. Tools like Spark and Front provide shared inboxes, email delegation, and real-time collaboration features. These functionalities enhance team communication and accountability, allowing team members to assign tasks, track progress, and discuss emails privately within the app.
This streamlined approach to email management ensures that teams can work more efficiently and respond to emails promptly. By integrating these collaborative features, teams can improve their overall productivity and ensure that no important emails fall through the cracks.
Advanced Organization
Advanced organization features are vital for maintaining a clutter-free inbox and ensuring efficiency. Apps like Clean Email and Mailbird offer smart inboxes, categorization, bulk cleaning, and auto-clean rules.
These features help users quickly find and manage emails, keeping their inboxes organized and free of clutter. Setting up filters to automatically categorize and organize incoming emails, and using bulk cleaning and auto-clean rules regularly, can significantly reduce the time spent managing emails.
This organizational efficiency translates into more productive work hours and a less stressful email management experience.
Integrations
Integrations with other productivity tools further enhance the functionality of email productivity apps. Airmail and Spark, for instance, seamlessly integrate with task managers, calendars, CRM systems, and cloud storage services.
This ability to connect with other tools ensures a more cohesive workflow, allowing users to manage multiple tasks and tools from within their email app. By syncing tasks and emails, users can avoid missing important deadlines and ensure all their productivity tools work in harmony.
These integrations also allow for a more streamlined approach to project management, ensuring that all aspects of a user’s workflow are connected and easily accessible.
Email Tracking and Analytics
Specialized email tools also offer valuable features like email tracking and analytics. Superhuman and Boomerang provide functionalities to track email opens, link clicks, and get insights into email performance and engagement. YAMM is an excellent tool for this particular application — and Brevo is also a great free option.
These tracking and analytics features help users understand how recipients interact with their emails and monitor the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns. By analyzing engagement data, users can refine their email strategies and improve communication outcomes.
These insights are particularly valuable for professionals who rely on email marketing and need to track the success of their campaigns.
Writing Assistance
Writing assistance is another valuable feature offered by email productivity apps. Apps like Boomerang and Spark include AI-powered suggestions, grammar checks, and email templates.
These tools help users write better emails, ensuring clear and professional communication. Using AI-powered suggestions and grammar checks can enhance the quality of emails, while templates provide consistency and save time when sending repetitive messages.
The key is to leverage these writing tools to ensure that the communication is both professional, efficient, and error-free — however, this might be better suited to companies operating in traditional frequencies. For any company looking to close clients or book calls through emails, it’s important for the email to be written by a human copywriter.
Inbox Management
Inbox management is crucial for reducing clutter and maintaining organization. Clean Email and Mailbird excel in this area with features like unsubscribe options, email filters, and auto-clean rules. Regularly unsubscribing from unwanted emails and setting up filters to organize incoming messages can keep the inbox focused and free of unnecessary clutter.
By maintaining a well-organized inbox, users can improve their productivity and reduce the stress associated with managing large volumes of emails.
Productivity Enhancements
Lastly, productivity enhancements such as speed reading, email snoozing, follow-up reminders, and keyboard shortcuts can significantly boost efficiency. Speed reading helps users quickly go through long emails, while snoozing allows them to temporarily remove non-urgent emails from the inbox to focus on immediate tasks.
Follow-up reminders ensure important emails are addressed on time, and keyboard shortcuts speed up navigation and email management. These enhancements make handling emails quicker and less cumbersome, allowing users to spend more time on high-value activities.
What Are the Two Most Important Types of Email Productivity Tools?
Email marketing and collaborative/shared inbox tools are perhaps the most important types of email productivity tools. This is why every business owner these days opts for a G-suite and has some type of newsletter or email drops to their potential prospects.
The reason is simple — the former is utilized to grow a business and the latter is essential to run a business.
While not all business models depend on email marketing, it’s true that having some kind of email follow-up drops benefits businesses. And if the business hails from e-commerce, the whole system basically operates on these two types of productivity tools. They’re vital to the extent that their absence can basically render a business non-operational.
Things to Look for While Choosing an Email Automation Platform
When selecting an email automation platform, prioritize ease of use. A user-friendly interface and straightforward setup will allow you to create and manage campaigns without technical expertise.
This is the very reason many business owners avoid going for tools like YAMM, despite their effectiveness — they come with a decent level of a learning curve with Google sheet automation and all.
Robust automation features, such as drip campaigns, trigger-based emails, and automated follow-ups, streamline communication and enhance efficiency. Additionally, seamless integration with existing tools like CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and analytics tools ensures a cohesive workflow.
Personalization capabilities are also crucial for effective email marketing and Brevo wins here! It helps enable tailored messages based on user behavior, demographics, and preferences. Scalability is another critical factor; the platform should accommodate your business’s growth, handling increasing email volumes and advanced marketing needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Are The Main Benefits of Using Email Productivity Tools?
Email productivity tools automate tasks, schedule emails, track engagement, and organize your inbox, saving time and enhancing efficiency. They also integrate with other tools, and help improve workflow and team collaboration — which ultimately translates to less time waste and high revenue.
2. How Do Email Tracking and Analytics Tools Work, and Why Are They Important?
These tools use tracking pixels to monitor when emails are opened and links are clicked. This data helps optimize email strategies by providing insights into recipient engagement and campaign effectiveness. Utilizing this data the right way can help companies improve their conversion rates exponentially!
3. Can Email Productivity Tools Integrate With Other Software, And How Does This Benefit My Workflow?
Yes, they integrate with CRM, project management, and calendar tools. If a workspace is remote, and the tool can be incorporated with notifications through a channel to a trello board or Slack, it will help create a seamless workflow that enhances productivity by reducing the need to switch between different communication channels individually.
The Takeaway
Choosing the best email productivity app can make a significant difference in managing your email workload and enhancing your overall productivity. Whether you need a comprehensive tool to handle all aspects of email management or specialized apps to tackle specific tasks, there’s an app out there to meet your needs!
The options listed above are perfect in this regard and will help most people find the best fit for their email productivity requirements.
By leveraging the automation, collaboration, organization, and enhancement features offered by these apps, you can streamline your email management process, reduce stress, and improve your efficiency in both personal and professional communication.
