Is Glassmail better than Apple Mail?

Glassmail adds things Apple Mail doesn't have, such as one-key triage, updates bundled by sender, plain-language search, sign-in codes with a copy button, and an AI assistant that works on any Mac including Intel. Apple Mail is free, comes with iPhone and iPad versions, and is enough for many people.

Can I use Glassmail and Apple Mail at the same time?

Yes. Both connect to your accounts over IMAP, so archiving or reading a message in one shows up in the other. You can try Glassmail for 14 days without changing anything in Apple Mail.

Does Apple Mail have AI on the Mac?

On Macs that support Apple Intelligence, Apple Mail can summarise messages and suggest short replies. Glassmail uses Apple Intelligence on macOS 26 too, and on other Macs, including Intel Macs, it can use a downloaded model instead.

Glassmail vs Apple Mail: is it worth switching?

Apple Mail is free and good at the basics. What Glassmail adds on top, what it doesn't, and how to decide whether it's worth paying for.

Short answer: stay with Apple Mail if it already works for you; it’s free, solid and syncs with your iPhone. Switch to Glassmail if your inbox feels noisy and you want updates bundled by sender, faster triage from the keyboard, search you can type in plain language, and an AI assistant that runs on your Mac, for a one-time price.

Both are native Mac apps that connect straight to your email provider, so neither puts a company server between you and your mail.

At a glance

	Glassmail	Apple Mail
Price	$49 once (lower launch prices for early buyers), 14-day free trial	Free with your Mac
Accounts	Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Microsoft 365, Yahoo, Fastmail, any IMAP	Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, any IMAP
Sorting	People and Updates, with updates bundled by sender	Categories: Primary, Transactions, Updates, Promotions (macOS 15.4+)
Triage	One conversation at a time, single keys	No
Search	Plain language: “pdf from maya last week”	Keyword search with suggestions
Sign-in codes	Shown in the list with a copy button	Autofill in Safari from Mail
AI	Assistant, summaries, writer; Apple Intelligence or a downloaded model on any Mac	Summaries and Smart Reply with Apple Intelligence on supported Macs
Send later, undo send, reminders	Yes, plus follow-up nudges	Yes
Tracking protection	Tracking pixels removed	Mail Privacy Protection hides your IP and loads remote content privately
iPhone and iPad	No	Yes

Disclosure: Glassmail is our app. Tell us at hi@glassmail.app if anything here is wrong.

What Glassmail adds

People first, updates bundled. Apple Mail now sorts mail into categories too. Glassmail goes a step further and folds updates from the same sender into one row, so twenty shipping notices are one thing to archive.
Triage. One conversation in front of you, everything else out of the way. E archives, H snoozes to tomorrow, R replies, J skips.
Plain-language search across every account at once, showing what it understood.
Today view. Who is waiting on you, the sign-in code you just asked for, and who you’re still waiting to hear from.
An assistant that knows your mail. Ask “who hasn’t replied?” and get the actual conversations back. On Intel Macs and macOS 14–15, a downloaded model does this; Apple Mail’s AI needs Apple Intelligence hardware.

What Apple Mail does better

It’s free, it’s on your iPhone and iPad with the same accounts and rules, it supports Exchange accounts directly, and it’s been around for twenty years. Glassmail is Mac-only, made for individuals, and new.

How to try Glassmail without risk

Download Glassmail, add your accounts, and keep Apple Mail as it is. Both read the same mailboxes, so nothing is lost or duplicated. If after 14 days you’d rather stay with Apple Mail, delete Glassmail and you’re done.