How to Choose the Best Outlook Alternative
Microsoft Outlook has long been a corporate staple, especially because of its robust integration with the Microsoft Office ecosystem. However, it's far from perfect.
Here are some reasons businesses and private users might be considering an alternative—and exactly what we carefully looked into when putting together the list.
- Design: Some users think the interface and overall look are too corporate—even outdated. Additionally, complaints about the new Outlook for Windows include criticism of its design and user interface, prompting users to look for alternatives.
- Features: While many are familiar with Outlook's features, some find them clunky and limited. Searching for that email from five years ago? Filtering emails? Outlook for Mac? These are just some of the pain points current users experience and talk about.
- Ease of use: Many users are looking for tools within their email service provider that can make their lives easier. AI, automation, third-party integrations, and customization are in high demand. These are the things Outlook is found lacking.
- Privacy concerns: Some users have raised concerns about how Microsoft handles their data. Businesses are giving data security a stronger focus and looking for options that don't expose them to phishing and other cybersecurity issues.
The Best Alternatives to Outlook Reviewed
- Clean Email – Best for managing your inbox and keeping it clean.
- Spark – Best for modern, sleek design.
- Mailbird – Best for ease of use and overall functionality.
- Apple Mail – Most minimalist look.
- Spike – Best for consolidating emails with chat, notes, meetings, and team channels.
- eM Client – Best for customization.
- Canary Mail – Best for AI and machine tools.
When choosing the best alternative to Outlook for this listicle, we focused on the following areas, which we recommend you consider as well:
- Compatibility: Is it compatible with various email service providers and your current tech stack? Does it offer seamless integrations and APIs?
- Automated email organization: Does it have skin in the game in terms of automated sorting, filtering, setting up rules, and AI-based features?
- Pricing: It's not just about whether it fits your budget. More importantly, does it give you value for money in terms of features vs. cost? Consider whether having a larger investment now will mean cost savings in the long run.
- Privacy and security: Does the alternative have a good track record of keeping data private and secure? What does their privacy policy say? Does it prevent phishing and other cybersecurity issues?
- Customer support: 24/7 support can spell the difference between seamless operations and waiting 3-4 days for a response. Does the alternative offer various formats, i.e., chat, email, toll-free lines, and how-to guides?
1. Clean Email
Clean Email is an email management app for easier inbox organization, available on the web and mobile platforms. While it offers core features of an email client, such as sending and replying to emails, it is not a traditional email client. We placed it at the top of the list because it’s an all-in-one solution for sending emails, replying to them, and keeping your inbox clean and organized.
Clean Email is a privacy-first online email cleaning and management service that helps you automatically declutter your inbox, unsubscribe from mailing lists, block unwanted emails, and keep your account clean and organized with minimal effort.
Clean Email’s features empower you to take full control of your email management by offering Cleaning Suggestions tailored to your inbox needs. You can also adjust Sender Settings to your liking—block a sender, mute notifications for incoming messages, and automatically move their messages to the trash after a certain period.
Clean Email is compatible with Gmail, Outlook, AOL, and all other IMAP-based email providers. What’s more, it’s available on virtually any platform, including a web app, as well as apps for Mac, iOS, and Android.
💡 While Clean Email is not a full replacement for the Outlook desktop client, it offers a range of features that effectively complement email management tasks. It also allows you to send, receive, and reply to emails within its platform. So, if finding a traditional email client isn’t essential for you, Clean Email remains a top choice for its robust email management capabilities.
- Comprehensive email management features
- Advanced filtering and sorting options
- Email automation to create complex rules and filters
- Unique features such as Screener, Unsubscriber, Privacy Monitor, Smart Folders, and more
- Intuitive Cleaning Suggestions to simplify email cleanup
- Attachments are not supported. It will not forward attachments either
- ‘Reply All’ feature is not supported
Pricing: Free for cleaning up to 1,000 email messages, 25 unsubscribe actions, and offers a 14-day trial to try all the premium features. Monthly and yearly plans are available.
2. Spark
If you're looking for a modern design and AI-powered features, Spark is a great Outlook alternative.
💡 You can take charge of your inbox with features such as snooze email (read it later), send later, and an AI-powered email assistant.
Spark is massive in building better email habits. It has features for gatekeeping unwanted emails, listing actions and shortcuts to clear the inbox, highlighting priority emails, and muting certain threads. However, some users think the new version of Spark is slow and confusing to use.
Spark is compatible with Windows, Android, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
- Modern design
- Compatible with Windows, Android, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch
- Comprehensive features allow you to control your inbox the way you want it, such as gatekeeping, filters, muting threads, etc.
- GDPR-compliant
- New version of Spark is clunky and hard to use
- The free version offers limited features
Pricing: A free version is available, but paid plans with more advanced features start at $4.99 per month, billed annually.
3. Mailbird
Like Spark and Clean Email, Mailbird boasts a modern, clean, intuitive interface—making it another Microsoft Outlook alternative.
💡 What sets Mailbird apart from the other two is its ability to manage multiple accounts. If you're a freelancer or an account manager handling multiple clients, Mailbird offers you one inbox to check all your emails. You won't have to keep logging in and out of your email accounts.
Plus, layout customizations, ease of use, and overall functionality are some reasons it's a crowd favorite.
If there's one thing Mailbird can improve, it's the quality of customer support. Some users expressed their frustrations about being unable to talk to anyone beyond AI responses.
Also, Reddit users report frustration with Mailbird’s lifetime licenses, saying that even after paying for future updates, they’re now being asked to buy a new license and pay for annual updates with version 3.0. This has led to dissatisfaction with the company’s practices.
- Ability to consolidate multiple email accounts into one inbox
- Layout customizations
- Excellent UI and ease of use
- Overall functionality
- Inaccessible customer support
- The free version is severely limited
- “Lifetime” licenses stop working when the new versions are released
Pricing: Mailbird doesn’t offer a free plan but provides yearly and monthly paid options for personal and business use, starting at $2.28 per user per month when billed annually.
4. Apple Mail
Apple users are most familiar with Apple Mail as it's the default email client for iOS or macOS devices, and it serves as a free Outlook alternative specifically for those on Apple platforms.
And while it's the default for Apple devices, Mail supports other email providers such as Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, and more.
💡 True to Steve Jobs' philosophy of minimalism, Apple Mail offers a simple and intuitive interface. It has basic email management features and integrates seamlessly with other Apple products.
But if you're looking for advanced features to boost your focus and productivity, you'll be better off with the first three Outlook alternatives for Mac and Windows we've covered so far.
- Built-in integration with other Apple products and services
- Clean, crisp, and user-friendly interface
- Supports other email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo
- Limited email management features for enhancing focus and productivity
- Not the most suitable one for team collaboration and other business needs
- Limited storage space
- Only available for Apple users
Pricing: Free for anyone who owns an Apple device.
5. Spike
Spike is the Outlook alternative that heavily relies on AI-powered email management tools to combine traditional email format with instant messaging, notes, meetings, and channels—all in one team space.
Collaboration tools set Spike apart from others on this list. Its features focus heavily on team communication, enhancing team productivity, and breaking down communication silos so everyone is literally on the same page.
💡 Spike can also translate into ten different languages and has a calendar to turn emails into actionable to-do's easily.
With its functionalities, we can say that Spike is perfect for teams across geographic locations.
- AI-powered tools to enhance team collaboration and communication
- Translates into ten different languages
- Calendar that transforms emails into to-do list
- More suited for teams; perhaps not for you if you're only looking to manage your own email
- Offers fewer formatting options than traditional email providers
- Some users report issues with slow syncing and occasional glitches
Pricing: Free available for up to 3 members; paid plans start at $4 per member/month, billed annually.
6. eM Client
eM Client is a Windows-based email client with a simple and clean interface.
It offers advanced features such as snoozing emails, message encryption, and scheduled emails, making it one of the great Outlook alternatives for Windows.
💡 Similar to Spike, eM Client also offers message translation.
Like other options in this list, eM Client offers a unified inbox. But it has a tabbed sidebar that presents various customization tools and themes, views, notes, and to-do's—all for boosting productivity and owning your workflow.
eM Client is compatible with MacOS, Windows, iOS (in beta), and Android (in beta).
- Robust features that allow you to customize your workflow
- Easy set up
- Compatibility with various devices
- Free plan has limited features
Pricing: While it has a free plan, the features included are limited. Offers Personal and Business paid subscription plans.
7. Canary Mail
Of all the best Outlook alternatives on this list, Canary Mail's the one that heavily uses machine learning and AI. They even tag themselves as "your AI email copilot."
While Canary Mail offers pretty much the same tools and functionalities as everything else on this list, its main advantage is the app's AI tool.
💡 Canary Mail learns your writing style, which applies the next time it drafts your response. It also works like ChatGPT in that you can give prompts and instructions when you ask it to respond on your behalf. Then, you can edit within the app as you see fit.
It doesn't end with AI writing. You can also tap into machine learning within the app to help you search and prioritize messages. Perfect when you often find yourself spending too much time looking for that one email from five years ago.
On the data security side, it has end-to-end encryption that provides an added layer of security.
However, users' main complaint is glitches, especially around notifications and toggling across views. It also seems to be doing most in-app and there's an obvious lack of third-party integrations.
Canary Mail is compatible with other IMAP-based email service such as Gmail, Yahoo, Office 365, iCloud, and FastMail.
- Powerful machine learning and AI tools to help you draft messages and search messages
- End-to-end encryption
- Glitches
- Limited third-party integration
Pricing: Free plan with limited features. Premium starts at $20 per user per year.
Wrap-up
The quest for the best Outlook alternative depends on your needs and those of your team.
Do you need features for personal inbox management or team collaboration? Are you looking for AI and machine learning tools, or would you rather keep it minimalistic and simple?
No matter your needs, you’ll likely prefer an eternally clean inbox. Clean Email's email management features cater to individuals and teams and the app is compatible with most email service providers.
With features like Cleaning Suggestions, Screener, Unsubscriber, and Auto Clean, decluttering your inbox has never been easier. Start your journey to clean inbox for FREE with Clean Email.
