5 Best HEY Email Alternatives in 2026
HEY (hey.com) is 37signals’ opinionated email service — the Screener filters first-time senders, the Imbox houses approved mail, the Paper Trail sorts receipts, and the Feed turns newsletters into a browsable view. Over 150,000 subscribers. The friction: HEY forces you onto its email address and interface (giving up your existing inbox), AI features are minimal next to 2026’s autonomous tools, and $99/year looks expensive against free Gmail with AI bolted on. Here are five alternatives.
1. Carly
Carly is an AI agent platform you reach over email, text, or WhatsApp. It works with your existing Gmail or Outlook — no new email address, no new client. Forward a thread to Carly and it handles the work behind the email: scheduling, CRM updates, file uploads, lead enrichment, follow-ups, all across 200+ integrations.
What makes it different from HEY: HEY redesigns the email experience. Carly takes action on email work without making you switch clients. HEY wants you to live in HEY; Carly wants you to spend less time in any inbox.
Best for: People who want AI that does the work behind email without changing email clients.
Pricing: $35/month
2. Shortwave
AI-native Gmail client with natural-language search across your full email history, Ghostwriter that learns your tone, and Tasklet automations connecting email to Slack, Notion, Asana, and Drive.
What makes it different from HEY: Shortwave keeps your Gmail address but rebuilds the interface with AI at the core. HEY is opinionated about the inbox structure (Imbox, Feed, Paper Trail); Shortwave is AI-first with traditional folders.
Best for: Gmail users who want a smarter, AI-native client without abandoning Gmail.
Pricing: Free tier; paid from $8/month
3. Notion Mail
Notion’s AI email client — auto-labels incoming messages, drafts replies, schedules meetings, and lets you build custom views grouped by topic, sender, or label. Free.
What makes it different from HEY: Both are opinionated about inbox structure. HEY’s metaphors are Screener/Imbox/Paper Trail; Notion Mail’s are custom views and labels tied to your Notion workspace. Notion Mail is free.
Best for: Notion users who want their email tied to their workspace at no cost.
Pricing: Free
4. Superhuman
Premium email client with AI drafting, follow-up detection, summarization, and the fastest keyboard-driven inbox available. Now AI-heavy after their 2025 features push.
What makes it different from HEY: Superhuman doubles down on speed and AI; HEY doubles down on inbox structure. Superhuman keeps your Gmail/Outlook address; HEY gives you a hey.com one.
Best for: Power email users who care about speed over inbox philosophy.
Pricing: $30/month
5. SaneBox
Server-level email triage that works with any client — Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Fastmail. No app to install; SaneBox sorts unimportant messages into separate folders before they reach you.
What makes it different from HEY: SaneBox preserves your existing email and just adds a triage layer. HEY replaces everything. Lower commitment, lower price, works with whatever client you’re already using.
Best for: People who want HEY’s filtering benefit without switching clients.
Pricing: From $7/month
HEY Email Alternatives Compared
| Tool | Keep Your Email Address | AI Features | Opinionated Inbox | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Yes | Yes (agent platform) | No | $35/mo |
| Shortwave | Yes (Gmail) | Yes | Light | Free / $8/mo |
| Notion Mail | Yes (Gmail) | Yes | Yes (Notion-style) | Free |
| Superhuman | Yes | Yes | No | $30/mo |
| SaneBox | Yes | Light (triage) | No | From $7/mo |
FAQ
Why do people leave HEY? Most often: they don’t want to commit to a hey.com address, they miss native Gmail/Outlook features, or they want AI capabilities HEY doesn’t offer at 2026 standards.
What’s the closest HEY alternative that keeps my Gmail address? Shortwave is the closest — it preserves Gmail underneath but rebuilds the experience around AI and bundles. Notion Mail is the free option.
Does HEY have AI features? Light. Compared to Shortwave, alfred_, or Carly, HEY’s AI is minimal — its value is the opinionated structure, not the intelligence.
More: Best AI email tools · Best AI email agents · Shortwave alternatives · Superhuman alternatives · Best AI inbox management tools
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