SaneBox alternative that sorts mail and drafts replies in Gmail and Outlook
InboxManager is a SaneBox alternative for people who want more than filtering. Like SaneBox, it sorts new mail inside your own mailbox, so nothing changes about the app you read email in. Unlike SaneBox, every plan also writes reply drafts in your voice, summarizes long threads and lets an assistant work in your inbox. SaneBox puts AI reply drafts only on its top Dinner plan, 319 USD a year per person. InboxManager starts at 24 USD a month billed yearly for an owner and an assistant.
Paste an email and watch it get sorted
- Nothing is sent without your OK
- Your mail is never used to train AI models
- Works inside Gmail and Outlook, no new email app
Your email, sorted
Your email, sorted
Category
Summary
Action items
- Due
- Suggested follow-up
- Sample inbox, fictional senders
-
Hi Priya, thank you for letting us know, and sorry about the mix-up with your Field Jacket.
Draft generated by InboxManager demo
Create your account to read the full draft, edit it and copy it into your mailbox.
Create accountWrite a reply draft
Priya Raman
Refund for order 48213, wrong size delivered
Summary
- Priya Raman received size L instead of the Field Jacket in size M from order 48213.
- She wants a full refund of 189 USD to her original card, not an exchange.
- The jacket is unworn with tags, and she needs an answer by Friday.
Sort your real inbox with InboxManager
Connect Gmail or Outlook and every new email gets a lane, a summary and a draft waiting for your OK.
USDper month
A sorted inbox at a glance
Every new email lands in one of five lanes, with a one-line reason next to it.
| Sender | Subject | Lane | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Holt | Following up on the Q3 update | Important | Investor asks for numbers before Thursday's partner meeting |
| Priya Raman | Refund for order 48213 | Needs reply | Customer wants a return label and refund date by Friday |
| Brightline Supply | Invoice INV-20931 due October 24 | Needs reply | Vendor invoice due in five days, payment not yet confirmed |
| Elena Cruz | Re: Contract redlines | Waiting | You sent redlines Monday and she promised comments this week |
| Sam Whitaker | Re: Podcast guest slot | Waiting | Producer is checking dates and will confirm |
| Product Weekly | This week in SaaS pricing | Newsletters | Subscribed digest, nothing to act on |
| Team Calendar | Weekly planning moved to 10 am | Important | Internal schedule change that affects tomorrow |
| Growth Leads Co | 50 qualified leads a week, guaranteed | Spam and cold pitches | Unsolicited lead generation pitch, no draft written |
InboxManager and SaneBox side by side
Both tools work on the mailbox itself, not in a new email client. The difference is what happens after the sorting. SaneBox figures come from the SaneBox pricing page in October 2026, InboxManager figures from our own pricing page.
| What you compare | InboxManager | SaneBox |
|---|---|---|
| Where you read mail | Your own Gmail or Outlook, web, desktop and phone | Your own email app, any client |
| Accounts it works with | Gmail, Google Workspace, Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 | Almost any IMAP or Exchange account, including iCloud, Yahoo and Fastmail |
| How you pay | Per workspace, Starter 24 USD a month billed yearly | Per person by number of email accounts, Snack 65 USD, Lunch 109 USD, Dinner 319 USD a year |
| Monthly billing | Starter 49 USD, Plus 149 USD for up to 5 people | Snack 9.49 USD, Lunch 15.99 USD, Dinner 42.99 USD |
| How mail gets sorted | Five lanes: Important, Needs reply, Waiting, Newsletters, Spam and cold pitches | Folders such as SaneLater, SaneNews and SaneBlackHole, learned from your habits |
| Rules you write yourself | Plain English, such as "invoices from our accountant go to Important" | Train by moving mail between folders, plus custom folders |
| AI reply drafts | Every plan, written in your voice from past sent mail | Reply Draft on the Dinner plan only |
| Thread summaries | Every plan | SaneSummary on the Dinner plan only |
| Follow-up reminders | Waiting lane with a nudge draft ready | SaneReminders and No Replies tracking |
| Assistant working in your mailbox | Included on Starter, with approval of sensitive replies | Not a core feature |
| Shared inboxes for info@ or support@ | From Plus, with assignment and collision detection | Not included |
| Sends email by itself | Never, every draft waits for you | No |
What you pay for AI drafts on each tool
SaneBox prices its plans by how many email accounts one person connects: Snack covers one, Lunch two and Dinner four. Reply drafts and summaries sit only in Dinner, so anyone who switches to SaneBox for AI help ends up on the top plan. Here are list prices for people who want drafts, billed yearly.
- 01 One person on SaneBox Dinner, 319 USD a year, comes to about 26.58 USD a month
- 02 One person and an assistant on SaneBox Dinner, two plans, come to about 53.17 USD a month
- 03 Five people on SaneBox Dinner come to about 132.92 USD a month
- 04 InboxManager Starter, owner plus an assistant and two mailboxes, 24 USD a month in total
- 05 InboxManager Plus, up to five people and ten mailboxes, 74 USD a month in total
If all you want is filtering, the math flips. SaneBox Snack at 65 USD a year, about 5.42 USD a month, is cheaper than any InboxManager plan, and we would rather tell you that now than after you switch. InboxManager costs more because it does more of the work: it writes the reply, not just moves the email.
When SaneBox is the better choice
SaneBox has filtered email for years and does it well. For some people it is still the right buy.
- 01 You only want less clutter in the inbox and never want AI to write anything
- 02 Your mail lives on iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail or another IMAP host that is not Gmail or Microsoft
- 03 You want the lowest monthly price for one account and filtering alone
- 04 You like features such as SaneBlackHole for one-click unsubscribing and snooze folders such as SaneTomorrow
If your problem is the replies, not the clutter, InboxManager is the better fit. That is usually the case for founders, executives with an assistant and small teams who answer clients all day.
What you get beyond filtering
SaneBox decides which emails deserve your attention. InboxManager also handles a large part of the work those emails create.
- 01 Five lanes for every new message, so Important and Needs reply stay in front of you and the rest waits
- 02 AI reply drafts in your voice, ready in the thread before you open it
- 03 Thread summaries that turn a forty message chain into a few lines
- 04 Follow-up reminders for threads that went quiet, with the nudge already written
- 05 Assistant delegation so an executive assistant drafts and files while you approve what matters
- 06 A daily briefing email with what needs a reply and who owes you an answer
A SaneBox alternative for Outlook and Microsoft 365
SaneBox works with Microsoft 365 through folders it creates in your mailbox. InboxManager connects through Microsoft Graph with Microsoft sign-in and also works in folders and color categories, so Outlook on the web, on Windows and Mac and on your phone all show the same result. Important and Needs reply stay in the Inbox with a category, newsletters and cold pitches move to their own folders and drafts land in Drafts. Focused Inbox and your existing rules keep working. If your tenant requires admin consent, IT approves InboxManager once in Microsoft Entra. More on the Outlook AI assistant page.
A SaneBox alternative for Gmail and Google Workspace
In Gmail, InboxManager uses labels instead of folders and puts each draft in the thread where you would start typing. You keep Gmail search, filters, add-ons and the mobile app. Details are on the Gmail AI assistant page.
How to switch from SaneBox to InboxManager
Your mail never left your mailbox, so switching takes a few minutes and nothing is lost.
- 01 Paste a real email into the demo at the top of this page to see the lane, the summary and the draft InboxManager produces
- 02 Create your InboxManager account and connect Gmail or Outlook with Google or Microsoft sign-in
- 03 Write two or three rules in plain English for the senders SaneBox used to catch, such as "receipts and shipping updates go to Newsletters"
- 04 Move anything you still need out of the SaneLater and SaneNews folders, then delete those folders
- 05 Cancel SaneBox in its account settings and remove its access in your Google Account or Microsoft account security page
What is the best alternative to SaneBox?
The best alternative depends on what you miss in SaneBox. If you want AI to draft replies and summarize threads inside Gmail or Outlook, InboxManager or Fyxer AI fit. If you want a new email app built around speed, Superhuman or Shortwave. If you only want unsubscribing, a dedicated unsubscribe tool is enough.
Is SaneBox worth paying for?
SaneBox is worth paying for if filtering is your main problem, because Snack costs about 5.42 USD a month billed yearly and keeps clutter out of the inbox reliably. It is less worth it if you want AI help with replies, since drafts and summaries need the Dinner plan at 319 USD a year per person.
Does SaneBox write replies with AI?
Yes, but only on its top plan. SaneBox lists Reply Draft and SaneSummary as features of the Dinner plan, which costs 42.99 USD a month or 319 USD a year. Snack and Lunch sort and filter mail but do not draft replies. InboxManager drafts replies on every plan, starting at 24 USD a month billed yearly.
How much does SaneBox cost?
SaneBox costs 9.49 USD a month for Snack, 15.99 USD for Lunch and 42.99 USD for Dinner, or 65 USD, 109 USD and 319 USD a year. Snack covers one email account, Lunch two and Dinner four. Prices come from the SaneBox pricing page in October 2026.
Can I use InboxManager and SaneBox at the same time?
You can, but two tools moving the same mail into different folders will fight each other. Run them side by side for a few days on one mailbox, compare the result and then keep one. If drafts are the reason you are testing, keep InboxManager and cancel SaneBox.
Try the SaneBox alternative on your own email
Paste a message into the demo above to see its lane, a short summary and a reply draft, then connect Gmail or Outlook in a couple of minutes. To compare more tools, read the best AI email assistant roundup, the Fyxer alternative page or the Superhuman alternative page.