We Tested the 10 Best Microsoft Outlook Alternatives in 2025

Endless email chains, overflowing inboxes, and calendar clutter—it’s enough to make anyone long for carrier pigeons. However, getting a robust email management tool is a more practical option.

An email management system can declutter and organize the constant influx of emails in your inbox. You’ve probably been using Microsoft Outlook for this.

While it’s a popular choice for many, especially Microsoft Office users, it has limitations. Outlook users find its interface challenging and sometimes lags and crashes, causing productivity disruptions. Additionally, its search function often falls short.

I know you’re on the hunt for other options for business communication. So, I did the hard part and created the perfect list your needs.

Explore our top 10 alternatives to Outlook. From features to pricing to reviews, I’ve covered it all so you can choose a mail client that simplifies your email management.

We Tested the 10 Best Microsoft Outlook Alternatives & Competitors in 2025

⏰ 60-Second Summary

Here are the top 10 Microsoft Outlook Alternatives

ClickUp – Best for email management
Thunderbird – Best open-source email tool for multiple email accounts
BlueMail – Best Outlook Alternative for cross-platform email
Mailspring – Best for IMAP & Office 365 users
Helpwise – Best for customer communication
Mailbird – Best for freelancers
Shift – Best desktop app
Proton Mail – Best for security and privacy
Gmail – Best for Google Workspace users
Front – Best shared inbox

Try ClickUp for Free!

What Should You Look for in Microsoft Outlook Alternatives?

Curious about what to look for in an email management system? Here are some top features to consider before choosing the right email provider:

Unified inboxes: The tool should combine emails from all your accounts and categorize them efficiently
Saved replies: It should let you create canned responses for emails that save time and speed up customer responses. They help maintain a unified message during events like outages and new product releases
Automated workflows: A tool that automatically organizes tasks instead of manually tagging emails or assigning conversations makes teams more efficient
Customer profiles: The tool should let you access relevant data about email senders for prompt assistance
Integrations: Software that offers integrations with more apps helps you collaborate on tasks with multiple team members
AI tools: Email management tools that help in spelling, grammar, translation, and even drafting initial responses ease your workload. Features like a smart inbox or a split inbox are great add-ons
Security: Protecting sensitive information from phishing attacks and other threats is crucial in an alternative to Microsoft Outlook
Task management: The tool should create, track, and manage tasks with a built-in task manager
Calendar management: It should schedule appointments, set reminders, and help you view your schedule easily

The 10 Best Microsoft Outlook Alternatives to Use in 2024

Here’s our curated list of the top 10 alternatives to Microsoft Outlook that you can use to manage your email communication.

1. ClickUp – Best for email management

Grow customer relationships with ClickUp by integrating your emails, building a customer database, and automating workflows

Trusted by teams worldwide, ClickUp Emails is a single-platform email application that allows you to send and receive emails without leaving ClickUp’s collaborative workspace.

Attach files and to-do lists, link emails to tasks, and structure your conversations.

Boost your productivity by automating your emails and tasks through custom triggers based on fields, form submissions, or task events. Generate action items from customer emails, tickets, bugs, and more, saving everyone time and effort.

ClickUp isn’t just an inbox; it’s a comprehensive email management tool. It can integrate with major email clients like Gmail, Office 365, and IMAP and comes with 15+ customizable views to track and organize all your messages.

Opt for a more organized email workflow with ClickUp's Email Marketing Template — Opt for a more organized email workflow with ClickUp’s Email Marketing Template

If you’re more comfortable with templates, consider using ClickUp’s Email Marketing Template for quicker responses and improved consistency. You can rely on this template to schedule messages, automate emails, and track progress.

Build and plan successful email campaigns with ClickUp’s Email Campaign Template

And, if you’re looking to build an email campaign, ClickUp’s Email Campaign Template does most of the job for you. It’s specially made to help you plan and create successful campaigns, see how well your emails are doing, and improve them for maximum impact.

This template helps you save time by giving you a readymade design for your email campaign. Simply add and update the content, and you’re good to go.

And, if you’d rather not spend time drafting and typing email content, let ClickUp AI do the heavy lifting and create emails and responses for you. Automate your email creation and generate summaries, outlines, email threads, and other content in seconds.

ClickUp AI will also help you with email marketing ideas for your next campaign.

ClickUp best features

Use 15+ customizable views (including the Table View in ClickUp) to track and organize your work
Assign tasks to multiple team members directly from emails and manage customer interactions better
Save time with email templates and predefined responses
Quickly generate summaries, meeting notes, and other content using ClickUp AI
Integrate ClickUp with your preferred email apps, such as Gmail, IMAP, and Office 365

ClickUp limitations

New users may need initial assistance to navigate the platform properly
Users may experience occasional technical delays with a few features

ClickUp pricing

free forever

Best for individual users

Free Free

Key Features:

60MB Storage

Unlimited Tasks

Unlimited Free Plan Members

unlimited

Best for small teams

$7 $10

per user per month

Everything in Free +

Unlimited Storage

Unlimited Folders and Spaces

Unlimited Integrations

ClickUp ratings and reviews

G2: 4.7/5 (9,200+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.7/5 (4000+ reviews)

2. Thunderbird – Best open-source email tool for multiple email accounts

Thunderbird is a free mail client and a popular alternative to Outlook. Made by the Mozilla Foundation, it’s an open-source email client with a user-friendly interface. It helps manage emails with features like filtering and labeling, support for multiple accounts, and a built-in calendar.

Thunderbird focuses on security with key features like encryption and anti-phishing tools. You can also customize it with add-ons for more functions.

It’s easy to use and works with popular email clients like Gmail and Yahoo, making it useful for personal and business needs.

Thunderbird best features

Integrate productivity tools such as a calendar, task management, and chat within the email
Easily switch between tabs for efficient email management
Locate the exact email you’re looking for using powerful filtering and timeline tools
Save time by creating and using email templates
Get automatic updates for different platforms in 40+ languages

Thunderbird limitations

Restrictive to users accustomed to cloud-based email systems
Lacks integration with popular communication tools like Slack
Time-consuming and slow down PC performance

Thunderbird pricing

Free

Thunderbird ratings and reviews

G2: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)

3. BlueMail – Best Outlook Alternative for cross-platform email

BlueMail is another one of the Outlook Alternatives cross-platform email client and calendar app that can manage unlimited mail accounts by combining them into unified folders.

It’s armed with a ChatGPT-powered AI, clusters for grouping emails, and an integrated calendar to maintain a clutter-free mailbox and foster productivity.

Meanwhile, its syncing feature enables easy backup, restoration, and secure transfer of accounts and settings between new and old devices.

BlueMail best features

Aggregate emails from multiple accounts into an easy-to-manage unified inbox
Organize emails by sender, creating a people-centric view for better tracking
Schedule events directly on the email calendar
Prioritize emails with the Later Board and improve task management

BlueMail limitations

Sometimes emails get stuck in the outbox and fail to be sent
Lacks email tracking and read receipts

BlueMail pricing

Standard: Free
BlueMail Plus: $5/month per user
Business Pro: $12/month per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing

BlueMail ratings and reviews

G2: 4.3/45 (40+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.4/5 (20+ reviews)

4. Mailspring – Best for IMAP & Office 365 users

If you’re looking for another one of the fast and efficient Outlook alternatives that puts all your IMAP and Office 365 accounts in one place, Mailspring would be ideal. It adds useful features like shortcuts, link tracking, and read receipts, even if your account lacks built-in support.

Distinct from other alternatives for Microsoft Outlook, Mailspring prioritizes unifying emails. It introduces tools to organize your inbox, including quick reply templates and detailed contact profiles based on communication history.

Mailspring also provides insights into your email activity through its Activity tab, breaking down received emails and showing peak times and click/open rates for tracked messages.

Mailspring best features

Manage multiple email accounts and their inboxes easily in a single location
Use Mailspring’s robust search function to find what you need quickly
Boost your communication with auto-detecting spell check, localization for over 60 languages, and automated translation
Track when your messages are read for timely follow-ups

Mailspring limitations

Frequent syncing issues lead to delays, especially when trashing emails
Limited integration to email-related apps

Mailspring pricing

Free
Pro: $8/month

Mailspring ratings and reviews

G2: Not enough reviews
Capterra: Not enough reviews

5. Helpwise – Best for customer communication

As a user-friendly customer communication platform, Helpwise centralizes customer inquiries in one place using a universal inbox. Its automation and collaboration features will improve the way you handle customer communications.

This email management platform helps the support, sales, and customer service teams work together on shared emails, making tackling conversations smoother and more efficient.

As a robust outlook alternative, it offers extra features like a self-serve help center to reduce incoming questions, chatbots for quick support, and saved replies for handling repetitive questions.

Helpwise best features

Send emails at your preferred time through flexible scheduling
Efficiently handle live chat alongside other queries in one collaborative hub
Automatically assign conversations to your team using smart assign
Get regular software updates for ongoing upgrades

Helpwise limitations

Primarily designed for customer service, it might not be suitable for other purposes
Some users have reported issues with the search function

Helpwise pricing

Standard: $15/month per user
Premium: $29/month per user
Advanced: $49/month per user

Helpwise ratings and reviews

G2: 4.5/5 (155+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.7/5 (20+ reviews)

6. Mailbird – Best for freelancers

Mailbird is a Windows-based email client that helps manage multiple email accounts and mobile apps, all in one place.

With Mailbird, you can create a workspace by combining various other email providers’ accounts like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Office 365. Plus, it includes social media and productivity apps. This makes it the ideal Outlook alternative for freelancers or small business owners who handle multiple work accounts or communication channels.

Mailbird also introduces AI-powered email writing using ChatGPT to add speed and accuracy to creating outbound messages.

Mailbird best features

Personalize Mailbird’s appearance, feel, and organization to match your preferences
Locate emails, attachments, and contacts with the search function easily
Track when recipients open your emails
Connect your emails with popular services like Google Calendar and Dropbox

Mailbird limitations

Users have reported the latest version to be buggy and expensive
Resource-intensive CPU usage can lead to random crashes

Mailbird pricing

Basic version: Free to use
Personal: $49.50 per user (billed one-time)
Business: $99.75 per user (billed one-time)
Personal: $2.28/month per user (billed annually)
Business: $4.03/month per user (billed annually)

Mailbird ratings and reviews

G2: 3.8/5 (80+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.4/5 (370+ reviews)

7. Shift – Best desktop app

Unlike other contenders, Shift is a desktop Outlook alternative that organizes your important tabs, apps, and bookmarks in one central location, improving team collaboration.

Shift’s email features are why it has scored a place on our list. It combines all your emails and connects various accounts like Gmail, Outlook, and Office 365. It also works with iCloud and Yahoo Mail. You can easily access your Mail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive accounts with a single click.

You can also set up notifications for each inbox the way you like, and Shift keeps everything in sync across different devices so that you can continue your work smoothly.

Shift best features

Customize your notification settings for each inbox as you wish
Organize all your tabs, apps, and bookmarks in one workspace
Use the search function to find things across your email, calendar, and drive accounts
Toggle easily between multiple apps without having to log in or out repeatedly

Shift limitations

Users have reported bugs and performance issues
Excessive memory usage that slows down the CPU

Shift pricing

Basic: Free
Advanced: $149/year
Teams: $149/year per user

Shift ratings and reviews

G2: 3.6/5 (60+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)

8. Proton Mail – Best for security and privacy

Proton Mail is a top Outlook alternative for businesses who value security and privacy in email communications. It’s a highly secure, Swiss-based email service with end-to-end encryption and open-source technology, granting you more control over your data.

The service emphasizes security and user-friendliness, featuring easy navigation and extras like custom domains, VPN services, and calendars. Committed to user privacy, it strictly follows a no-logging policy and complies with robust Swiss privacy laws.

Accessible on various platforms, you can use Proton Mail from any device.

Proton Mail’s best features

Use end-to-end encryption and VPN to keep your emails private
Customize and automate your inbox according to your preferences
Stay protected from phishing attacks and mass surveillance
Block companies from monitoring email activities with invisible trackers
Unsubscribe from newsletters with a single click
Schedule events with Proton’s integrated calendar

Proton Mail limitations

No SMTP/IMAP servers for custom domains
No automatic filtering of promotional emails into a separate tab

Proton Mail pricing (for businesses)

Mail Essentials: $6.99/month per user
Business: $10.99/month per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing

Proton Mail ratings and reviews

G2: 4.4/5 (100+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.6/5 (100+ reviews)

9. Gmail – Best for Google Workspace users

Gmail, Google’s email management system, is a widely adopted and secure solution known for its reliability and user-friendly design. You can use Gmail alone or as part of Google Workspace, which offers extra business features.

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is a cloud-based platform that securely stores data on Google’s servers, accessible from any device with an internet connection.

Its Business Starter plan guarantees a 99.9% uptime and has advanced features like Smart Reply and Smart Compose to improve email interactions.

Integrated with tools like Google Drive, Google Calendar, and Google Docs, Gmail’s popularity arises from its free access and useful features like labeling, spam filters, contact management, file sharing, and real-time communication through chat.

Gmail best features

Host your company emails without learning a new system
Organize your emails strategically through Gmail’s conversation grouping
Optimize focus as Gmail automatically highlights important messages
Access company emails effortlessly in the Gmail app, which is ideal for Google ecosystem users
Experience 2x storage, no ads, support access, and unlimited group emails as part of paid plans

Gmail limitations

Filtering tools can wrongly classify important messages as Spam and automatically move such messages to the Spam folder
Syncing emails with third-party tools can be difficult

Gmail pricing

Business Starter: $6/month per user
Business Standard: $12/month per user
Business Plus: $18/month per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing

Gmail ratings and reviews

G2: 4.6/5 (as a part of Google Workspace, 42,000+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.8/5 (11,700+ reviews)

10. Front – Best shared inbox

Front reimagines email management by blending the effectiveness of a help desk with the familiar nature of email. It uses automated workflows and real-time collaboration to prevent churn, enhance retention, and fuel customer growth.

Front brings shared inboxes and different communication channels together in a single interface. The main goal is to gather incoming messages, including phone calls, emails from multiple email accounts, social media, and text messages.

You can also tag specific members, efficiently route messages, and track responses and conversations for improved customer service and communication.

Front best features

Connect with popular apps such as Slack via 50+ integrations
Save time by automating repetitive tasks and creating custom workflows
Centralize communication channels and enable real-time task collaboration
Track key metrics and measure performance through Front’s insights

Front limitations

Slow app performance with a high volume of conversations
The Starter plan lacks integrations critical for most businesses, like CRM or project management platforms

Front pricing

Starter: $19/seat/month (billed annually including 2 to 10 seats)
Growth: $59/seat/month (billed annually with a minimum of 2 seats)
Scale: $99/seat/month (billed annually with a minimum of 20 seats)
Premier: $229/seat/month (billed annually with a minimum of 50 seats)
Add-ons: Available for all plans at extra charges

Front ratings and reviews

G2: 4.7/5 (1,900+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (250+ reviews)

Transform Your Email Experience with Outlook Alternatives

Emails are essential for productive business interactions. But with a few thousand unread emails in our inboxes every day, finding an email management system that gives us confidence and not anxiety is necessary.

And nobody fits the bill better than ClickUp—the one-stop app that can manage everything from emails to projects to tasks, all within the same workspace.

With its intuitive design and comprehensive suite of tools, ClickUp can keep up with all kinds of businesses without breaking a sweat.

Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.

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