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.
We know you’re on the hunt for other options for business communication. So, we have the perfect list ready for you.
Explore our top 10 alternatives to Outlook in 2024. From features to pricing to reviews, we’ve covered it all so you can choose a mail client that simplifies your email management.
10 Microsoft Outlook Alternatives & Competitors to Try in 2024
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat 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
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 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
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.
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.
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
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing
- ClickUp AI is available for all paid plans for $5 per workspace
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (9,200+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (4000+ reviews)
2. Thunderbird
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
BlueMail is a 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
If you’re looking for a fast and efficient Outlook alternative 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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
Summarize this article for me pleaseTransform Your Email Experience with ClickUp
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.
Sign up with ClickUp today for free and get to Inbox Zero much faster!
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