Inbox Zero

An AI email assistant that cleans up your inbox.

Editorially reviewedChecked Oct 2026How we review·5 visited this week

email#practical-oss#open-source#self-hosted#email

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Free plan API Self-hosted

Toolglade’s take

A practical, transparent take on AI email triage, with the bulk unsubscriber and plain-English rules being the features most people will feel immediately. It is best for heavy Gmail or Outlook users comfortable granting email access and, if self-hosting, wiring up OAuth and an AI key; those wanting zero setup can use the paid hosted version, and the privacy-cautious should weigh giving any assistant broad inbox access.

Should you use Inbox Zero?

Biggest strength: Works with both Gmail and Outlook
Biggest weakness: AI features require your own LLM provider key, which has ongoing usage costs
Pricing: Free plan
Top alternative: Mailmodo · see all

Facts & pricing last checked October 2026. How we review

About Inbox Zero

Inbox Zero is an open-source AI assistant for Gmail and Outlook that organizes your inbox, drafts replies, bulk-unsubscribes, and blocks cold emails. You can self-host it to keep your email data private.

Inbox Zero is an open-source AI email assistant that helps you spend less time in your inbox. It connects to Gmail or Outlook and can organize incoming mail, pre-draft replies in your own tone, and categorize messages using rules you describe in plain English. Standout features include a bulk unsubscriber and archiver for cleaning out mail you never read, a "Reply Zero" view that tracks what needs a response and what you are waiting on, a cold-email blocker, email analytics, and integrations to manage your inbox from Slack or Telegram. It positions itself as an open alternative to tools like Fyxer. It is AGPL-3.0 licensed. You can use the maintainers' hosted version at getinboxzero.com, or self-host it with Docker via their CLI or a manual setup, which requires Postgres, Redis, and your own OAuth app and AI provider keys. It is aimed at busy professionals, founders, and anyone drowning in email who wants automation they can inspect or run themselves.

Weighing your options?See how Inbox Zero compares to the alternatives.

Pros & cons

Pros

Works with both Gmail and Outlook
Plain-English rules let you describe how the AI should handle your inbox
Bulk unsubscriber and archiver quickly clean out unwanted mail
Reply Zero tracks emails needing a response and ones awaiting replies
Open source with both a hosted option and full self-hosting

Cons

AI features require your own LLM provider key, which has ongoing usage costs
Self-hosting needs Docker, Postgres, Redis, and setting up your own Google/Microsoft OAuth app
Granting an assistant broad inbox access is a meaningful privacy and trust decision
AGPL-3.0 license may constrain some commercial or embedded reuse