NoMail vs Superhuman
Superhuman made keyboard-first email mainstream: fast triage, a command palette, and AI that drafts and summarizes for you, sold as a subscription for professionals and teams. NoMail keeps the keyboard-first part and changes the rest — it is free, it runs entirely on your Mac, and its AI runs there too.
At a glance
| NoMail | Superhuman | |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts | Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud, Fastmail, any IMAP or JMAP | Gmail and Outlook |
| Platforms | Mac (macOS 12+) | Mac, Windows, web, iPhone and Android |
| Price | Free | Per-seat subscription; no free plan for Mail (pricing) |
| Where mail lives | On your Mac; no NoMail servers | With your provider; with Ask AI on, also stored with Superhuman’s cloud vendor |
| AI | On-device model on Apple Silicon; optional external provider with your own key | Cloud AI built in (runs on OpenAI’s API) |
Where NoMail is different
- Local-first. Your mail sits in a database on your Mac and goes only between your Mac and your provider. Search is instant and works offline.
- AI that stays on your Mac. Auto-labels and thread summaries run on a bundled local model on Apple Silicon. External AI is opt-in, with your own API key.
- Any provider. Besides Gmail and Outlook.com: iCloud, Fastmail and other JMAP servers, and generic IMAP.
- Views instead of folders. Saved queries that filter, group and sort, pinned as sections of a split inbox.
- Free. No subscription, no seats.
Where Superhuman is the better choice
- You need it everywhere. Superhuman runs on Mac, Windows, the web, iPhone and Android with the same workflow; NoMail is Mac-only.
- You want the most capable AI drafting. Superhuman’s cloud AI writes and rewrites replies and answers questions about your inbox. NoMail’s on-device model is smaller by design and focuses on labeling and summaries.
- You buy for a team. Superhuman sells business and enterprise plans; NoMail is a single-user app with no team features.
- You’re on Gmail and want sign-in to just work today. See the Gmail note below.
A note on Gmail
NoMail’s Google verification is still in progress. Until it completes, Google lets only accounts on NoMail’s tester list sign in to Gmail with the built-in setup — anyone else needs to create their own Google Cloud OAuth client, which NoMail’s onboarding walks through. Outlook.com, iCloud, Fastmail and other IMAP or JMAP accounts are not affected.
Questions
- Is NoMail as keyboard-driven as Superhuman?
- Keyboard-first is the core of both. NoMail has single-key actions for triage, a ⌘K command menu for everything else, and lets you rebind any shortcut.
- Does my mail go through NoMail’s servers?
- No. NoMail has no backend: it talks to your provider directly and keeps mail in a local database on your Mac.
- Does NoMail have an iPhone or Windows app?
- No — NoMail is Mac-only. If you need the same client on your phone or on Windows, Superhuman covers those.
What this page says about Superhuman was last checked in November 2026. Pricing and features change — if something here is out of date, tell us at hello@nomailapp.com.
Try NoMail
Free, for macOS 12 or later. It runs alongside whatever you use today.