A Gmail alternative: how mello compares
·
Gmail is free, open to everyone and tied into the rest of your Google account. mello is a smaller mail service, written from scratch, that keeps mail, calendar, contacts and tasks in one quiet place, with an assistant that drafts and reminds but never sends on its own. Here is how the two compare, when Gmail is the better choice, and how to switch if mello suits you.
At a glance
What the table says about Gmail comes from Google’s own help pages, as of October 2026.
| Gmail | mello | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Google’s mail service, part of your Google account | A mail service of its own: mail, calendar, contacts and tasks |
| Free storage | 15 GB, shared with Google Drive and Google Photos | A free plan and paid plans; each plan’s limits are shown when you choose it |
| Other mail apps | IMAP, with “Sign in with Google” | IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV, with your mello password |
| AI | Gemini: Help me write, thread summaries, Suggested Replies; some only on paid plans or in some countries | On by default, and each part can be switched off: follow-ups, reply reminders, suggested to-dos, reply drafts, translation |
| Getting an account | Open to everyone | Invite only for now |
When Gmail is the better choice
- You want an account today, for free. Anyone can open a Gmail account, with 15 GB of storage. mello is invite only for now.
- You live in Google’s apps. Gmail shares one account and one storage quota with Drive, Photos and the rest of Google. If most of your work is in Google Docs and Drive, staying is simpler.
- You want apps from the store. Gmail has its own apps for Android and iPhone. mello has none in the stores: you install the webmail on your phone’s home screen, or add your account to the mail app you already use.
- You want AI that answers questions about your inbox. On Google’s paid AI plans, Gemini can answer questions in Gmail search and sort an AI Inbox. mello’s assistant doesn’t summarize threads or answer questions in the webmail. If you want that, you can connect Claude or ChatGPT to your mello mailbox.
Where mello is different
- One quiet place. Mail, calendar, contacts and tasks in one app, with one search and one set of keyboard shortcuts. The inbox sets newsletters and notifications aside, and a daily digest can gather your newsletters into a single message.
- An assistant that drafts, never sends. It is on from the start, and it can suggest a follow-up when a message you sent gets no reply in 3 days, bring back mail waiting on your answer after 7 days with a reply drafted, suggest to-dos from new mail, write a draft when you type
/aiand what to say, and translate a message. Message text goes to the AI provider (Anthropic or OpenAI) for the features that are on; turning them off under Settings → AI stops it. More in AI for email, without giving it everything. - Private addresses. A random address for each site you sign up to, under Settings → Aliases. Turn one off and mail to it is refused, without anyone getting a bounce. See private addresses.
- Mail that waits. Snooze, send later, undo send and follow-up reminders run on the server, so they happen even with every app closed.
- Standard protocols, with your password. Apple Mail and Thunderbird find the settings on their own, and Settings → Accesses → Download profile sets up mail on an iPhone or Mac in a minute.
- Run from Switzerland, without ads. mello doesn’t sell your data, show ads or read your mail.
What mello doesn’t do yet
- No end-to-end encryption. Every connection uses TLS, and mail between servers is protected with MTA-STS, but messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted.
- No importer. mello doesn’t fetch your old mail from Gmail. You copy it with Thunderbird or Apple Mail, which takes an afternoon.
- No calendar import in the webmail. You import Google’s .ics files through Apple Calendar or Thunderbird once your mello account is set up there.
- No custom domain you can add yourself. Your address is on mello’s domain.
- No app in the App Store or Google Play. The webmail installs on your phone, with notifications, and any mail app works too.
How to switch
How to move from Gmail to mello takes you through it step by step: forward your new mail, copy your old mail with Thunderbird or Apple Mail, then bring your contacts and calendar. Nothing is deleted from Gmail along the way, so you can try mello and keep Gmail as long as you like.
mello is invite only for now: request an invite. If you leave one day, Settings → General → Download all my data gives you your mail as mbox, your calendars as .ics and your contacts as .vcf.