mello vs HEY
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HEY and mello start from the same idea: email should be calmer, and newsletters and receipts shouldn’t crowd out the people who write to you. They get there differently. HEY is a closed system with its own apps and its own way of working. mello sorts your inbox for you, in its own webmail, and also works in any mail app you like.
At a glance
What the table says about HEY comes from HEY’s own pages, as of October 2026.
| HEY | mello | |
|---|---|---|
| Other mail apps | None: no IMAP or POP | IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV |
| Sorting | The Screener for first-time senders; the Imbox, The Feed and Paper Trail | Inbox tabs for people, newsletters and notifications; a daily newsletter digest |
| Tracking | Blocks email trackers and shows who tried | Remote images blocked until you ask |
| AI | None built in; connect your own agent through the HEY CLI | On by default, and each part can be switched off: follow-ups, reply reminders, suggested to-dos, reply drafts, translation |
| Your old mail | No import from Gmail, Outlook or iCloud | No importer either; you copy it with a mail app |
| Price | $99 a year, with a 30-day free trial (as of October 2026) | A free plan and paid plans; invite only for now |
When HEY is the better choice
- You want to approve every new sender. HEY’s Screener asks you, the first time someone writes, whether they may reach you again. mello lets everyone in and sorts afterwards; you can block a sender from a message’s menu.
- You like a strong, opinionated workflow. Reply Later and Set Aside put messages in piles at the bottom of the screen, and The Feed shows newsletters already open, to scroll through. If that way of working suits you, HEY does it thoroughly.
- You want apps everywhere. HEY has its own apps for web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. mello has none in the stores: you install the webmail, or use any mail app.
- You want your own domain. HEY for Domains lets you send and receive with your own domain name. In mello, you can’t add your own domain yourself yet.
- You want an account today. HEY is open to everyone. mello is invite only for now.
Where mello is different
- Any mail app works. HEY doesn’t support IMAP or POP, so off-the-shelf mail apps can’t open it. mello speaks IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV: use Apple Mail, Thunderbird or your phone’s mail app, and your calendar and contacts come along. See setting up other apps.
- Sorting without the gate. Mail from people, newsletters and notifications land in their own tabs, and a daily digest can gather your newsletters into one message. Nobody has to be screened in. See taming your inbox.
- An assistant that remembers. 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, and suggest to-dos from new mail. Message text goes to the AI provider (Anthropic or OpenAI) for the features that are on; turning them off under Settings → AI stops it.
- Private addresses. A random address for each site you sign up to, under Settings → Aliases, that you turn off on the day it starts getting spam. See private addresses.
- Subscriptions in one list. Every newsletter you get, with a way out of each in one click. See newsletters and subscriptions.
What they have in common
- A calendar built in. HEY has the HEY Calendar; mello has a calendar with invitations, sharing and booking links.
- Your own AI, connected. Both let you connect an assistant you already use. HEY does it through its CLI, which also runs as an MCP server. mello has a hosted MCP server: see connecting ChatGPT and Claude.
- Leaving is easy. HEY exports all your mail as an MBOX file. mello’s Settings → General → Download all my data gives you mail as mbox, calendars as .ics and contacts as .vcf.
- Neither is end-to-end encrypted. HEY says so in its FAQ. mello uses TLS on every connection and MTA-STS between servers, but messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted.
How to switch
Since HEY has no IMAP, you move your mail with its export:
- Export your mail from HEY as an MBOX file.
- In Apple Mail, choose File → Import Mailboxes, then Files in mbox format, and pick the file. In Thunderbird, the ImportExportTools NG add-on does the same.
- Add your mello account to the same app, and drag the imported mail into it.
- Tell the people who write to you about your new address. How to move from Gmail has tips for that part, and for bringing your contacts and calendar.
mello is invite only for now: request an invite.