Simplify your team’s inbox with these top AI management tools

Between personal, professional, and promotional messages hitting our inboxes, email overload has become a real issue — especially for professionals trying to be productive.

Studies have shown that the average professional spends 28% of the workday reading and answering email. And when it comes to managing work email, many email management methods are inadequate. The result? Less productive, frustrated teams.

Enter AI email management software — email tools that leverage the power of AI to both jumpstart and automate time-consuming tasks so professionals can streamline their inbox, prioritize and categorize emails automatically, and improve overall productivity.

In this guide we’ll explore:

• What are AI email management tools?

• Top 5 AI email management tools

• Criteria for evaluating AI email management tools

• Choosing the right AI management tool 

• Steamline inbox management with Front

What are AI email management tools?

An AI email management tool uses artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), to help individuals and teams sort, prioritize, and respond to emails more efficiently.

AI tools have fundamentally transformed the way that people work, and email is no exception. AI email management tools enable teams to:

• Save time by reducing manual, repetitive tasks

• Be more organized, with features like auto-tagging and categorization

• Boost productivity through automated email sorting, prioritization, and message drafting

Historically users have walked a fine line between efficiency and coming across impersonal — until now. With AI advancements, teams are able to be their most efficient without sacrificing high-quality, personalized interactions. For example, AI can propose a draft response that you can edit into your own style.

Front

Used by over 8,500 businesses, Front’s AI-powered omnichannel inbox enables teams of different sizes and industries to work smarter and deliver high-quality customer service at scale. 

Front is not only a leading AI email management tool, but it’s also a complete customer service platform. With features like knowledge base, integrations, and workflow automation, Front brings teams purpose-built tools so they can tackle the next generation of customer support — a generation requiring speedy, personalized service — head on.

Front’s use of AI is strategic. Its impactful features mean teams don’t have to choose between providing top-notch customer experiences and operational efficiency — they can use AI and have both. 

Core Front features:

• New and improved AI chatbots: Front’s customizable chatbots can automatically resolve customer inquiries and gather context needed to fast-track routing and replies. Teams can spend less time handling simple requests, and more time crafting personalized emails for complex inquiries.

• AI Answers: Provide faster responses by using AI Answers. Simply connect Front Chat to your knowledge base for AI to source and suggest an article back to customers.

• AI Compose: AI Compose helps you get your message just right. With the help of AI you can draft email content using the context of the conversation, the appropriate tone, and your preferred language. 

• AI Summarize: Stay up to date without spending the time reading through long email threads. With AI Summarize your team can catch up quicker and get the full details in a single, universal summary that automatically updates every time a new comment or message comes in. 

• Suggested replies (beta): With suggested replies, teams can let AI craft the right response to save time on repetitive inquiries. They can quickly validate the suggested draft with easy access to the article AI used as a source.

• AI tagging [open beta]: Instead of configuring tagging rules for dozens of keywords, or requiring frontline teams to manually add tags, Front’s AI tagging does the categorization for you based on the content in the conversation.

• Similar conversations [open beta]: Front’s similar conversations feature automatically finds conversations related to the one you’re currently working on, so team members can quickly learn from previous solutions to resolve the current inquiry.

• Cost-effective: Front is more than just an AI email assistant — it has features built specifically for customer service teams for the same price or less than most inbox-only tools. And when it comes to AI Answers usage, you only pay per resolution. If AI can’t solve it, you won’t be charged. 

Front G2 rating: 4.7 / 5 

Pricing:

• Starter: $19/seat/mo

• Growth: $59/seat/mo

• Scale: $99/seat/mo

• Premier: $229/seat/mo

Read more about how Front compares with other email providers.

Intercom

Intercom is an AI customer service platform with a shared inbox tool and chat-based support, emphasizing an interactive, conversational approach to connecting with customers in real time.

Intercom’s omnichannel inbox makes it easy for teams to manage conversations from various channels, including live chat, email, SMS, and social media. And with Fin AI, the AI agent assistant, teams can do things like adjust tone, rephrase text, and autofill tickets. While Intercom provides a comprehensive set of features for teams looking to manage email, it is the most expensive tool on the list. 

Core features:

• AI Compose

• AI Summarize

• AI Autofill

• Multilingual

Intercom G2 rating: 4.5 / 5

Pricing:

• Essential: $39/seat/month

• Advanced: $85/seat/month

• Expert: $132/seat/month

Shortwave

Shortwave is one of the best AI email assistants with its wide range of AI features. It’s an affordable option, especially for those who are self-employed or small businesses. 

Shortwave has a strong ChatGPT-powered feature set, including instant summaries and replies and predictive autocomplete, that allow you to answer emails faster and help more customers. However, the biggest drawback with Shortwave is that it only works with Gmail and Google Workspace accounts, so if you’re working with another provider — take Outlook or iCloud, for example — Shortwave won’t work for you. 

Core features:

• Instant AI summaries and replies

• Predictive autocomplete

• AI-generated meeting invites

• AI-powered search

Shortwave G2 rating: 4.5 / 5

Pricing:

• Personal: $7/user/month

• Pro: $14/user/month

• Business: $24/user/month

• Enterprise: Contact sales

Superhuman

Superhuman is an AI-powered email solution that combines email productivity features with generative AI. Superhuman is available to both personal and business accounts and is compatible with Gmail, Google Workspace, and Outlook. 

Superhuman has an impressive collection of AI features, including an AI search function and the ability to auto-summarize long email threads and draft email responses from just a few bullet points. The downside with Superhuman is the price — you’re paying a premium for an email add-on when other options on the list are cheaper and include other customer service features like live chat and collaboration tools. 

Core features:

• AI email drafting

• AI autocorrect

• Summarize long conversations

• Research while writing

Superhuman G2 rating: 4.7 / 5

Pricing:

• Starter: $25/user/month

• Business: $33/user/month

• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing (yearly billing only)

Sanebox

Sanebox is an AI email management software designed to save teams from having to spend time doing manual work so they can focus on responding to emails. Sanebox works with every major email service, including Gmail, Microsoft 365, iCloud, and Yahoo, making it a flexible option for teams. 

While Sanebox does use machine learning algorithms to execute tasks like automatically sort, block, and delete incoming emails, its functionality is fairly basic compared to others on the list. It doesn’t currently offer any advanced capabilities like automatically drafting emails or summarizing long threads, so if you’re looking for an advanced AI email inbox, Sanebox may not be for you. 

Core features:

• Email Deep Clean

• Auto-sorting and deleting

• Reminders

• Do Not Disturb

Sanebox G2 rating: 4.9 / 5

Pricing:

• Snack: $7 per month for one email account + two features

• Lunch: $12 per month for two email accounts + six features

• Dinner: $36 per month for four email accounts + all features

Criteria for evaluating AI email management tools

The right AI email assistant will completely transform how your team works. Below is a list of criteria to guide your search for an AI email management solution:

Features

Features like message templates, auto-sorting, drafting, and summarizing all save your team time and enable them to be one step closer to inbox zero. 

Ease of use

Your team doesn’t have time to regularly figure out how to use software, so choosing a tool that is easy to use, has an intuitive interface, and has simple, yet impactful functionality will be key to managing high-volume email periods.

Pricing

The price of your AI email management tool will impact how your team, and business, can scale. Email add-ons, like email scheduling and reminder tools, for example, are an additional cost on top of your email subscription. Complete service platforms that provide email management and other customer service tools position your team to scale effectively with all of the tools they need from startup to enterprise level.

Integration capabilities

AI email tools are all about efficiency. In order to be their most efficient, teams need essential context and information all in one place. Whether a CRM, project management or marketing automation tool, your team should be able to seamlessly integrate their day-to-day tools with your email management solution, saving them from wasting time juggling between tools all day. 

Customization options

Your email management tool should be able to be customized to fit your business needs. Whether you’re a small business or an enterprise empire, your AI email tool should work all the same. 

Choosing the right AI email management tool

When it comes to choosing an AI email tool, you’ll want to ensure you not only find a tool that aligns with the criteria above  — things like impactful features, user-friendliness, and budget — but you’ll also want to spend time evaluating your current email management methods. 

What challenges is your team facing with your current solution? What does your team need to overcome those challenges? How many emails does your team get daily? Will your current solution allow them to scale? If not, what do they need to be more efficient? 

In order to be successful in adopting a new email management solution, especially one with new technology, it’s important to spend time reflecting on your team’s specific needs and preferences. 

Streamline inbox management with Front

AI is an effective customer service supplementation, but it can’t replace humans. When properly integrated with a complete customer support solution, it has the ability to transform the way teams help customers. 

Front combines essential email management features with impactful AI to streamline inbox management without sacrificing high-quality service and personalization. With Front’s AI email management tool, teams can provide instant responses, improve customer satisfaction, and elevate operational efficiency, all without lifting a finger.