Drag vs Gmelius

Drag

• Gmail and Google Workspace teams sharing support@ or sales@ addresses
• Teams that like to see email as cards moving across a kanban board
• Growing teams, since no plan has a seat minimum or user cap

Gmelius

• Teams that run support@ or ops@ addresses from Gmail
• Google Workspace teams that want AI agents acting on incoming mail
• Managers who need SLA, workload and response-time reports on email

Drag

• It is built on Gmail and Google Workspace: shared inboxes are Gmail addresses or Google Groups, and sign-in runs through Google.
• There is no free plan; the 7-day trial is followed by a paid plan.
• AI is metered in credits. Starter includes none, Plus 1,000 per seat a month and Pro 2,000, and extra credits are sold from $10.
• WhatsApp, Varley Agents, the API and MCP server, SLA rules and round-robin assignment need Pro at $24 per user / month, billed yearly.

Gmelius

• It works only with Gmail and Google Workspace accounts; each user is a Google email account on the subscription.
• There is no free plan, and every member of a team must be on the same plan.
• The $19 Meli plan is capped at 5 users and has no automation rules; shared inboxes and shared labels start at Growth.
• The extension is offered for Chrome, Brave, Opera and Edge. On phones and tablets Gmelius is a progressive web app (PWA).

Drag

Shared inbox boards

A shared address becomes a board with kanban, list and preview views, where each email is a card with an owner, a status, tags and a due date. The emails themselves stay in Gmail.

Assignments, notes and shared drafts

Teammates assign emails, chat with @mentions on a thread, write shared drafts and reply as collaborators. Collision detection is included on every plan.

Varley AI

Copilot answers questions about the inbox and proposes actions to approve, Assists draft, summarize and classify mail, and on Pro, Agents resolve conversations or hand them to a person.

Automations

Rules route, tag and assign incoming mail. Starter allows 10 rules and the higher plans are unlimited; round-robin assignment, business hours and SLA rules are on Pro.

Help center, live chat and WhatsApp

A public help center and live chat, which is in early access, are on every plan. Pro adds WhatsApp conversations that sit beside email on the same boards.

API and MCP server

Pro includes a REST API and an MCP server with 47 tools, so assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or Cursor can work in the inbox.

Gmelius

Shared inboxes in Gmail

Group addresses are handled from each person's own Gmail, with assignments, collision detection, shared drafts, team read statuses, tags, and notes with @mentions on a thread.

Meli assistant

Drafts email replies for review, sorts and classifies incoming mail, schedules meetings and follows up. Drafts land in the inbox and nothing is sent without approval.

AI agents

An agent is a standing instruction for one job: it reads incoming mail, acts in connected apps such as a CRM, logs each step, and hands off to a person when its confidence is low.

Automation rules

Rules cover auto-replies, tagging, round-robin and load-balanced assignment, and response-time SLAs. Growth allows up to 10,000 rule executions a month and Pro up to 100,000.

Email analytics

Reports on conversations, team performance, productivity, SLA response times and tags, with weekly or monthly digests by email and CSV export.

Shared labels, views and boards

Gmail labels can be shared across a team, and the plan comparison also lists custom views, Kanban board views, shared email templates and email permalinks.

Drag

• Starter$12

  per user / month, billed yearly ($16 billed monthly)

  Shared inboxes in Gmail, boards, assignments, templates, notes, a help center and live chat. 10 automation rules, 3-month reporting, no AI credits included.

• Plus$18

  per user / month, billed yearly ($22 billed monthly)

  Adds Varley's Copilot, Intelligence and six AI assists with 1,000 AI credits per seat a month, unlimited automation rules, email sequences and custom views.

• Pro$24

  per user / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly)

  Adds the WhatsApp channel, Varley Agents, API and MCP access, SLA rules, round-robin assignment, custom fields and roles, and 2,000 AI credits per seat.

Gmelius

• Meli$19

  per user / month, billed yearly ($21 billed monthly)

  AI assistant for Gmail that drafts replies, sorts email, schedules meetings and follows up. Up to 5 users and 5,000 email conversations a month.

• Growth$25

  per user / month, billed yearly ($33 billed monthly)

  Adds unlimited shared inboxes and labels, automation rules, auto-assignment, shared templates, SLA and email analytics, and the API. Up to 50 users.

• Pro$40

  per user / month, billed yearly ($50 billed monthly)

  Adds AI dispatching assistants, CRM integrations, webhooks, advanced team analytics, custom user permissions, and backups of Gmail and Drive.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Bespoke AI assistants, custom integrations and reports, user provisioning and no usage caps. Minimum of 50 users.

Drag

• Annual discount

  Save up to 25% with yearly billing

  The pricing page shows Starter at $12 a user a month billed yearly against $16 monthly, Plus at $18 against $22, and Pro at $24 against $30.

• Nonprofit

  Program for non-profits and NGOs

  The pricing FAQ says Drag runs a dedicated program for non-profits and NGOs, arranged by contacting its team. The size of the discount is not published.

• Education

  Program for educational institutions

  The same program covers educational institutions, again on request by email and without a published discount.

Gmelius

• Annual discount

  Lower per-user price with yearly billing

  The pricing page shows Meli at $19 a user a month billed yearly against $21 monthly, Growth at $25 against $33, and Pro at $40 against $50.

• Nonprofit

  30% to 50% off for non-profits

  Non-profits and NGOs with 5 or more users can request 30% off Growth, Pro or Enterprise on annual billing, or 50% off from 20 users, by emailing sales with proof of status.

• Education

  Same discount for educational institutions

  The pricing FAQ extends the non-profit discount to educational institutions: 30% off for 5 to 19 users and 50% off for 20 or more, on annual billing.