Spark Mail vs Zero Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Spark Mail grades higher than Zero Mail: 3.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Spark Mail grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Spark Mail
Email client with a unified smart inbox, AI tools and team features
Zero Mail
Open-source AI email client that connects your existing inboxes
Which one is for you
Pick Spark Mail if
- Fits if you juggle several email accounts and want them in one inbox on desktop and phone
- Works for anyone who wants snooze and send later without paying
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need email in a browser or on Linux, as there's no version for either
- Not for you if you want AI drafting for free, because Spark +AI needs Plus or higher
- Pricey if you only need a shared support@ inbox, since that sits on Pro at $16.58 a user
- Tight if you lean on the free AI: 5 meeting notes in total and 1 month of history for the Assistant
- Watch out: the 7-day trial applies only when you subscribe in the app, and monthly billing costs 17% more
Pick Zero Mail if
- Fits if you want AI summaries and replies over a Gmail or Outlook inbox
- Works for developers who are happy with a beta and might self-host
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a finished product, because the site labels Zero beta
- Tight if you have more than one inbox, since free allows one connection
- Pricey if you want the full AI writing and summaries: Pro is $20 a month
- Watch out: no desktop or phone apps are listed, only the web
- Watch out: the pricing page does not say whether $20 is monthly or annual
How we grade them
| 3.0GPASpark MailVery good | 1.8GPAZero MailWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPlus is $8.25 a user a month billed annually ($99), or $10 monthly, which is dead on this category's middle, and it's what unlocks Gatekeeper, Priority, the AI and the integrations. Shared inboxes need Pro at $16.58, double that again. | DPro is $20 a month, which is where the dearest tenth of email tools starts. The page does not say whether that is billed monthly or yearly. |
| Free plan and trial | AUnlimited email accounts in one Smart Inbox, with snooze, send later, reminders and a calendar, free for good and with no cap on any of it. The AI is the only taster: 5 meeting notes in total and 1 month of history for the Assistant. | CFree plan: one email connection, AI chat with the inbox, basic labeling and limited AI writing. Unlimited connections and full AI writing need Pro. There is a 7-day Pro trial. |
| Features | BA unified Smart Inbox that keeps people apart from newsletters, Gatekeeper to screen new senders, AI that drafts, proofreads, summarises and translates, a calendar with meeting notes, and threads a team can comment on and draft together. The mail job is covered. | CAI chat, summaries, labels and writing on a keyboard-driven inbox. The site labels it beta, and the free plan limits the writing. |
| Ease of use | B4.6 from about 82,600 App Store ratings, just under our 4.7 bar for the top mark. Add your accounts and the Smart Inbox does the sorting itself, with snooze and send later there from the start. | CNo store rating on record. You connect your Gmail or Outlook accounts, and self-hosting is also offered. |
| Platforms and integrations | BMac, Windows, iPhone and Android, taking Google, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and IMAP accounts, and paid plans plug into Todoist, Asana, Trello, Notion, Slack and Zoom. No web version at all, though, and nothing for Linux. | CWeb only. The site lists no desktop or mobile apps, and Gmail and Outlook are the connections named. |
| Best for | one inbox for all your email accounts | an AI layer over your existing inbox |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Spark Mail and Zero Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Spark Mail starts at $8.25 a month for each person and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zero Mail starts at $20 a month and scores 2.0.
Spark Mail scores higher and starts $11.75 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 4 score higher than Spark Mail for less, and 45 score higher than Zero Mail for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Zero Mail is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Spark Mail also covers meeting notes, templates, calendar and shared inbox.
- Zero Mail also covers inbox filtering.
At a glance
| Spark Mail | Zero Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.25 per user / month, billed annually ($99 / year) | $20 per month (billing basis not shown) |
| Free plan | Unlimited email accounts in a unified Smart Inbox with snooze, send later, reminders and calendar, plus 5 AI meeting notes in total and an AI Assistant preview limited to 1 month of email history. | One email connection, AI chat with your inbox, basic labeling and limited AI email writing. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of Plus and Pro when you subscribe directly in the app | 7-day free trial of Zero Pro |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Spark Mail Limited | Zero Email Inc |
| Price read from | sparkmailapp.com | 0.email |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Spark Mail
- The vendor lists apps for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android only; there is no web or Linux version.
- Gatekeeper, Priority, Spark +AI and third-party integrations require Plus or higher.
- Shared inboxes, read statuses and the HubSpot integration are limited to Pro and Enterprise.
- The free plan's AI is a limited preview: 5 meeting notes in total and 1 month of email history for the AI Assistant.
Zero Mail
- The site labels Zero as beta, and the vendor's pricing page does not say whether $20 is billed monthly or annually.
- The free plan allows one email connection; unlimited connections need Pro.
- Zero is a web client; no desktop or mobile apps are listed on the site.
- The pricing page lists Enterprise support and a Slack channel without prices.
Key features
Spark Mail
- Smart Inbox and unified inbox
- Brings every connected account into one inbox and separates priority mail from newsletters and notifications. Included in the free plan.
- Gatekeeper and Priority
- Gatekeeper lets you accept or block new senders before they land in the inbox, and Priority highlights chosen senders. Both are part of Plus and above.
- Spark +AI and AI Assistant
- +AI drafts, proofreads, summarizes and translates email. The AI Assistant answers questions about your mail, reaching back 1 month on Free, 1 year on Plus and without limit on Pro.
- Snooze, Send Later and reminders
- Snooze a message, set it aside, schedule a send or get a follow-up reminder. These scheduling tools are in the free plan.
- Team collaboration
- Share a thread with teammates, discuss it in private comments and write drafts together in real time. Shared inboxes for addresses such as support@ need Pro.
- Calendar and AI meeting notes
- A built-in calendar can add Zoom, GoTo or Microsoft Teams call links. AI meeting notes are capped at 5 in total on Free and 40 a month on Plus, and unlimited on Pro.
Zero Mail
- Keyboard-driven inbox
- Shortcuts for opening, replying, archiving and marking read, plus a command palette for search (Cmd+K), aim to process mail without the mouse.
- AI chat with your inbox
- Ask questions or give instructions in natural language, such as finding an invoice from a sender or replying to a person, on every plan.
- Summaries and AI writing
- Pro generates thread summaries and one-click replies; the free plan has limited AI writing.
- Labels and categories
- Free accounts get basic labeling; Pro adds automatic labeling to sort incoming mail.
- Self-hosting
- The README on GitHub describes running Zero on your own server, connected to Gmail and other providers.
Plans
Spark Mail
Free$0
Unlimited accounts, Smart Inbox, unified inbox, snooze, send later, reminders, calendar and 5 lifetime AI meeting notes.
Plus$8.25
per user / month, billed annually ($99); $10 billed monthly
Adds Gatekeeper, Priority, Spark +AI, the AI Assistant with 1 year of history, 40 AI meeting notes a month, integrations and team collaboration.
Pro$16.58
per user / month, billed annually ($199); $20 billed monthly
Everything in Plus, plus shared inboxes, read statuses, unlimited AI meeting notes, HubSpot integration and Spark CLI triage access.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Pro, plus security and controls, a dedicated success manager and 1:1 productivity coaching.
Zero Mail
Free$0
One email connection, AI chat with the inbox, basic labeling and limited AI writing.
Pro$20
per month, billing basis not shown
Unlimited connections, auto labeling, one-click AI writing and replies, and instant thread summaries.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Pro plus a dedicated Slack channel and priority customer support.
Ways to pay less
Spark Mail
- Annual discount
Save 17% with annual billing
The pricing page shows Plus at $99 a year instead of $120 and Pro at $199 a year instead of $240 when billed annually, a 17% saving over paying monthly.
Zero Mail
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Spark Mail or Zero Mail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Spark Mail starts at $8.25 per user / month, billed annually ($99 / year), and Zero Mail starts at $20 per month (billing basis not shown). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Spark Mail or Zero Mail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Spark Mail and Zero Mail have a free plan.
Which platforms do Spark Mail and Zero Mail run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Spark Mail lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps and only Zero Mail lists a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.