Whether you wish to attach bigger files to your emails or simply want a clutter-free inbox, the right email management software is all you need.
Over the last six years, I’ve used multiple tools – from powerful automation platforms to intuitive organization systems, to boost my work productivity, keep my inbox feeling fresh, and connect with my customers faster than ever.
Check out my top 10 recommendations in this blog!
What Is Email Management Software?
Email management software can be used by professionals and teams to organize, prioritize, and respond to a vast quantity of customer and internal emails. You can track the progress of every email from the moment it is received in your inbox to the time an appropriate response is shared.
According to a McKinsey study, the average worker spends nearly 28% of their workweek on emails which amounts to more than 11 hours every week.
Considering the time lost in managing work emails, the right tool can help you track every conversation, enhance internal collaboration, and improve your email response times.
Read More: 20 Effective Email Management Tips to Achieve Email Success
Top 10 Email Management Software to Consider This Year
Whether you’re a busy professional striving to stay on top of your inbox or a small business owner aiming to streamline customer communications, here are 10 options that will prepare you to take on the world of spam, clutter, and endless threads!
1. ProProfs Help Desk – Best for Email Management & Support Ticketing for Customer Delight
ProProfs Help Desk is one of the best customer email management software that impressed me with its shared inbox feature.
As soon as I log in, I can access all our team inboxes, such as support@, inquiry@, sales@, team@, etc., from the left corner of the dashboard. The UI is quite simple, user-friendly, and familiar.
As a free email management software, ProProfs Help Desk helps my team create professional email signatures that include designation, contact number, and useful website links. Team members can collaborate with internal notes, prioritize urgent emails, and search for the right conversation using the advanced search functionality.
In addition to email, you can centralize customer communications taking place on live chat, web forms, and other channels. Also, you can create a self-service knowledge base that helps customers find the right answers 24×7.
What you’ll like:
- The shared inbox makes managing customer emails a collective effort, enhancing team collaboration.
- The round-robin assignment feature distributes the workload equally among team members.
- Powerful reports to monitor the average first response time, customer satisfaction, and individual performance.
- Custom email statuses and labels for improved organization.
What you may not like:
- Frequent product updates and feature releases can be overwhelming for some users.
- The Foreve-Free plan is limited to a single operator.
Pricing:
FREE for a single user. Plans start at $19.99/user/month for 2 or more users. No hidden fees. A 15-day money-back guarantee.
2. Hiver – Best Gmail-Based Help Desk
Hiver is a popular Gmail-based help desk solution that helps you manage customer conversations right from the world’s most-used email client – Gmail.
While using the free trial of this tool, my company’s customer service department could easily access, assign, track, and respond to emails from a single team account.
As an email management solution, Hiver ensures complete accountability of customer emails. Every email that arrives in your inbox has a clear status and ownership, which ensures your team members know exactly what they need to work on.
On the downside, the tool is designed solely for Gmail users. So, if you use a different email client, Hiver won’t be the best pick for you.
What you’ll like:
- Email templates can be saved with media attachments
- Tags can be added to emails for improved organization and sorting
- Hiver can be easily integrated with other tools, such as Slack and Zapier
- iOS and Android mobile apps to respond to customers even when you’re on the move
What you may not like:
- The tool is only designed for Gmail and G-suite users.
- At times, the collision detection feature is slow to alert team members who are replying to the same email.
Pricing:
Starts at $15/user/month.
3. Help Scout – Best for Internal Collaboration
Using Help Scout significantly improved how my team collaborated on email.
This tool stood out for its collision detection feature, which allowed my team to see who was working on what to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. It’s as if we were all working together in the same room, even though we were spread out across different locations.
I’m sure you will be impressed by the ability to add private notes to conversations. It means you can share insights or advice on a customer’s issue without the customer seeing these internal discussions.
Also, Help Scout’s reporting tools can offer clear insights into your team’s performance, helping you to continuously improve the speed and quality of customer communications.
What you’ll like:
- Private notes allow internal communication within customer conversations.
- Knowledge Base integration helps in providing consistent and quick answers to common queries.
- Detailed performance reports guide improvements in customer service strategy.
- AI can be used to summarize long email threads quickly.
What you may not like:
- The learning curve for some advanced features requires time to fully utilize its capabilities.
- Integration options with external tools could be more extensive.
Pricing:
Starts at $20/user/month.
4. Mailbird – Best for Inbox Customization
If you are looking for email inbox management software with great customization capabilities, Mailbird can be a good option.
Mailbird transformed how I managed my emails, offering unmatched customization that tailored my inbox exactly to my preferences. Its intuitive interface allowed me to integrate multiple email accounts seamlessly, bringing all my communications into a single pane of glass.
The customization options are endless. For instance, you can choose from various themes and layouts for your inbox background. You can customize the notification sounds by selecting a tone from their list or uploading your own.
What you’ll like:
- Highly customizable interface with themes, layouts, and color schemes.
- Integration with apps like WhatsApp, Slack, and more centralizes communication.
- Supports multiple email accounts from various providers in one unified inbox.
- Snooze and speed reader features enhance email management and efficiency.
What you may not like:
- Occasionally sluggish performance with multiple accounts and integrations running.
- Limited to Windows, which can be a drawback for macOS or Linux users.
Pricing:
Starts at $2.28/user/month
5. Zoho Mail – Best for Data Privacy & Security
Zoho Mail can be the go-to email management solution when security and privacy are top priorities.
Knowing that all your internal and external email communications are protected with end-to-end encryption is reassuring. In addition, Zoho’s adherence to GDPR compliance can give you peace of mind regarding the safety of your data.
The streamlined interface, which separates personal and business emails, can help maintain focus and organization. Also, the extensive control over email policies and user management ensures that your team adheres to communication protocols.
On the downside, I feel Zoho Mail can be complicated for first-time users due to the vast array of features and settings.
What you’ll like:
- End-to-end encryption and GDPR compliance for unmatched data privacy and security.
- Streamlined interface with segregation of personal and business emails.
- Extensive email policy and user management controls.
- Integrated with Zoho’s suite of apps, enhancing productivity and collaboration.
What you may not like:
- It can be overwhelming due to the vast array of features and settings.
- The mobile app experience sometimes lacks the smoothness of the desktop version.
Pricing:
Starts at $1/user/month.
6. Gmail – Best for Simple & User-Friendly Interface
Those who haven’t heard of Gmail must be living under a rock. It is the world’s leading email service provider, with over 1.8 billion active users.
But what grants Gmail such high fame and popularity? I think most users will agree with me that it’s Gmail’s simple and familiar-seeming interface. I’ve used this tool for managing my personal and work email accounts for more than ten years, and the minimal layout impresses me every time I log in to my account.
Its seamless integration with Google’s suite of tools, like Calendar and Drive, can streamline your workflow, keeping you organized and efficient.
But sadly, Gmail isn’t designed for internal collaboration like shared inbox tools. There are no built-in features to drop comments or track email performance.
What you’ll like:
- The intuitive interface makes it easy to manage emails efficiently.
- Powerful search functionality for easily locating past email messages.
- Integration with Google Workspace provides seamless access to Docs, Sheets, Calendar, and more, all from within Gmail.
- Spam filtering keeps unwanted emails out of your inbox.
What you may not like:
- Privacy concerns with Google scanning emails for ads and other purposes can be unsettling for some users.
- Lacks internal commenting and reporting capabilities.
Pricing:
Starts at $6/user/month.
7. SaneBox – Best for Higher Productivity
SaneBox has been a lifesaver in managing my overflowing inbox.
The platform intelligently sorts through my emails, moving less important messages into separate folders so I can focus on what truly matters. It’s like having a personal assistant dedicated to email management.
With smart filtering rules, every spam message is automatically filtered out, keeping my inbox tidy and “sane.” I can also schedule breaks from email notifications to keep myself stress-free during holidays.
Another great feature of this tool is that you can snooze your email conversations at a specified time in the future. For instance, you can snooze emails for a few hours, days, or until the next week.
What you’ll like:
- Intelligent email sorting that learns from your habits and actions.
- Snooze function lets users temporarily remove distractions and focus on the task at hand.
- Follow-up reminders for keeping track of emails that require a response or action.
- ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode to concentrate on other tasks without email distractions.
What you may not like:
- Getting used to and experimenting with SaneBox’s features can take some time.
- Customer support isn’t responsive at times.
Pricing:
Starts at $3.49/month.
8. Front – Best for Omnichannel Inbox
Front can help your team manage not just emails but all forms of communication through a single interface. Thanks to its omnichannel inbox!
For instance, you can track communications taking place via SMS, live chat, and WhatsApp. This omnichannel approach can not only streamline your workflows but also significantly improve your response times across the board.
With Front, you can easily collaborate on emails, share drafts before sending, and use internal comments to discuss responses without leaving the platform.
On the downside, I wasn’t much impressed with Front’s pricing. The tool is quite heavily priced, making it an unsuitable option for freelancers, startups, or even small businesses.
What you’ll like:
- Unified inbox consolidates emails, social media messages, and more, simplifying management and response strategies.
- Collaborative email drafting and internal commenting features foster teamwork.
- Intelligent rules for routing and prioritizing messages.
- Comprehensive analytics give us a bird’s-eye view of your communication performance.
What you may not like:
- Expensive plans make it unsuitable for teams on a tight budget.
- Designed with teams in mind, making it potentially more than what’s needed for solo entrepreneurs or small operations.
Pricing:
Starts at $59/user/month.
9. Groove – Best for Reports & Analytics
Groove is a leading customer service email management software that allowed us to manage conversations on multiple channels.
Our VP recommended the tool to me, and within the first few weeks, I was impressed with its reporting and analytics capabilities.
We could capture metrics, such as resolution time and customer satisfaction (CSAT), and measure agent performance from time to time. Also, easy integrations with social media and business apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Slack, Shopify, etc., make this a complete tool.
What you’ll like:
- Customizable reports shed light on metrics like response times, handle times, and wait times.
- The intuitive interface ensures ease of use, making email and ticket management efficient and straightforward.
- Built-in knowledge base functionality reduces incoming ticket volume.
- Automation rules help you save time and boost productivity.
What you may not like:
- The Standard plan restricts search history access to the last six months only.
- AI features are only offered in the higher-end plans.
Pricing:
Starts at $4.80/user/month.
10. LiveAgent – Best for Email + Live Chat
Integrating LiveAgent into our support strategy enhanced our ability to provide timely and effective assistance to our customers.
By combining email and live chat in one platform, we could offer a more flexible and responsive support experience. LiveAgent’s robust ticketing system organized customer interactions into a manageable stream, ensuring that we never lose track of a conversation.
Also, its built-in CRM and automation tools allowed us to personalize our responses and streamline our workflows, making every customer feel valued and supported.
What you’ll like:
- Automated spam filtering to avoid spam emails in your inbox.
- Email templates can be configured for your customers and team members.
- Notification sounds can be easily customized or disabled in LiveAgent.
- Chat button animations to grab the attention of website visitors.
What you may not like:
- The user interface seems outdated and can be improved further.
- The left sidebar menu feels a bit cluttered.
Pricing:
Starts at $9/user/month.
Which Is the Best Email Management Software?
Before we see a detailed review of the best email management platforms and tools, here’s a preview of some of the most popular tools that I have used lately:
Option A: ProProfs Help Desk
As a popular email ticketing software in the market, ProProfs Help Desk lets you easily manage customer-facing accounts like sales@company or support@company. You can declutter your inbox with features like shared inbox, internal notes, custom labels & statuses, canned responses, email signatures, reporting, and more.
Option B: SaneBox
If work productivity is a concern, I suggest you try SaneBox. This business email management software will automatically sort your incoming messages into specific folders so that you can focus on higher-priority tasks.
Option C: Front
Front can be a good option if you wish to interact with customers on multiple channels. For instance, in addition to email, you can track communications taking place via SMS, live chat, and even WhatsApp.
Evaluation & Selection Criteria
The evaluation of products or tools chosen for this article follows an unbiased, systematic approach that ensures a fair, insightful, and well-rounded review. This method employs six key factors:
User Reviews/Ratings: Direct user experiences, including ratings and feedback from reputable sites, provide a ground-level perspective. This feedback is critical in understanding overall satisfaction and potential problems.
Essential Features & Functionality: The value of a product is ascertained by its core features and overall functionality. Through an in-depth exploration of these aspects, the practical usefulness and effectiveness of the tools are carefully evaluated.
Ease of Use: The user-friendliness of a product or service is assessed, focusing on the design, interface, and navigation. This ensures a positive experience for users of all levels of expertise.
Customer Support: The quality of customer support is examined, considering its efficiency and how well it supports users in different phases – setting up, addressing concerns, and resolving operational issues.
Value for Money: Value for money is evaluated by comparing the quality, performance, and features. The goal is to help the reader understand whether they would be getting their money’s worth.
Personal Experience/Expert’s Opinion or Favorites: This part of the evaluation criteria draws insightful observations from the writer’s personal experience and the opinions of industry experts.
If you’re still uncertain, I would suggest you explore ProProfs Help Desk. The tool lets you get on top of your email game with features like shared inbox, internal notes, canned responses, email signatures, reporting, and more.
If you have further questions, please feel free to read this small FAQ section below.
Learn More About Email Management Software Systems
What are the key features of email management software?
Email management software typically includes features like intelligent sorting and categorization, automated responses, spam filtering, and integration capabilities with calendars and other productivity tools. These systems often support multi-account management and offer robust search functions to easily retrieve past communications.
How does email management software help with productivity?
Email management software enhances productivity by automating routine tasks, such as sorting emails into folders, highlighting priority messages, and enabling quick replies with canned responses. It reduces email overload, helps in focusing on important messages, and integrates with other tools to streamline workflows and reduce time spent managing communications.
How customizable is email management software?
The tool varies widely in customization options. Some platforms allow users to tailor almost every aspect, from the interface layout to the automation rules and notification settings. Others may offer more limited customization, focusing on user-friendliness and simplicity over adaptability.
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