Sortmail vs Gmail filters

Stop writing Gmail filters. Sortmail sorts every sender — even ones you’ve never seen.

A filter only catches what you described in advance. Sortmail sorts the first receipt from a new shop, the first alert from a new app and the newsletter you signed up for yesterday — then writes a rule every time you correct it.

Sort my inbox free See the comparison

Connect a mailbox and Sortmail sorts your last 30 days (up to 1,000 messages) for free, showing where each one would go and why. Nothing in your mailbox changes until you choose a plan, and you can cancel in one click.

Your inbox: 18 messages instead of 247.

INCOMING

247

new messages

sortmailfiling

In your inbox18

Receipts31

Newsletters64

System134

Arrived247
In your inbox18
Receipts31
Newsletters64
System134

Illustrative example · one day of mail

Why switch

Why switch to Sortmail.

New senders, sorted

The first message from anyone is filed on arrival. No search to write, no filter to update.

Rules that write themselves

Move a message once and Sortmail saves the rule for that sender. No search syntax, no settings page.

Ready in minutes

Five categories are ready when you connect, and your last 30 days are sorted before you pay.

Side by side

Sortmail vs Gmail filters.

Every claim about Gmail filters links to their own page.

Sortmail and Gmail filters, feature by feature
What matters	Sortmail	Gmail filters
Sorts senders you’ve never seen	YesPlaced by kind of mail from its headers or, with model sorting on, a masked extract.	PartlyOnly when a message matches every criterion you wrote in advance: from, to, subject, words, size or date.[3][4]
Corrections become rules automatically	YesMoving a message saves a rule for that sender, listed and removable.	NoYou create and edit each filter yourself, from search options or a message.[2]
Ready on day one	YesFive categories ready; your last 30 days sorted on connect.	PartlyEach filter is built by you from a search.[2]
Files into labels in your mailbox	YesOrdinary Sortmail/ labels (categories on Outlook) that stay if you leave.	YesA filter can send email to a label.[1]

Yes YesPartly Partly, or with a catchNo No

The proof

What you get, and what it looks like.

Corrections stick

Move a message once. It becomes a rule.

Put a message in the right category and Sortmail saves a rule for that sender in the same step. The rule outranks the model from then on, and it is listed on the Overrides screen where you can remove it. On Gmail, moving a message between Sortmail labels in any Gmail app counts as the same correction.

With Gmail filters: A filter changes only when you edit it, and every criterion in it has to match before it applies.[4][2]

You move “Weekly product digest” to NewslettersSystemNewsletters

Rule saved: sender is [email protected] → NewslettersListed on Overrides. Remove it any time.

Next week’s digest files itselfWhy this is here: One of your rules

Illustrative example

You can see why

Every filed message carries its reason.

Open any message and Sortmail shows what decided it — one of your rules, your own correction, sender signals or the model — and, where it weighed evidence, how sure it was. When something lands in the wrong place, you know whether to fix a rule or just move it.

Your order has shippedHarbor Goods · [email protected]

Why this is hereReceipts

Decided bySender signals

Confidence94%

Sender[email protected]

Where it wentSortmail/Receipts, out of the inbox

Illustrative example

Unsure stays in the inbox

When it isn’t sure, it doesn’t hide the message.

If the model answers below its confidence floor, or nothing can place a message, Sortmail labels it with its best guess and leaves it in your inbox, asking where it goes. Your answer becomes a rule. Mail it is unsure about is never filed out of sight.

Needs youStill in your inbox

Priya from Northwind — Quick question about the invoiceSortmail wasn’t sure — where does this go?

Sam Okafor — Can you review this by Thursday?Actionable · The model · 91% sure

Illustrative example

Your categories

Five to start. Rename them, or add your own.

Every account starts with Actionable, Personal, Receipts, Newsletters and System. Rename any of them, recolour them, choose which stay in the inbox, or add your own — Clients, School, Travel — up to 8. Sortmail sorts into the categories you set, not a fixed list.

Your categoriesRename, recolour, add

ActionableStays in inbox
PersonalStays in inbox
ReceiptsFiled
ReadingFiled · renamed
SystemFiled
ClientsStays in inbox · added by you

Illustrative example

Bodies never stored

Classified in memory, then forgotten.

Sortmail keeps a fingerprint of each message — the sender, a keyed hash of the subject, the category and why it was chosen. The database has no column for a message body. Rules and header signals decide first; only when they cannot does a masked extract of at most 400 characters go to a model, and that can be switched off per mailbox. Your mail trains nothing.

Kept

Sender address
A keyed hash of the subject
The category
Why it was chosen

Never stored

The message body
The subject as text
Anything to train a model on

Illustrative example

Pricing

Every feature. One price.

Sortmail’s prices come straight from our billing code.

Billed	Founding	List
Monthly	$8.99 / month	$12.99 / month
Yearly	$79 / year$6.58 a month	$99 / year$8.25 a month
Every 2 years	$139 / 2 years$5.79 a month	$169 / 2 years$7.04 a month

Founding price for the first 500 subscribers, kept for as long as the subscription runs. Each extra mailbox is $4.49 a month at the founding price ($6.49 at list), or half the plan price on yearly and 2-year plans.

Filters cost you time instead: every new sender, every look-alike message and every mistake means writing or editing a search by hand.[2][4]

Try it against your own filters: Sortmail sorts your last 30 days for free, and you see the difference before paying anything.

On the 2-year plan, Sortmail works out at $5.79 a month at the founding price — about 19¢ a day for an inbox that only holds what needs you.

Zero risk

Try it on your own mail. Pay only if it earns it.

See it sorted before you pay

Connect a mailbox and Sortmail sorts your last 30 days — up to 1,000 messages — and shows where each one would go and why. Nothing in your mailbox changes until you choose a plan.

Leave in one click

Cancel from Billing — no call, no form. You’re emailed 21 days before every yearly or 2-year renewal and 3 days before a monthly one. Your labels stay if you go.

Founding price, locked in

$5.79 a month on the 2-year plan, $6.58 on yearly, $8.99 monthly. Limited to the first 500 subscribers, and kept for as long as you subscribe.

Sort my inbox free

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Can Sortmail sort senders I’ve never set up?

Yes. It sorts by kind of mail — receipts, newsletters, notifications, people — so a first message from a new sender is filed without any rule. Your own rules still decide first.

Do I have to delete my Gmail filters?

No. Sortmail sorts whatever reaches your inbox, so filters that already archive mail keep working. When you’re ready, write the same rule in Sortmail (sender is, sender domain is, subject contains, has attachment) and delete the filter.

Is Sortmail predictable?

Your rules in Sortmail are exact and always decide first. Where it weighs evidence instead, each message shows how sure it was — and mail it isn’t sure about stays in your inbox.

How much does Sortmail cost?

One plan with every feature: $8.99 a month, $79 a year or $139 for 2 years at the founding price, kept for as long as you subscribe. Once the 500 founding seats are gone, new subscribers pay $12.99, $99 or $169.

Is an AI reading all my mail?

No. Your rules decide first, then header signals such as mailing-list headers. Only when neither settles it does a masked extract — sender, subject and at most 400 characters — go to a model, and you can switch that off per mailbox. The model provider is contractually barred from keeping or training on it.

Does Sortmail store my email?

It stores a fingerprint of each message: the sender, a keyed hash of the subject, the category and why it was chosen. Message bodies are never written to its database, and it never sends, drafts or deletes mail.

Sources, checked 27 September 2026

On a computer, Gmail’s filters can send email to a label, or archive, delete, star or automatically forward it. support.google.com
Filters are created from search options, or from a message with “Filter messages like these”. support.google.com
Search criteria include From, To, Subject, Has the words, Doesn’t have, Size and Date within. support.google.com
If a filter has several criteria, a message must satisfy all of them for the filter to apply. developers.google.com

Competitor details are taken from each company’s own public pages on the date above and can change after it. Sortmail’s own details are read from the code that enforces them. Gmail filters is a trademark of its owner; Sortmail is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at [email protected] and we will correct it.