AI email filter that works with almost any mailbox (Gmail, Microsoft 365, Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail, IMAP). It moves unimportant mail out of your inbox into folders, sends a daily digest, blocks senders and reminds you to follow up. From $5.42/mo billed annually.
ReplacesHand-built inbox rules, manual unsubscribing, a separate follow-up reminder app and a cluttered inbox
We haven't tested SaneBox hands-on yet. We researched its official documentation and pricing, checked on 2026-10-29; the review isn't a report of personal use. Our editorial SMB score and setup time are estimates, not test results.
Quick verdict
If newsletters, notifications and cold pitches bury the important mail, we would consider SaneBox before replacing the email app. It works with existing mailboxes, including Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo and plain IMAP, and starts at $5.42 a month on annual billing. Mail stays on your server; follow-up reminders and the Daily Digest work from any client. That is a practical option for an owner, consultant or small office wanting filtering rather than another writing assistant. It doesn't draft replies or take meeting notes. There is no free plan or published team pricing, and buyers requiring SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification should look elsewhere.
What SaneBox is and how it works
Keep the mailbox and email app; change which messages reach the main inbox. That is SaneBox’s job. It isn’t a new mail client or an AI writer. After you connect the existing account, it uses header information such as sender, subject and date, plus behavior such as which messages you open or answer and how quickly. Your mail server moves lower-priority messages to @SaneLater and a Daily Digest summarizes them.
Because the result is ordinary server folders, you can read the filtered mailbox in Outlook, Apple Mail, the Gmail app or a phone’s own mail app. You don’t have to use a special inbox to see the effect. If SaneBox goes offline, messages still arrive; they simply land unsorted. We would check where important senders are routed during a proposed trial, rather than assume the filter knows every client’s importance immediately.
That broad client compatibility distinguishes it from assistants aimed mainly at Gmail and Microsoft 365. SaneBox says it has operated since 2010 on its About page. The product facts here come from its own pages, checked on 29 Oct 2026; see the sources below. We have not measured its sorting performance in a live business inbox, and this review should not be read as that kind of test.
Key features and what they do for your business
SaneLater (importance filtering)
SaneBox learns from your behaviour (which emails you open, reply to and how fast) and moves unimportant new mail into a @SaneLater folder. Mail from real people stays in the inbox by default.
Daily Digest
An interactive summary of everything filtered out of your inbox, with Move to Inbox, Move, Train, Archive and Remove actions. Clear a day's clutter in one sitting.
Email Deep Clean
Bulk clean-up of an existing backlog; SaneBox says thousands of unneeded emails can be purged in about five minutes.
SaneBlackHole
Drag an email into the @SaneBlackHole folder and you won't see mail from that sender again.
SaneReminders
BCC an address such as [email protected] and the email comes back to your inbox only if nobody has replied. Repeating reminders ([email protected]) also work, so quotes and unpaid invoices get chased.
SaneNews
Collects newsletters and updates in one folder so you can read them later instead of mid-task.
Snooze folders
Built-in @SaneTomorrow, @SaneNextWeek and @SaneNextMonth, plus custom snooze folders from 3 hours to 26 weeks, with an optional auto-reply.
Training by moving email
Move a misfiled email to the right folder and SaneBox learns. You can review trainings and create your own trainable DIY folders.
More power tools
SaneNoReplies, SaneDoNotDisturb, SaneScreener, SaneCC, Attachments (to Dropbox or Box) and SaneNotSpam. How many you can switch on depends on your plan.
SaneBox pricing by plan
Plan
Price
What's included
Limits & minimums
Snack
Billed annually$5.42/mo (paid annually, about $65/yr)Billed monthly$9.49/mo
Deep Clean, Organize, Daily Digest, mobile apps, subject/domain/advanced filters, email and chat support; pick 2 power-tool features
Billed annually$9.08/mo (paid annually, about $109/yr)Billed monthly$15.99/mo
Everything in Snack; pick 6 power-tool features per email account
2 email accounts; no phone support. 2-year billing: $7.46/mo
Dinner
Billed annually$26.58/mo (paid annually, about $319/yr)Billed monthly$42.99/mo
All SaneBox features, including Reminders, SaneBlackHole, Snooze and the other power tools; email, chat and phone support
4 email accounts (more on request). 2-year billing: $22.04/mo
SaneBox for Business
Billed annuallyNot published (contact sales form)Billed monthlyNot published
Admin controls, company-wide rules, Active Directory, O365, Notes and Salesforce integrations, at-rest disk encryption
Price via an account executive after the trial; Salesforce integration only for Salesforce Enterprise customers
Prices as shown on 29 Oct 2026 for 2-year, annual and monthly billing; annual totals are the monthly price × 12, rounded.
Plans are priced by the number of email accounts you connect (1, 2 or 4), not per seat. Lunch's 6 features apply to each of its 2 accounts.
Free trial: 7 days with all features for up to 4 email accounts. There is no free plan.
SaneBox offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, but you have to ask support for the refund.
25% off any plan for educational, non-profit and government organisations (claim it during the trial).
Prices in USD per the vendor's pricing page, before tax, checked 2026-10-29. Check the current checkout price before committing. Estimate a full stack with our AI stack cost calculator.
Use cases by business type
These examples show how a business could use the documented features. They aren't customer stories, tests we've run or measured results.
Accountant
A 2-person bookkeeping practice could let SaneLater pull software notifications out of the inbox and BCC [email protected] on "documents still missing" emails so unanswered requests come back.
Agency
A 5-person agency could give each account manager a Snack subscription (5 × $5.42 = about $27 a month on annual billing) so tool alerts and pitches wait in the Digest.
E-shop
An online shop owner with a store mailbox and a personal one could use Lunch (2 accounts) to route platform notifications to SaneLater and black-hole marketplace spam that ignores unsubscribe links.
Consultant
A solo consultant on Exchange or Fastmail could use SaneReminders on proposals and snooze non-urgent requests to @SaneNextWeek.
Local services
A plumbing or cleaning business could keep customer enquiries in the inbox on a phone and move supplier newsletters to SaneNews.
How to get started in 5 steps
Start the 7-day trialSign up at sanebox.com/signup. The trial includes all features for up to 4 email accounts.
Connect your mailboxMost providers authorise SaneBox without a password (OAuth); otherwise enter your server address. Exchange users enter their OWA webmail URL. POP accounts don't work.
Turn on SaneLater and train itFrom the dashboard, switch on SaneLater. If a VIP's message lands there, move it back to the inbox and SaneBox learns.
Add BlackHole, SaneNews and RemindersDrag unwanted senders into @SaneBlackHole, enable SaneNews and BCC a reminder address on emails you need answered.
Review the Digest, then pick a planUse the Daily Digest for a few days, note which power tools you actually use, then choose Snack (2 features), Lunch (6 per account) or Dinner (all).
Integrations, security and privacy
SaneBox works server-side by adding folders to your mailbox, so it works in any email app. It lists Gmail, Microsoft 365, iCloud, Yahoo Mail and Fastmail, plus any IMAP, Exchange or ActiveSync server; iOS and Android apps show the Digest. The About page mentions moving attachments to Dropbox and Box. SaneBox for Business adds Active Directory, O365, Notes and Salesforce integrations (the Salesforce one only for Salesforce Enterprise customers).
Gmail / Google WorkspaceMicrosoft 365 / OutlookMicrosoft ExchangeActiveSyncApple iCloudYahoo MailFastmailAny IMAP serveriOS and Android apps (Digest)Dropbox and Box (Attachments)Salesforce (Business, Salesforce Enterprise customers)Active Directory (Business)
Certifications and audits
SaneBox says it passes Google's annual Cloud Application Security Assessment, external audits by Leviathan Security Group and an invite-only HackerOne bug bounty. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 claim found on its site.
What it reads and stores
SaneBox says it analyses only email headers (sender, subject, date) and your behaviour, never stores full emails or attachments, and that email stays on your mail server.
Credentials
OAuth where the provider supports it; otherwise a password or app passkey. Credentials are encrypted, with keys in hardware security modules.
GDPR
The Terms of Service say SaneBox "takes GDPR very seriously" and require business customers to accept the SaneBox Data Processing Addendum before processing EU personal data. The privacy policy was last modified on 1 February 2021 and still refers to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, invalidated in 2020; no current transfer mechanism is stated.
Data location / EU residency
Not stated on the vendor's site. The privacy policy says service providers may be located outside the United States; SaneBox, Inc. is based in Boston, USA.
Retention and AI training
Personal data is deleted when you cancel; activity logs after 30 days. SaneBox says it never sells your data. Whether data is used to train models beyond your own filters is not stated on the vendor's site.
These are the vendor's statements, not our security audit. When we write “not stated”, we couldn't find the answer on its public pages. Ask before relying on it.
Pros
Works with almost any mailbox: Gmail, Microsoft 365, Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail and IMAP, in any email app.
Cheap: from $5.42 a month on annual billing, far below AI drafting assistants.
Nothing to learn: filtered mail goes to normal folders, and you train it by moving emails.
Strong follow-up tools: BCC reminders from any client, plus snooze folders.
Header-only analysis: SaneBox says it never stores email bodies or attachments.
Clean exit: cancelling can return everything to the inbox; 30-day money-back guarantee on request.
Cons
No AI writing: it doesn't draft replies or take meeting notes.
Features are rationed by plan: Snack allows 2 power tools, Lunch 6 per account; everything needs Dinner ($26.58/mo annual).
No free plan, only a 7-day trial.
Dated privacy paperwork: privacy policy from February 2021 citing Privacy Shield; no SOC 2, ISO 27001 or stated EU residency.
Business pricing isn't published: team plans go through sales.
Priced per email account: more than 4 accounts means contacting support.
Sorts Gmail or Outlook and also drafts replies in your tone and records meetings with follow-up emails. Much pricier per person and credit-based; Gmail and Outlook only, where SaneBox also covers IMAP, Exchange, iCloud and Yahoo.
A full AI email app with Split Inbox, Write with AI, reminders and team comments, but you switch apps and it supports only Gmail and Microsoft 365 accounts. SaneBox keeps your current app and costs a fraction.
Copilot Business add-on $21/user/mo paid yearly ($18 promo to 31 Dec 2026)
Copilot Chat included with eligible Microsoft 365 plans
Drafts, rewrites and summarises in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams when you ask, but doesn't filter your inbox in the background. Needs an eligible Microsoft 365 Business plan.
On 29 Oct 2026 the pricing page showed Snack (1 email account, 2 features) at $5.42 a month billed annually or $9.49 monthly, Lunch (2 accounts, 6 features each) at $9.08 or $15.99, and Dinner (4 accounts, all features) at $26.58 or $42.99. Two-year billing is cheaper.
Is there a free version of SaneBox?
No. There's a 7-day free trial with all features for up to 4 email accounts, and a 30-day money-back guarantee that you request from support.
Does SaneBox work with Outlook and Exchange?
Yes. SaneBox lists Microsoft 365 and any Microsoft Exchange, ActiveSync or IMAP server, and filtered mail shows up in Outlook as ordinary folders.
Does SaneBox read my emails?
SaneBox says it analyses only header data (sender, subject, date) and how you interact with mail, and never stores full emails or attachments.
Does SaneBox write or draft replies with AI?
No. SaneBox's AI decides what is important and files mail; it doesn't write emails. For drafts in your tone, look at Fyxer AI or Superhuman.
Is SaneBox GDPR compliant?
SaneBox's terms say it takes GDPR seriously and offer a Data Processing Addendum that business customers must accept. Its privacy policy dates from February 2021 and still refers to Privacy Shield, and EU data residency isn't stated.
Partner program: Public affiliate program on PartnerStack (sanebox.com/partners; apply at sanebox.partnerstack.com): up to 30% lifetime commission on subscription revenue, paid on paid conversions only; referred customers get a $25 credit. Verified 2026-10-29. We are not a member, so this is a direct vendor link.
Last verified 2026-10-29. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
