11 Email Auto-Reply Templates to Save You Time

Emails, emails, emails. We can't predict next week's weather, but our forecast for your inbox next week is straightforward:

You'll get plenty of new office emails tomorrow, with chances of junk mail.

Your emails take up more than a quarter of your workweek, so it’s a no-brainer that you would have a lot of catching up to do after a week-long vacation.

Fortunately, nowadays, you can set up an automated office email reply to save you time and manage your emails. Automated email replies can provide information needed by the sender while you are unavailable, or respond to business inquiries or job applications you receive.

You don’t want to mess it up and send an automated email saying you might not ever respond or set it up to reply to all the emails you’ve received (we wonder why that’s even possible).

You can thank us later, but we made sure we covered the basics, including the best templates and do’s and don’ts. Also, we included a section on setting up Gmail or Outlook for automated email replies. You'll save time managing emails and you can go on a vacation without having to check your inbox.

What is an Automatic Email Reply?

An automatic email reply or out-of-office email is an automated response sent on your behalf when receiving messages that meet certain conditions.

Most email clients let you set up auto-replies to answer emails automatically within a set period using a pre-written email template. In other words, your emails will answer themselves with a pre-written message when this feature is on. For example, an out-of-office reply informs the sender of your absence, the duration, and a contact person while you are away.

An automatic email reply can be used for various situations like being sick, out to a conference, on vacation, on maternity leave, or on annual leave. It can also be used for business inquiries or job applications. Whether you're out of the office or you don’t want to always type the same reply to every email while analyzing the inquiry or application, automatic email replies are for you.

Best Automatic Email Reply Templates

An automatic email reply is only as good as the template. We’ve created templates for common situations when automatic email replies are useful. In addition, our templates use variables to personalize your emails in Missive.

The great thing about Missive is that you can create rules to decide when to send your out-of-office email (the dates you will be away) or choose specific people or conditions to send your responses (for example, only people within your company like template #3).

Setting up auto-replies in Missive is easy. Just follow this guide.

Here are the best auto-reply email templates to start using for professional replies.

1. Out-of-Office Auto-Reply Email Template for a Holiday

Holidays are the times in a year when you see distant family and get long weekends, not reply to emails. Different businesses have different holiday policies, so it's important to set up an automated ooo messageto let others know when you start and return from a holiday.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

I will be out of the office for the {{ holiday_name | description: "name of the holiday" | confirm }} from {{ departure_date | description: "date you leave on holiday" | confirm }} to {{ return_date | description: "return date" | confirm }}. I will not be able to respond to emails during that time.

If you need assistance before I am back in office, please contact {{ contact_name | description: “contact name" | confirm }} at the following {{ contact_email | description: “contact email" | confirm }}.

Kind regards,

[Your signature]

2. Out-of-Office Auto-Reply Email Template for a Vacation

Who doesn’t need a vacation sometimes? Well this ooo message is perfect for that, and we made sure it is professional; no need to mention the piña colada here.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

I am currently on vacation and out of the office until {{ return_date | description: "return date" | confirm }}.

For immediate assistance before my return, please contact {{ contact_name | description: “contact name" | confirm }} at {{ contact_email | description: “contact email" | confirm }}.

Best regards,

[Your signature]

3. Out-of-Office Auto-Reply Email Template for Internal Emails

Whether you are on holiday or you are on a sick leave, you might need to let your colleagues know of your absence. Here, make sure you use a rule to send this ooo message only to emails coming from within the company (e.g., emails with the domain @companyname.com) to avoid sending this template to external parties.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

I am out of the office until {{ return_date | description: "return date" | confirm }}. I will not be monitoring my emails during that period, and I will be replying when I return to the office.

For any urgent matter, please contact me at {{ contact_name | description: “contact name" | confirm }} at {{ contact_email | description: “contact email" | confirm }}.

All the best,

[Your signature]

4. Out-of-Office Auto-Reply Email Template for Maternity Leave

The gift of life grants some well-deserved time off work. Depending on your line of work and company policy, you might have a shorter or longer maternity (or paternity) leave, and it's important to notify people. Try this autoresponder:

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

I will be on maternity leave from {{ departure_date | description: "date you start your leave" | confirm }} and I am set to return on {{ return_date | description: "return date" | confirm }}.

Any inquiries during that period can be addressed to {{ contact_name | description: “contact name" | confirm }} at {{ contact_email | description: “contact email" | confirm }}.

Best regards,

[Your signature]

5. Out-of-Office Auto-Reply Email Template for a Sick Leave

When you get sick, the best thing is to stay at home. Whether you will be out of office for a long period or just for the day, it is best to let people contacting you there will be a delay in your response.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

I am out of the office due to sickness until {{ return_date | description: "return date" | confirm }}. I will not be monitoring my emails during that period and will reply upon my return.

During my absence, urgent matters can be addressed to {{ contact_name | description: “contact name" | confirm }} at {{ contact_email | description: “contact email" | confirm }}.

All the best,

[Your signature]

6. Auto-Reply Email Template for Someone No Longer With Company

Imagine still receiving emails from your old job. It would be weird, right? Well, if someone isn’t on the payroll anymore, you better make sure the sender that the ex-employee person won’t be replying to any of those emails anymore.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

I am no longer working for {{ company_name | description: “company name" | confirm }} and I will not be monitoring this email anymore.

Any matter I was responsible for can now be addressed to {{ contact_name | description: “contact name" | confirm }} at {{ contact_email | description: “contact email" | confirm }}.

Best regards,

[Your signature]

7. Out-of-Office Auto-Reply Email Template Offering Alternative Contact Methods

Sometimes your email may not be the best way to reach you. You might be out of the office or in a meeting only reachable by phone. If you want to offer another way to get in touch, this is it. This autoresponder template is best for situations where the recipient may need to reach the sender urgently, even if you’re out of the office.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

Thank you for reaching out through my email. I will be replying to you within {{ number_day | description: “Number of business days to reply" | confirm }}.

However, if you need to reach me before then, you may do so at {{ contact_method | description: “alternative contact method" | confirm }}.

Best greetings,

[Your signature]

8. New Support Request Auto-Reply Email Template

This one is handy if you’re on the support team. People who require immediate assistance want help and they want it FAST. If you reply right away saying you will look into their urgent problem, it gives the sense you are caring.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

Thank you for contacting us. We're analyzing your request and we will reply within {{ number_day | description: “Number of business days to reply" | confirm }}.

Do not hesitate to visit your support website for other questions {{ support_link | description: “support website" | confirm }}.

Best regards,

[Support team signature]

9. General Business Inquiry Auto-Reply Email Template

This one will usually be used to reply to your general business email. Replying right away gives a sense that you care about the inquiry, but it also gives you time to give a more personal reply to the inquiry.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

Thank you for reaching out to {{ company_name | description: "company name" | confirm }}. We appreciate the interest you have in our company. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

More information on what we do and our business offer can be found at {{ company_link | description: “company website" | confirm }}.

All the best,

[Your signature]

10. New Lead Auto-Reply Email Template

New leads are not customers yet. You want to make the best impression to maximize your chances of turning a lead into a client. Make sure you set up an automated reply and show you care for potential customers.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

Thank you for your interest in {{ company_name | description: "company name" | confirm }}. We aim to offer the best {{ product_name | description: “product name" | confirm }} and the best service. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you have any questions or more details on your needs, do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

[Your signature]

11. Job Application Auto-Reply Email Template

Candidates for open positions are harder to come by these days. It can also be a stressful process for candidates. A quick reply will show you care and that you are interested in the application.

Hi {{ recipient.first_name | default: 'there' }},

Thank you for your interest in {{ company_name | description: "company name" | confirm }}. We aim to get back to potential candidates for the {{ job_name | description: “job title" | confirm }} position within {{ number_day | description: “Number of business days to reply" | confirm }}.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

[Your signature]

Thank you for your interest in {{ company_name | description: "company name" | confirm }}. We aim to get back to potential candidates for the {{ job_name | description: “job title" | confirm }} position within {{ number_day | description: “Number of business days to reply" | confirm }}.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

[Your signature]

How to Create Professional Automatic Email Reply Templates?

When writing an automatic email reply, keep it short and professional. You might be on a vacation drinking mojitos, but the sender still expects a professional response.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing an automated email reply:

Keep it short: You should keep it simple and only include all the information necessary to the sender, including why you are away, the period you are away for, and how to contact you or who to contact during your absence.
Keep it professional: do not include unnecessary details about your absence. Remember, this is a professional email. You might be on vacation enjoying the minibar, but you have to remain professional while using your work email.
Warn the person you are redirecting emails to: You don’t want to be leaving extra work for your colleagues while you're away. Remember, you wouldn’t drop a ton of paperwork in their office, so don’t do it when you're away!
Check for grammar mistakes: You might consider yourself the grammar god, but we are never immune to a typo or a grammar mistake, especially if you write your reply in a rush. Reread and double-check with an online corrector. You wouldn’t want to look bad for a tiny typo in your automatic reply.
Be clear about the alternative contact method: You want to include who to contact or how to contact you while you are away. You also want to include whether you will monitor your emails or not.
Include a professional email signature: this will give all your information to the sender and make it look more professional.

Now that we have covered what to do, let's go over a few common mistakes you should avoid when creating your auto-replies:

Turn off your automatic email reply when you come back to work. You would not want clients or colleagues to get that reply while you are sitting in your office.
Do not include the option of urgent contact if you do not want to be disturbed. If you allow this option, you might receive calls for things you don’t judge urgent but that the sender does.
Do not try to be funny. You might be the funniest person in the office, but a joke on paper is rarely as good as it is when you tell it in person. Imagine trying to make a joke on dinosaurs and coming upon a grumpysaurus (see how awful it is when it’s written instead of told).

Automated Email Replies Made Simple

Writing an automatic email reply is about keeping it short, concise, and professional. If used when you’re out-of-office, you want the recipient to know how long you'll be away, why, and who to contact.

If you are not using Missive, you can easily set up automated email replies in Outlook and Gmail.

Setting Up Automated Email Replies in Outlook

Setting up in Outlook has fewer steps, but more limited options compared to Google and Missive. Here's how to set up an automated reply:

Select file → Automatic reply → Send automatic replies
Choose when to send by these messages by clicking Only send during this time range
Choose date and times for the automatic reply
Use one of our templates or type your own reply
Click OK

Setting Up Automated Email Replies in Gmail

Setting up in Gmail is very easy. Here’s how to create one:

First, you’ll need to enable templates. For this, go to Setting → See all settings → Advanced → Templates
Click on Enable
Now, it’s time to compose your template (or use one of ours). To do so, in the Compose field, type your template
Click on the three dots → Templates → Save draft as template → Save as new template
Type the template name and click on Save

You can also create filters so your templates only send when an incoming message meets certain criteria. You can use a common word that will appear in the email, specific senders, or subject that will trigger your automated email reply.

Here’s how to create a filter:

In the search bar (on main page), click on Show search options
Choose your common word, sender or object and type it in the search bar, then click on Search
Check if you have satisfying results → Search bar → Show search options → Create filter → Send template → Select your template → Create filter

Now that you have the basics and the best templates, it’s your time to shine and increase productivity. You’ll save time using those templates and automated email replies.

Feel free to use and adapt the templates to your context. You can also modify the used variables to fit your needs.

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As AI continues to grow in popularity, email management is one of the most competitive spaces for AI tools. Fyxer AI has gained a lot of attention, promising to save you one hour a day as your AI assistant dedicated to meeting and email management.

This article will break down what Fyxer AI is and some alternatives that exist in the market.

What is Fyxer AI

Fyxer AI is an AI assistant that connects to your Gmail or Outlook inbox. It does three things well:

Triaging and categorizing emails
Auto-drafting replies in your voice and tone
Being your note taker on meetings (and giving you a scheduling link)

It genuinely feels like a capable assistant that manages your email directly within your existing Gmail/Outlook inbox. There's no new interface to learn, no complex installation. Just an organized "person" who opened your messy inbox and took over, in a way that still granted you control over what's sent out.

Within 10 minutes of setting up Fyxer AI, all my emails were auto-tagged into one of their default labels (I use Gmail):

To enable auto-drafting of replies, you have to give Fyxer AI's draft prompter a bit of context related to your tone and business.

And here's what an auto-drafted reply looked like:

This is a great experience for anyone who wants to stay in the Gmail or Outlook interface, but really need on-going organization and administrative help because of the high volume of emails that they handle personally.

Like Superhuman, Fyxer AI is focused on inbox throughput—how much faster can you process your emails. Although that's an important goal, often times, it's the wrong goal.

Maybe the question is whether you should be replying to most of those emails in the first place, which we'll get into for some of the Fyxer alternatives.

When looking at Fyxer AI alternatives, we included 3 types:

Similar functionality and similar interface (Gmelius, Hiver)
More functionality and different interface (Missive, Shortwave)
Similar functionality across multiple independent tools (Clean Email/SaneBox + Copilot/Gemini + Granola AI)

We'll start with similar functionality and interface and work our way down the list.

Gmelius - Gmail-only Fyxer alternative

Thanks to a Gmail-native UI, Gmelius is a good Fyxer alternative

Like Fyxer, Gmelius exists on top of your existing Gmail interface so you have a familiar experience with new functionality.

Gmelius also has an AI-powered assistant that auto-categorizes and can draft replies on your behalf. There are small details between the two options, for example:

By default, Fyxer will only draft replies for the emails that are auto-labeled "to respond". Gmelius will try to respond to every email, but for those that they detect as promotional, they will add a note saying they didn't respond because it is a promotional email. It's a small detail, but the execution of Fyxer's approach feels smoother.

On the other hand, Gmelius is also a collaboration focused tool instead of a purely productivity focused tool like Fyxer, which means Gmelius has more functionality for teams that work together within an inbox. They have the ability to chat internally on emails, assign emails to others, create automations that run based on certain AI tagging, SLA escalation, and more.

Both Gmelius and Fyxer have a closed AI assistant, meaning you're not able to bring your own AI key and select the models that you work with. This is great for those who don't really have a preference on which AI model they prefer.

From a pricing perspective, Gmelius is a little bit more expensive than Fyxer:

Starting at $24/user/month billed annually compared to Fyxer's starting at $22.50/user/month billed annually.

If you're looking for a Fyxer alternative that is a little more oriented to teams but has much of the same functionality and interface, then Gmelius might be the one.

Hiver - Customer support Fyxer alternative

Similar to Gmelius, Hiver integrates directly into your existing email client, giving you a familiar interface to work with. Unlike Gmelius, Hiver supports Gmail and Outlook accounts.

Like Fyxer, Hiver has an AI-powered email assistant that can help you auto-draft emails and auto-label emails based on their contents. Though, like Gmelius, it's not quite as simple as Fyxer's default experience since Hiver's core users are customer support teams working out of shared inboxes.

If you're an executive that's just looking to replace Fyxer's lightweight functionality, without any of the team related features like collaboration, automated workflows, analytics, or SLA monitoring, then Hiver might be a little overkill.

Could you get it to work? Absolutely. Will it feel like it was built for your use case? Probably not.

From a pricing perspective, Hiver's plans that include AI start at $19/user/month billed annually. However, there are limitations on how many AI-drafted replies you can have (20/user/day).

Missive - Fyxer alternative for teams

Screenshot of Missive Inbox: Displaying an internal conversation within a customer email thread

Now we're moving onto tools with more functionality than Fyxer, but will also have a less familiar interface.

Missive is an email client for teams that need to collaborate in their inbox. Like Fyxer, you can create AI-powered email assistants that help you triage, label, and draft replies. Unlike Fyxer, Missive is way more flexible in implementation, which depending on who you are, could be a good or bad thing.

Missive allows you to bring your own AI key and choose your own model. That means if you want to use a specific model for drafting emails versus triaging, you can fine tune that experience.

Since Missive is a collaborative inbox meant for your whole team, your AI assistant can assign and triage emails to the right people, instead of just sorting it in your own inbox. Imagine an old client emails you because you have a long standing relationship, but it's a question meant for your support team.

The same is true for drafting replies, instead of just drafting replies based on your own personal inbox, Missive's AI automations can help your whole team auto-draft replies to customers.

That's critical if you're handling hundreds if not thousands of emails every day. You can get the most common questions taken care of by an AI assistant.

Where Missive lacks compared to Fxyer is it's scheduling and calendar functionality. Missive has a calendar that's good for team visibility but it's lacking any AI assistant features.

From a pricing perspective, Missive is comparable to Fyxer at $24/user/month for plans that include AI automations.

Shortwave - Full-featured Fyxer alternative

If you're looking for an AI-powered email client, essentially Fyxer but with more features, then Shortwave might be a good fit.

Shortwave has all of Fyxer's AI assistant features right out of the box—auto-drafting emails, default AI categorization, calendar scheduling—and they have some team collaboration features as well.

Since Shortwave is it's own email client, it looks and feels quite different from Gmail and Outlook. It also only supports Gmail accounts. They say there's a workaround for Microsoft 365, Outlook and other email providers, but it's essentially forwarding your email account to a Gmail account, to connect to Shortwave.

If you don't want or need the level of customization and flexibility that Missive has, you don't care to BYOK (Bring your own keys), and you use Gmail/Google Workspace—Shortwave could be a good Fyxer alternative for you.

From a pricing perspective, Shortwave is the exact same pricing as Missive at $24/user/month for plans with full fledge AI functionality.

Clean Email + Copilot

If you mostly loved Fyxer for it's ability to sort and organize emails, there are AI-powered tools like Clean Email that focus exclusively on that. And for your drafting needs, you can use Copilot or Gemini (depending on if you're a Gmail or Outlook user) as your AI assistant to help draft the occasional email.

Like Fyxer, Clean Email is a tool that works within your existing email client. It has some predetermined categories that it will suggest and label your emails as, and it can learn your preferences over time.

Copilot is a general AI-assistant that comes free with the Microsoft suite. You can use simple prompts like: Check for typos and make it more professional.

Or more complex prompts like:

You're an executive assistant replying to emails on my behalf. Make sure to take into consideration the existing tone of the conversation and match it. If it's a customer or prospective client asking about a specific product question, use https://learn.missiveapp.com/ to find the answer. Do not make up any information.

From a pricing perspective, Clean Email is $9.99/month/email account and Copilot has a free plan typically included in your Microsoft 365 subscription, with Pro plans starting at $30/user/month.

SaneBox + Gemini

An alternative to Clean Email and Copilot would be SaneBox and Gemini. Incredibly similar functionality and features, with minor differences around user interface. Gemini would also be a better fit for anyone already in the Gmail/Google Workspace ecosystem.

Where SaneBox stands out in comparison to both Clean Email and Fyxer is it's third party integrations. By offering connections to other popular tools like ToDoist, SaneBox allows you to create basic automated workflows within your inbox. Something in between Missive's super flexible and powerful automations and Fyxer's one and only integration to HubSpot.

From a pricing perspective, SaneBox starts at $7/user/month with some usage limits. Google's Gemini has a free option, with paid plans starting at $19.99/month

Which Fyxer AI alternative is right for you?

Fyxer AI offers a compelling solution for tackling email management, seamlessly integrating with your Gmail or Outlook to help you regain valuable time. Its strengths in triaging emails, drafting replies, and note-taking make it a strong contender in today’s crowded AI productivity tool landscape.

However, it’s worth considering various alternatives like Gmelius, Missive, or Shortwave, each bringing unique features and interfaces that could better align with your specific needs.

As AI productivity tools continue to innovate and redefine how we interact with our inboxes, exploring your options will ensure you find the perfect fit to enhance your productivity.

Welcome to the great business email debate—Gmail or Outlook?

Emails are the lifeblood of many businesses. They’re how people inquire about your services, it's how you communicate with clients and vendors, and maybe it's even how you communicate internally with your team.

We'll be doing an in-depth analysis of the two big email providers (Gmail vs Outlook). And give you the information you need to make a decision on which email service you'd like to build your communication system from.

We'll be going over:

Individual features and functionality
Collaboration and team features
Security and privacy
Pricing

Feature	Gmail / Google Workspace	Outlook / Microsoft 365
Collaboration	Real-time co-authoring in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides. Emphasizes simple, cloud-first collaboration.	Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) supports real-time co-authoring. Integrates with Microsoft Teams, though less “cloud-native.”
Organization	Uses labels (multiple labels per email). Automatically groups messages into threads based on subject.	Folder-based; each email can only reside in one folder. Offers rules for automated sorting.
Storage	Free 15 GB across Google services; paid tiers from 30 GB up to 5 TB per user (or more in Enterprise plans).	Business Basic starts at 50 GB mailbox + 1 TB OneDrive. Enterprise plans allow up to 100 GB mailboxes and more advanced features.
Security & Privacy	Confidential Mode (not full end-to-end), machine-learning spam detection, encryption at rest/in transit.	Office Message Encryption, Microsoft Defender (anti-phishing), Information Rights Management (IRM), TLS encryption at rest/in transit.
Offline Mode	Primarily in Chrome; up to 90 days cached locally. Can be less reliable on other browsers.	Offline support through Outlook’s OST files. Often more robust for large mailboxes.
Shared Mailbox	Same interface as a personal inbox, minimal collaboration tracking. Good for addresses like info@ or sales@.	Shared mailboxes can integrate with SharePoint, Power Automate for ticketing. Collaboration steps may rely on Microsoft Teams notifications.
Search	Fast email/attachment search. Emails over ~102 KB get “clipped” in web UI, but not blocked from sending.	Searches email, attachments, contacts, events, tasks. More comprehensive but can be slower with large mailboxes.
Pricing	Personal (free) or from $6/user/mo (Business Starter) to $18/user/mo (Business Plus). Enterprise tiers also available.	Starts at $6.30/user/mo (Business Basic), up to $23.10 for Business Premium. Enterprise from $36–$57/user/mo.

Gmail and Google Workspace

There are two ways to create an email with Google.

You can either have a free, personal email address that ends in @gmail.com, with limited storage (15gb across your Google Suite), or you can pay for Google Workspace (Gmail for business) and create an email address with your business domain: @yourcompany.com, have more storage, and more admin/security controls over your email service.

The Google Workspace business plans vary:

Business Starter ($6/user/month) with 30 GB of storage/user
Business Standard ($12/user/month) with 2 TB of storage/user
Business Plus ($18/user/month) with 5 TB of storage/user
Enterprise (custom pricing)

Whether you have a Gmail account or a Google Workspace account, your inbox will look similar.

Features and functionality

Labels
- Gmail labels are incredibly flexible and meant to be the main organizational feature.
- You can use Gmail labels for everything from light project management (To-do, in-progress, blocked, in review) to client filing (names of each client account or project code), to topical sorting (personal, travel, etc)
Categories
- Gmail can auto-detect what they think an email is about, and assign it to one of their four default categories: Primary, Social, Promotional, and Updates.
- This default functionality was introduced in 2013 and can be changed in settings.
Search
- Gmail's search is fast and quite accurate at surfacing relevant results. You can filter by sender, date range, or labels. Note: Gmail's search content is primarily looking at email and attachments, and actively ignores items like calendar events and tasks.
Calendar
- The default calendar app of the Google Suite offers up some helpful business tools. Outside of the standard ability to create an event and invite attendees, you can easily create scheduling links to share and it's smart enough to detect event invites in your Gmail inbox, and auto-create them in your calendar.

Gmail's collaboration and team tools

This is where Google shines. Their real-time collaborative documents were a game changer when they launched back in 2006 and has become the preferred tools for many organizations since.

Google Docs, Sheets, Slides
- Compared to Microsoft, these tools were built with real-time collaboration first. If you plan on working on documents and files with other people, Google is the way to go.
Google Drive—cloud file storage and sharing.
Google Chat—Instant messaging.
Gmail Shared Mailbox
- The most common use case of a shared inbox is a businesses' info@, sales@ and support@ inboxes.
- The shared inbox allows multiple people to login and access, without sharing passwords.
- Gmail's shared inbox has the exact same interface as its regular inbox. You're able to label, filter, and search in the shared inbox just as you would your personal.

Gmail's security and privacy

When looking at Gmail's security measures for Google Workspace accounts, here are two that stand out:

Confidential mode—it's not quite end-to-end encryption, but it does allow users to set expiration dates, revoke access, and restrict forwarding/printing of emails.
Anti-phishing protection—using machine learning, Gmail will often flag suspicious attachments, links, or spam emails with a prominent orange banner.

Gmail uses TLS for email transit and has encryption at rest and in transit.

Common user complaints

With over 1.8 billion Gmail users worldwide, there are some very well known issues and tradeoffs within the Gmail's functionality. Here are three common ones:

Email size limits—Gmail truncates emails at 102 KB; requiring you to click a "view more" link to read long emails in it's entirety If you have lengthy emails to send, you'll likely get frustrated by this limitation.
Threaded emails—Gmail sorts related emails into a single thread, and they'll group them based on subject lines and reply sequences. That's helpful if you're receiving duplicate newsletters (you just want to see one new email for all those duplicates), but if your client is sending you different topical emails with the same subject line, Gmail will also group them together.
Offline mode—Gmail's offline mode works best on Chrome, and has been reported to be less reliable on other browsers or operating systems. Local storage capped at 90 days of email history, so any older emails will not be accessible until you're connected to internet again.

Outlook and Microsoft 365

Like Gmail, Outlook is Microsoft's free, personal email service; Microsoft 365 is essentially Outlook for business, equivalent to Google Workspace.

Here's an overview of the Microsoft 365 plans (assuming an annual payment, as of April 1, 2025):

Business Basic ($6.30/user/month) with 50GB email storage and 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage.
Business Standard ($13.13/user/month) with all of the above, plus desktop versions of Microsoft Office apps (5 devices per user).
Business Premium ($23.10/user/month) with all of the above, plus security features like Microsoft Defender for Business and device management tools for company devices.
Enterprise (ranges from $36-$57/user/month) with Exchange Online email hosting, large amounts of mailbox storage (100 GB/user), and more advanced security and privacy controls. Typically Microsoft 365 enterprise plans start at 300 users.

Features and functionality

Outlook Folders
- The biggest difference between labels and folders (Gmail vs Outlook), is the one-to-one relationship. One email lives in one folder at a time in Outlook, where as one email can have multiple labels attached to it in Gmail.
- Many users appreciate the drag and drop functionality within Microsoft Outlook, that allows you to easily move an email from one folder to another.
Outlook Search
- Outlook's search function goes beyond emails and attachments, pulling in contacts, calendar events and tasks. It's more comprehensive than Gmail's search, but that also impacts it's speed. It’s often slower, especially with large mailboxes.
Outlook Calendar
- Outlook's default calendar has a very deep integration with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office. So if you use Microsoft everything, keeping the Outlook Calendar will be a smoother experience.
Outlook Rules
- Outlook has two main types of rules. The first will only run if your Outlook email is open (like a notification sound), and the second will run on the mail server all the time (i.e. sorting certain emails into certain folders, custom spam/junk mail removal, auto-forwarding emails when you're OOO, etc). The second set of rules is primarily for incoming emails, which depend on if/then statements and doesn't allow for more complex conditions (if/else) or preferences.

Outlook's team collaboration tools

Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- The original productivity office suite focused on individual usage. There's a reason why Excel is still the market leader for those who need deep functionality. In recent years, Microsoft added collaborative features to all these tools, however they've been known to be less seamless compared to Google Workspace.
OneDrive—cloud storage and file sharing.
Microsoft Teams—team chat and video conferencing.
Outlook Shared Mailbox
- It’s very similar to Gmail’s shared mailbox, but with one key difference: you can integrate an Outlook shared inbox with ticketing (Share Point) and automation (Power Automate) tools that are included in the Microsoft 365 suite. This would allow you to create and track "tickets"—particularly helpful for your support@ inbox.
- This functionality is limited and has a heavily reliance on notifications and collaboration outside of the inbox (in Microsoft Teams).

Outlook's security and privacy

With thousands of enterprise customers, Outlook's security and privacy are tuned for those standards.

Office Message Encryption—send encrypted emails with controls on whether those emails can be forwarded, printed, or copied.
Advanced Threat Protection/Microsoft Defender—essentially Microsoft's version of anti-phishing protection. It does offer real-time URL scanning through its Safe Links feature.
Information Rights and Management—allows users to control forwarding/copying of email contents.

And just like Gmail, Outlook uses TLS encryption for email in transit. And data at rest is also encrypted.

Common user complaints

Search Delays/Freezes—because Outlook has a more comprehensive search (looks for things beyond email and attachments), and because they support larger inboxes, it means search is often really slow or doesn't work at all.
Visibility Issues in Shared Inboxes—though Outlook has shared mailboxes, there is a lack of functionality around coordination or collaboration. So though multiple people can be in your sales@ inbox without privacy issues, you still don't know who's working on which email.
Mobile Outlook apps are missing features—you can't create rules and automations, advanced search strings aren't supported, and there are no custom views.

So which email service is better—Gmail vs Outlook?

As with most decisions in life, it depends.

Google Workspace is collaborative at its core, though its shared inbox and email automation options are more limited.

Microsoft Outlook is more robust in it's DNA overall, but can feel overly complex and lacking in modern design.

If your business prioritizes simplicity and collaboration with clients, team members, and vendors—I would err on the side of Gmail and Google Workspace.

If you work in a field with a lot of sensitive information (i.e. law, accounting, etc), then I would err on the side of Outlook and their very high standard for security controls.

Whether you choose Gmail or Outlook, there are some business email hygiene factors to follow:

Don't share passwords to share inboxes
Say no to forwarding if you need to collaborate
Always have anti-phishing and spam protocols in place for your team. Test often.

Which email service is best for teams?

Neither Outlook or Gmail was really designed for teams. They added on some lightweight features (shared mailboxes), but if you truly live in your inbox everyday, replying to clients, team members, and vendors—you'll want something designed specifically for team collaboration and shared inboxes.

That would be us—Missive!

Missive is an email client that sits on top of your chosen email service—whether that's Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, or Apple Mail.

It has all the features that are loved in Gmail and Outlook—labels, rules, snoozing, but supercharged with more functionality. Including AI powered rules that allow for auto-translation, auto-labeling, and so much more.

But don't just take our word for it, here's Arif, a lawyer and long time Outlook user, who recently signed up for Missive:

When I open Missive, I can hit Inbox Zero quickly. I never had that feeling with Outlook.

And here's Pat, a property manager and Gmail user, who recently signed up for Missive:

We’ve tried so many shared inbox solutions. Missive was unexpectedly powerful. Suddenly, we weren’t scrambling over lost emails or letting days slip by.

So whether you're Team Gmail for business or Team Outlook for business—you can try Missive today and get the best collaborative email client for businesses.