Comparison

Spark Mail vs Mail

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Spark Mail

Streamline your email and calendar management with an AI-powered assistant. Organize multiple accounts, declutter your inbox with smart sorting, and use AI to draft replies, summarize threads, and manage your schedule efficiently.

Highlights
  • Unified inbox for multiple email accounts
  • AI-powered email summarization and drafting
  • Smart Inbox for prioritizing emails
  • Calendar management and meeting scheduling
  • Gatekeeper for sender screening
  • Team collaboration on emails
  • Integrations with productivity apps
Features
Read full description

Manage priorities, not emails. Spark brings every account into one inbox and automatically surfaces what matters most — so nothing slips through the cracks. Loved by millions and named "Best of the App Store" by Apple. "It's a combination of polish, simplicity, and depth." — FastCompany "You can create an email experience that works for you." — TechCrunch EVERY ACCOUNT, EVERY EMAIL, IN ONE PLACE Connect Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, GMX, and any IMAP account in a single unified inbox. STAY ORGANIZED WITH SMART INBOX Important emails from real people rise to the top. Newsletters and notifications stay neatly grouped below, out of your way. GET MORE DONE WITH EMAIL ESSENTIALS Mark emails as done or set them aside for later Mute threads you're no longer following Schedule emails to send later — even if your device is off Find anything fast with Smart Search and Smart Folders PROTECT YOUR INBOX WITH GATEKEEPER Pre-screen new senders and block unwanted contacts instantly. PRIORITIZE WHAT MATTERS Mark important senders so their emails always stay on top. Group emails by sender or domain to keep your inbox clean. WRITE FASTER WITH SPARK +AI Summarize long threads, draft replies, rephrase messages, and adjust tone. Your AI Assistant helps you clear your inbox, translate emails, and keep projects moving. MANAGE YOUR CALENDAR AND MEETINGS Connect your calendars to stay on top of your day in one app. CONNECT YOUR FAVORITE TOOLS Link Spark to Notion, Asana, Things, and 10+ integrations to act on everything in your inbox. COLLABORATE WITH YOUR TEAM Co-author emails and discuss in private comments Assign messages so everyone knows who owns what Share secure links to specific emails Track read receipts to keep work moving SECURE AND PRIVATE Spark encrypts your data, runs on Google Cloud's secure infrastructure, and is fully GDPR compliant. TRY IT FREE Stick with our powerful free plan, or try Spark Plus or Spark Pro free for 7 days. Download Spark and reclaim your day. FAQ Is Spark the best email app for managing multiple accounts? Spark brings Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, and any IMAP account into one unified inbox, so you can manage every email in one place instead of switching between apps. How is Spark different from Apple Mail and Gmail? Spark helps you focus on what matters, not just read email. It automatically prioritizes messages from real people, keeps newsletters out of the way, and can summarize, draft, and follow up so less falls through the cracks. How does Spark help with email overload? Spark surfaces important messages first, lets you snooze emails until you're ready, and helps you reach Inbox Zero without the grind. Higher plans flag what needs attention so nothing gets missed. Does Spark have AI features? Yes. Spark uses AI to write faster, reply clearly, and summarize threads. On Plus, AI helps you make better inbox decisions. On Pro, it acts on your behalf — drafting, organizing, and following up. Is Spark good for team collaboration? Yes. Teams can share drafts, comment privately, assign messages, and manage shared inboxes — no forwarding chains. Collaboration is available on Pro. Can I schedule emails to send later? Yes. Schedule any email to send at the right time, or snooze incoming messages to return when you're ready. Is Spark free? Yes. Spark is free to download and use. Spark Plus is for professionals who want a more focused inbox; Spark Pro is for those who need Spark to handle follow-through so nothing gets missed. Is Spark available on Mac, iPhone, and iPad? Yes. Spark works on iOS, iPadOS and macOS, and stays in sync across all your devices. Spark is made by Readdle. Terms of Service: https://sparkmailapp.com/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://sparkmailapp.com/legal/privacy-app Help: support@sparkmailapp.com

About

Mail

Consolidate all your email accounts into a single, organized inbox. Prioritize important messages, quickly respond with smart replies, and manage your inbox efficiently with features like scheduling and snoozing. Enjoy enhanced privacy with IP address hiding and read receipt prevention.

Highlights
  • Unified inbox for multiple accounts
  • Automatic message categorization
  • Priority Messages and summarization
  • Schedule send, snooze, and unsend emails
  • Smart Reply for quick responses
  • Mail Privacy Protection
Features
Read full description

Access, view and manage messages from all your email accounts in one place. Categorize your messages into easy to browse categories. Catch up on email easily with Apple Intelligence powered Priority Messages and summarizations. Manage your inbox by scheduling emails to send later, snoozing emails you want to get back to later and unsend an email in one tap. Features • Access email from iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, and Outlook as well as many other email providers - all in one place. • View all of your accounts in a single inbox, choose a specific mailbox or filter to see just Unread or Flagged messages. • Automatically organize your messages in to Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions categories and focus on the messages that matter most. • Stay on top of emails with Priority Messages, a new section at the top of your inbox that shows urgent emails. • Use Smart Reply to quickly respond to messages with a few taps. • Catch up on email quickly with summarization of messages and threads. • Find messages by sender, recipient or subject. Top hits make it easy to find what you’re looking for. • Manage your inbox by blocking a sender or muting notifications from an overly active thread. • Flag important contacts as VIPs to receive notifications when their emails arrive. • Triage email messages using swipe gestures that help you quickly archive, delete, flag, or mark messages as read or unread. • Use Mail Drop to send large attachments from any account through iCloud. • Hide your IP address with Mail Privacy Protection so senders can’t link it to your other online activity or determine your locations, and prevent senders from seeing if you’ve opened their email. • App Keywords (do not to exceed 70 characters): Mail, email, email app, productivity email, intelligent email

Screenshots

Spark Mail4 screens
Mail3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mail at none against Spark Mail's 17. Mail also leads on ratings volume (4.5M vs 83K) and device support (5 vs 3). Spark Mail's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 10 months) and review sentiment (61% vs 34%). On price, rating and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Spark Mail sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Mail asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Spark Mail against 4.6 for Mail. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mail has 4.5M ratings behind it against 83K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 61% of Spark Mail's written reviews are positive against 34% of Mail's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spark Mail ships an update weekly, Mail every 10 months. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Spark Mail versus Mail: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpark MailMail
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (83K ratings)4.6 (4.5M ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.1% of reviews — better34.1% of reviews
Number of ratings83K4.5M — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#98 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS16.410.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size392 MB8 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperReaddle Technologies LimitedApple Inc.

Customer experience

Spark Mail

All ratings82,725 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral3.3%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews3,178 reviews
Positive61.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative28.4%

Mail

All ratings4,515,156 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews8,753 reviews
Positive34.1%
Neutral8.0%
Negative57.9%

User reviews

Spark Mail

From 83K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent email management features
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
  • 📂 Effective email organization and categorization
  • ⏱️ Efficient workflow with snooze, scheduling, and templates
  • 💻 Seamless cross-device experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional sync and stability issues
  • 🔒 Concerns over privacy and data usage
  • 💰 Aggressive push for paid subscription
  • 📥 Unreliable notification delivery
  • 🔍 Inconsistent search functionality

Mail

From 4.5M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient email management
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Useful categorization of emails

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent swipe gestures
  • 🐛 Unreliable search function
  • 🐛 Emails disappearing or not syncing properly
  • 🐛 Slow email download and loading times
  • 🐛 Buggy performance after updates

Bugs and requests

Spark Mail

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Emails disappearing from the inbox
  • Delayed email delivery and sync
  • Crashes and freezes when opening the app
  • Issues with Exchange calendar and account sync
  • Incorrect email grouping and threading

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved spam filtering and email blocking
  • Option to disable email threading
  • Better calendar integration and management
  • Customizable email signatures and layouts
  • Expanded third-party app integrations

Mail

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Emails not downloading from server
  • Inconsistent behavior when deleting emails
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Drafts and sent emails disappearing

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add snooze functionality
  • Improve email organization and filtering options
  • Provide more customization options
  • Integrate better with other Apple apps and services

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Spark Mail

Subscriptions10
  • Spark Premium7 Days trial2 variants$7.991 Month
  • Spark Plus Monthly7 Days trial2 variants$10.001 Month
  • Spark Premium7 Days trial$11.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Spark Pro Monthly7 Days trial$20.001 Month
  • Get Spark Premium7 Days trial$41.991 Year
  • Spark Premium1 Year trial2 variants$59.991 Year
  • Get Spark Premium7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Spark Plus Annual7 Days trial$99.001 Year
  • Get Spark Premium7 Days trial$119.991 Year
  • Spark Pro Annual7 Days trial$199.001 Year
One-time3
  • Regular Powerbank$4.99
  • Big Powerbank$9.99
  • Huge Powerbank$19.99
None

Mail

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spark Mail free?
Spark Mail is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mail free?
Mail is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Spark Mail or Mail?
Mail is rated higher. Spark Mail averages 4.6 out of 5 from 83K ratings, while Mail averages 4.6 from 4.5M ratings.
Do Spark Mail or Mail have ads?
Neither Spark Mail nor Mail shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spark Mail or Mail?
Spark Mail ships an update weekly, and Mail every 10 months. Most recently, Spark Mail was updated on October 27, 2026 and Mail on October 27, 2026.

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