When it comes to managing your inbox, Gmail has long been the default for millions around the world. But while Gmail offers a solid foundation, it often falls short for professionals and teams who need more powerful tools to manage busy inboxes and team collaboration. That's why we made Spark - a modern email client designed to help you take control of your inbox, boost productivity, and work better with your team.
Let’s examine how Spark compares to Gmail and why it might be time to make the switch.
Manage all your inboxes in one place
For professionals who juggle multiple email accounts - whether it’s personal, work, freelance projects, or client-specific inboxes - Spark offers a truly unified experience. With Spark, you can connect all your accounts to view, search, and manage all your emails from a single, unified inbox. This means no more wasting time switching between tabs, logging in and out, or relying on multiple browsers or apps just to keep up with incoming messages. The unified inbox intelligently organizes your emails, so you can focus on what matters most without the friction of context-switching. Whether you’re replying to a client email from your business account or setting aside a newsletter from your personal account, Spark keeps everything accessible and organized in one place.
Gmail, on the other hand, takes a more fragmented approach. While you can technically link multiple Gmail accounts, you can only actively manage one inbox at a time. Switching between accounts requires navigating through a drop-down menu or opening new tabs - and in some cases, using completely separate browser profiles. This setup can quickly become cumbersome, especially for users who receive high volumes of email across different accounts.
Native apps for every platform
One of Spark’s biggest advantages is its commitment to delivering a native app experience on every major platform - including macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Whether you're on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone, Spark provides a fast, reliable email client tailored to the platform you’re using. This ensures a consistent and seamless user experience, whether you're checking your inbox on your iPhone during your commute or drafting a detailed reply from your desktop at the office.
Spark’s desktop apps are thoughtfully designed with native OS performance, interface patterns, and keyboard shortcuts in mind, enabling quicker workflows and better responsiveness. Tools like drag-and-drop, multi-window support, and OS-level integrations (such as calendar and notifications) make Spark feel like a natural part of your productivity environment.
Gmail, on the other hand, does not offer a native desktop app. You're limited to using it through a web browser, which can feel restrictive compared to a dedicated client. While mobile apps are available, the lack of full desktop support means Gmail doesn’t provide the fully integrated, cross-platform experience that Spark users enjoy.
Highly customizable inbox
At Spark, we focus on user feedback, which means we’ve tailored our product to requests over the years. Users can customize the inbox experience to match their personal or professional workflow. Whether you prefer a minimalist interface or a robust view highlighting what’s most important, Spark gives you the tools to make your inbox work for you, not the other way around. Choose between three inbox organization styles and switch views as you like - each offering a different way to organize and visualize your emails.
With the Smart Inbox, Spark categorizes emails by personal messages, newsletters, or notifications, helping you zero in on what’s relevant and filter out distractions. Spark also includes Priority tools that allow users to mark certain senders as important and get emails from them at the top of the inbox. You can even fine-tune notifications per account or sender, so you’re only alerted about emails that truly matter.
Gmail does offer some customization features, such as organizing emails with tabs (Primary, Social, Promotions), applying labels, and setting up filters for basic automation. The interface itself is mostly fixed, with little flexibility to change inbox layouts or personalize how information is presented. While Gmail includes notification controls, they aren’t very granular and typically apply across the entire account rather than specific senders or message types.
Spark +AI
Spark +AI are Premium tools designed to help you save time and work more efficiently. At its core, it assists with email composition, offering real-time improvements and suggestions to help you write clearer, more effective messages. You can explore +AI Summary to options to condense and pick out key information from emails, while highlighting action points. +AI Meeting Notes has been a popular addition, allowing you to automatically generate concise transcripts and AI-generated summaries from video calls - ensuring that you’re always on top of the conversation. This is especially useful for busy professionals who frequently juggle multiple meetings and need to stay on top of key takeaways without the burden of note-taking.
Google’s AI offering, Gemini, is available within Gmail, for users on paid Google Workspace plans. Gemini provides impressive functionality across the broader Google ecosystem - including document summaries, smart replies, and AI writing assistance.
Beyond email - calendar and integrations.
Spark goes far beyond traditional email by integrating essential productivity tools directly into the app - helping you manage your day without switching between multiple platforms. With Spark, your calendar is built in, so you can view upcoming events and schedule meetings from the app. Whether you're replying to a meeting invite or setting up a call, everything happens in one place - eliminating context-switching and saving valuable time.
It also connects with a wide range of productivity tools like Asana, Notion, Trello, Evernote, Zoom, and more. These integrations allow you to turn emails into actionable tasks or create video call links with a single click, making it easy to move from communication to execution without missing a beat.
While Gmail is part of the broader Google Workspace suite, it still requires users to switch between separate apps or browser tabs to access tools like Google Calendar. There’s no built-in calendar view within Gmail, and moving between messages and your schedule can feel disjointed. Integrations in Gmail are limited unless you're using paid Workspace plans or third-party extensions, many of which require separate configurations.
Built for Teams
Spark is designed with team collaboration at its core, offering a suite of tools that transform email from a solo task into a shared, dynamic workspace. Shared inboxes make it easy for teams to collectively manage customer support, sales inquiries, or any group email, with clear visibility into who is handling what. This eliminates confusion, duplicated responses, and missed messages. Spark also supports real-time co-writing of drafts, enabling multiple team members to collaborate on emails together - perfect for crafting proposals, announcements, or complex responses with input from various stakeholders.
With Spark, teams can share entire email threads to get input from colleagues without forwarding or cluttering inboxes. You can also comment privately on emails, allowing for side discussions that stay separate from the main conversation but remain accessible within the thread.
Gmail’s interface and feature set are largely designed for individual use. While Google Workspace offers collaboration tools - like shared drives and Google Docs integration - Gmail itself lacks built-in team collaboration features for managing emails collectively. There’s no native way to comment privately on emails, co-author drafts in the inbox, or maintain shared inboxes without relying on additional tools or complex workarounds.
Which is better: Spark vs Gmail?
While Gmail is a dependable choice for millions, its web-only desktop access, limited inbox customization, and lack of native team collaboration features can hold back professionals and teams needing more powerful tools. Managing multiple accounts often means juggling tabs or browser profiles, and Gmail requires switching between separate apps for calendar and task management, disrupting workflow.
Spark is an email pioneer, continuously developing cutting-edge tools. It offers a personalized experience at affordable pricing. Whether you’re an individual looking for powerful AI tools or a team needing robust collaboration features, Spark delivers everything you need to manage email efficiently while giving you great features at a price that makes sense. Spark is a standout choice for both individuals and teams.
Choose Spark if you:
- Need an email client that smoothly works with multiple email accounts in one unified inbox
- Use advanced tools like Smart Inbox, AI Meeting Notes, and integrated calendar management
- Rely on team collaboration features like shared inboxes, co-editing drafts, and private comments
- Looking for affordable pricing for individuals and teams, with native apps on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android
Choose Gmail if you:
- Prefer a familiar, widely used email platform with solid basic features
- Use Google Workspace and rely heavily on its integrated suite of separate apps
- Don’t need native team collaboration within the inbox itself
So whether you’re juggling multiple inboxes, working closely with a team, or just want a smarter way to manage your day, Spark gives you the tools to do it better.
Ready to upgrade from Gmail? Download Spark and experience the difference today.
FAQ: Spark vs Gmail
1. Can I try Spark for free?
Yes, Spark has a free plan with essential tools and also offers a free trial for additional email capabilities. Spark’s Premium tools come with a monthly subscription (monthly and yearly billing options are available).
2. Can I try Gmail for free?
Yes, Gmail offers a free personal plan with 15 GB of storage and core email features. For business use, Google Workspace offers paid plans with additional tools, custom domains, and more storage.
3. Which email providers are supported in Spark?
Spark supports Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo and custom IMAP and EWS email providers. Moreover, Smart Inbox in Spark combines emails from added email accounts into Unified Inbox and organizes them by categories to show what’s important and help process emails faster.
4. Which email providers are supported in Gmail?
Gmail supports Gmail accounts as well as third-party providers like Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, AOL, and any custom email service that uses IMAP or POP protocols.
5. Can I turn off AI features?
Yes, with Spark, you absolutely can turn off AI features.
Spark offers its AI tools as part of its Premium plan, which means they're entirely optional. You have the control to use them when you need them or ignore them completely if you prefer.
In the general settings, you can also turn off Gmail’s AI tools, such as Smart Compose, Smart Reply, and grammar suggestions.
6. Does Spark offer a team plan?
Yes. Spark offers dedicated Spark for Teams features such as Shared Inboxes, Shared Drafts, Shared Threads, Assignments, Read Statuses, and more collaborative features. You can create a team in Spark for free and start exploring Spark for Teams. To upgrade your team to a more advanced collaborative experience, you will need to upgrade to Team Premium. Team Premium starts at $6.99 per user per month when billed annually.
7. Does Gmail offer a team plan?
Yes. Gmail is included in Google Workspace, which provides team and business plans with features like custom business emails, shared calendars, enhanced security, and collaboration tools such as Google Meet and Drive. You can start with Google Workspace Business Starter and upgrade to higher tiers for more storage and advanced features. Pricing starts at about $6 per user per month, depending on the plan and billing options.
The Readdle Team 
