Macro Mail Review

Macro Mail is a multi-account inbox with keyboard shortcuts for navigating, marking things done, and searching, plus shared inboxes and contact and company lookup. Because it lives in Macro, you can @mention people, docs, tasks, and channels in an email and open them directly, create tasks from messages, and chat with teammates in the same app. AI agents handle drafting, automations, and tag labeling, and everything draws on Macro's shared AI memory.

Most people will use the hosted app at macro.com, which signs you in with a Gmail or Google Workspace account. Self-hosting means running the Macro monorepo, with a Docker Compose stack, a Nix dev shell, and docs/RUNNING_LOCALLY.md as the entry point. The README lists no hardware requirements, and the platform comprises around 42 services, so self-hosting only makes sense if you want the whole suite.

The design goal is a fast inbox you can run without the mouse, with email, chat, and tasks reachable from one place and a unified inbox that combines channel mentions, email, and task assignments. The hosted Free plan adds a Sent with Macro footer to your emails and limits connected accounts to two. We did not use it hands-on; this section reflects the README, pricing page, and OpenAlternative.

• Keyboard-first inbox with multi-account support and shared inboxes
• @mentions that link email to docs, tasks, people, and channels
• Tasks created directly from email
• AI agents for drafting, automations, and labeling
• Built-in chat in the same workspace

• Speed-focused email that connects to the rest of your work
• Open-source suite with AI that has context across mail, docs, and tasks
• Active development, with releases on a daily or weekly cadence

• Gmail-focused, so other mail providers are not covered by the README
• The Free plan adds a Sent with Macro footer and caps connected accounts at two
• Needs the broader Macro suite to deliver its value, and self-hosting is heavy
• Handing your inbox to an AI workspace is a privacy decision, even with the vendor's stated zero data retention agreements

Self-hosting is free under AGPL-3.0. Hosted Macro lists Free at $0 with 5 GB of storage, limited AI, and the email footer; Pro at $40/seat/month with unlimited connected accounts and a 30-day trial; and Max at $200/seat/month. A team needs a paid seat for every member.

Gmail is the storage and delivery layer that Macro Mail currently builds on, so Macro replaces the client rather than the service. Compared with Gmail's own interface, Macro offers deeper keyboard control, built-in tasks and chat, and agents that act on mail. Compared with Apple Mail, it adds the workspace links but gives up native simplicity.

• Gmail power users who want a faster, keyboard-driven client
• Teams that want email, tasks, and chat in one open-source workspace
• People who want AI agents with context across mail and docs

• Users on non-Gmail providers
• Anyone who wants a simple, standalone mail app
• Privacy-sensitive users who do not want mail processed by AI services