What Is Superhuman Email?
Superhuman Mail is a paid email client that mainly aims to enhance workflow speed and productivity. In practical terms, Superhuman mail doesn’t replace your email provider. Instead, it changes how you interact with your inbox by introducing a keyboard-first workflow, faster navigation, and features designed to reduce manual sorting and follow-up tracking.
What Does Superhuman Do?
Superhuman tries to make handling email more efficient by minimizing clicks and helping users move through messages more quickly. Features like reminders, split inbox views, and quick command actions are designed to reduce friction in day-to-day email use.
That said, Superhuman doesn’t fundamentally change how email works - it reorganizes and speeds up common actions within its own interface. For users dealing with a high volume of emails, this can make inbox management more manageable, but the benefits depend on individual workflow, as well as considerations like cost and compatibility with various providers.
Does Superhuman Work with Outlook?
Superhuman is primarily built for Gmail users, although it did add Outlook support a couple of years ago. For anyone asking whether they’ll be able to use their Outlook account with the Superhuman app - the answer is yes. It doesn’t support other providers apart from Google and Outlook, though.
Key Features of Superhuman Mail
The main features of Superhuman email are centered around reducing the time it takes to process messages and keeping inbox management structured. Most of them build on familiar email concepts, but are packaged into a more controlled interface.
Split inbox
One of the core elements is the split inbox, which divides your inbox into separate sections (called “Splits”) for different types of emails. This allows users to prioritize important conversations and batch-process similar messages.
-
Reminders and auto-drafts
Another key feature is built-in reminders. It allows emails to resurface if no reply is received, helping users keep track of pending conversations. If you’re a higher-tier subscriber (Business or Enterprise plan), you can also use the auto-drafts feature, which will prepare a follow-up email ready for you to send.
-
Read status tracking
Superhuman also includes read status tracking, which indicates when an email has been opened by the recipient. This can give users additional context when deciding whether to follow up or wait for a response. However, its usefulness varies depending on the situation and how much visibility the recipient’s email client allows. Many email clients reduce tracking accuracy by blocking or limiting external images, which can prevent tracking pixels from loading reliably.
Some apps, such as eM Client, go further by specifically detecting tracking pixels and blocking them or prompting the user before loading external content to protect their privacy. Because of this, read status indicators don’t always provide a fully reliable view of recipient engagement.
-
Keyboard shortcuts
Navigation and interaction in Superhuman rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts. Official documentation describes Superhuman Command, accessed via Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows), as a central way to access actions such as searching, navigating, and performing tasks within the app. Many common email actions, such as archiving, replying, and moving messages, are also available through keyboard shortcuts.
-
AI features
Superhuman integrates AI features directly into the inbox workflow rather than as separate tools. These include email drafting assistance, thread summarization, and automatic labeling of incoming messages, along with automation features such as reminders and archiving.
These features are embedded into core actions like reading, replying, and organizing emails, allowing AI-assisted functions to operate within the same interface as manual email management. This approach positions AI as part of the operational layer of the inbox rather than as an optional add-on or separate mode of use.
Is Superhuman Good? Pros & Cons
So, is Superhuman the right choice for you? It depends on what you expect from an email client. It is generally positioned as a high-performance inbox tool focused on speed, keyboard-driven workflow, and reducing time spent processing email. Reviews and documentation consistently highlight its emphasis on fast navigation and productivity-oriented design.
However, this approach comes with clear trade-offs, particularly around cost, platform constraints, and certain built-in tracking features.
| PROS |
CONS |
| Fast workflow: Built around keyboard shortcuts and quick actions for processing email efficiently. |
High cost: Subscription pricing is relatively expensive compared to standard email clients. |
| Clean interface: Minimal design that reduces clutter and focuses on inbox prioritization. |
Limited flexibility: Only supports Gmail (personal or Google Workspace) and Outlook / Microsoft 365 accounts |
| Structured inbox tools: Features like split inboxes, reminders, and read tracking help manage follow-ups and organization. |
Privacy concerns: Read tracking relies on hidden image loading to detect opens, which may be blocked by recipient settings or viewed as intrusive when enabled without clear consent. * |
* More importantly, in some countries, such as those in the EU, mail tracking without explicit, informed consent is against the law.
How to Become “Superhuman” with Email Using eM Client
If you’re wondering how to reach a “superhuman” level of email mastery, the key isn’t just the app, but having a structured system that lets you process, organize, and follow up on messages efficiently. While Superhuman email is known for popularizing a speed-focused, shortcut-driven inbox approach, eM Client can be used as a full replacement for that workflow by combining similar efficiency features with broader email provider support and more flexible control.
eM Client is a unified email client that combines email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and chat in a single application, allowing users to manage communication and scheduling in one place.
To build a “superhuman” style workflow using eM Client, several of its built-in features can be applied:
Process email faster with shortcuts, Quick Actions, and QuickTexts
eM Client supports extensive keyboard shortcuts and Quick Actions, allowing users to move, tag, reply to, or archive emails in fewer steps. It also includes QuickText, which lets users insert prewritten snippets into emails to speed up repetitive responses and standard communication. Together, these features help streamline common email tasks and support a faster, more efficient workflow.
-
Organize your inbox using categories, rules, and folders
eM Client uses inbox categories, folders, and rules to organize incoming email. Categories group messages into tabs such as Primary, Social, and Promotions based on sender and message metadata, helping reduce clutter. Folders provide manual and automated storage for messages, while rules allow users to automatically process emails based on conditions like sender or subject, including moving, labeling, or marking messages.
-
Manage follow-ups and timing with built-in controls
Features such as Send Later, Snooze, and message flags allow users to control when emails are sent or reappear. This helps reduce missed follow-ups and keeps the inbox focused on current priorities rather than long-term clutter.
-
Maintain control over multiple accounts in one workspace
eM Client supports Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, and any other provider that supports POP and IMAP in a single interface. This makes it easier to manage multiple inboxes without switching between tools, which is often a limitation in more closed, ecosystem-specific email clients.
-
Use built-in AI tools for writing and editing emails
eM Client includes AI-assisted features for generating replies, rewriting text, adjusting tone, and improving clarity. These tools are integrated directly into the compose and reply workflow, allowing users to speed up writing without leaving the email interface. AI features improvements are going to be implemented in the upcoming eM Client 11, such as AI Summarize.
-
Reduce inbox noise with privacy-focused message handling
eM Client helps keep the inbox cleaner by filtering unwanted messages through built-in spam rules and user-defined blacklists. It also limits exposure to hidden tracking by allowing users to control whether external images and remote content are loaded when reading emails. For security, it supports PGP encryption and digital signatures, letting users protect sensitive content and confirm the identity of senders. These tools provide stronger control over incoming mail and improve protection against tracking and tampering.
eM Client can be used as an alternative way to build a highly efficient email workflow. While Superhuman focuses on speed, a streamlined interface, and an optimized inbox experience, eM Client takes a broader approach by combining email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and chat into a single application. It supports efficient email handling through shortcuts, QuickText, and Quick Actions, along with organization features like folders, categories, and rules, and compatibility with a wide range of email services - including Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, and standard IMAP/SMTP providers.
Ultimately, both tools aim to improve productivity, but through different design priorities - one by refining the email experience itself, and the other by integrating it into a more flexible, all-in-one environment with broader account support.