Android Outlook alternative: 4 apps reviewed

While Outlook is free and offers features sufficient for an average user, it suffers from a few notable shortcomings. It’s not particularly user-friendly due to its somewhat complex layout compared to leading providers. Many users have complained that the interface feels cluttered and overwhelming, hindering quick navigation. 

Organization can be a challenge, too, with search functionality sometimes proving frustrating and time-consuming. If you’re seeking an email experience that simplifies your workflow and prioritizes organization, exploring alternatives becomes essential. In this guide, we’ll discuss what to look for in an Android Outlook alternative and explore options that can enhance your productivity and simplify your email management. 

Whether you only want to change your email client or switch to a different provider altogether, you should consider four factors when comparing different options:

1. Workflow enhancement

2. Features

3. User interface

4. Pricing

Outlook's seemingly cluttered layout and limited organizational tools are among its key drawbacks, so it's important to find a solution that truly enhances productivity. You need a dynamic tool that goes beyond basic decluttering—one that empowers you to manage email communications efficiently and effortlessly. 

When choosing an alternative, ensure it integrates seamlessly into your routine to become your productivity partner. Your email experience should make your workflow more impactful by:

• Making organization effortless: The tool should help you move from rigid folder structures to creating personalized, customizable views that adapt to your unique projects and priorities. It should make it easy to group related emails so you can see the big picture and stay on top of critical conversations.

• Seamlessly integrating into your workflow: The solution should work in sync with your other productivity tools so you can quickly transform your emails into actionable tasks and calendar events. It should allow you to schedule meetings from your inbox without switching between apps. 

• Offering automation: Your alternative should reduce repetitive tasks by providing top-line automation features, such as AI-powered sorting and filtering, and automated scheduling capabilities, so you can have more time to focus on important work. 

A truly modern email solution should enable you to manage your inbox efficiently and help you reclaim your time by simplifying difficult and automating repetitive tasks so you can focus on the important ones. 

The features you’ll look for in an email provider depend on your needs, though there are some universal functionalities every service should offer, such as:

• Email organization features (labels, folders, etc.)

• Thorough email search, preferably allowing you to search email contents

• Email aliases and custom domains

Mobile email platforms should particularly focus on features adapted for remote work. Viewing emails on your smartphone means you’re likely working on the go, so the app should enable flexibility.

You can get this through features like scheduled sending, auto-replying, and reminders. It also doesn’t hurt to have the undo-send option in case you forget to add the attachment or want to make a change to the email.

A well-designed user interface is important on any device, but it’s absolutely essential on smartphones due to the smaller footprint. Intuitively structuring all the necessary features is quite a challenge when you don’t have much space, and not every email provider gets it right.

If you’re unsure what makes an excellent mobile user interface, pay attention to the following:

• Clearly visible key functions while composing an email

• Swipe gestures for convenient management

• Minimalistic design

Ideally, your app's user interface should be equally well-designed on other platforms to ensure cohesiveness. You likely won’t spend as much time emailing on your phone as you will on your laptop or PC, so look for solutions with solid cross-platform support.

If you’re considering switching from Outlook’s free version, you’re likely looking for a cost-effective solution, unless you need advanced features. Thankfully, many free email services can meet the needs of regular users. However, you might encounter some potential trade-offs.

For example, you might find free services offering helpful organizational features but lacking crucial solutions, such as AI-powered assistance or beautifully designed interfaces that lack robust search or easy integrations with your other tools. Trade-offs like these force you to sacrifice efficiency in one area to gain it in another. 

When reviewing email providers, carefully weigh the balance between free features and paid upgrades. Exploring alternatives that prioritize both efficiency and streamlined workflows can reveal services that offer a solid set of free features without forcing you to compromise. 

To give you some variety and cover apps with unique selling points, we’ve picked the following four alternatives to Outlook:

1. Gmail

2. BlueMail

3. Spark Mail

4. Notion Mail

The main reason Gmail is on this list is the fact that Google owns Android, making Gmail the platform’s native email provider and client. The app is well-optimized, which is no surprise. You shouldn’t encounter many bugs or usability issues, so your email experience will be smooth enough.

Gmail’s user interface is clean and modern, so there aren’t any particular objections in this area. The main screen shows your inbox with the search bar at the top and the hamburger menu that opens the familiar left-side pane with email folders. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see the Google Meet icon, so you can organize and enter meetings directly from the main screen.

Gmail is free to use, but you only get 15 GB of combined storage, compared to Outlook’s dedicated 15 GB for email, plus 5 GB for OneDrive. You’d have to sign up for Google One or one of the Business tiers to expand it.

The free version also doesn’t offer robust automation features that are increasingly relevant for efficient email management and maximizing productivity. While it does include Smart Compose for drafting assistance, its free version lacks advanced AI-driven features like automated sorting or customizable workflows that can significantly streamline email management. 

Keep reading: Discover how Gmail stacks up against Office 365 and learn which tool is better for business—Gmail or Outlook.

BlueMail is a third-party email client you can use to manage multiple accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.). It offers multi-platform support, including a well-designed Android app focused on customization and personalization.

You can switch between a light and dark theme or choose automatic switching depending on the time of day. There are also various design options and custom color schemes that let you make the interface more aesthetically pleasing.

BlueMail also comes with excellent organizational features. You can organize mail in clusters based on different criteria to enjoy a cleaner-looking inbox. This can be particularly valuable if you add several accounts to the platform.

The Later Board feature is also quite useful—it lets you assign tasks related to emails and add them to one place for a clear overview. This way, there’s a lower chance of forgetting to read or reply to an important email.

While it supports integration with various calendars, it doesn’t offer the same level of seamless, deep integration with a comprehensive productivity suite as some other platforms. This can be limiting if you need a fully integrated email experience, with email being a central hub for your work. 

Besides this, there aren’t many downsides, barring an occasional complaint about the platform not showing timely notifications and lagging if you add several email addresses at once. While the latter is mostly annoying, missed messages could lead to more serious problems.

Spark Mail is another third-party email platform worth considering if you’re only looking to leave the stock app behind while retaining your Outlook account. It’s equipped with various features that set it apart from other solutions, so it’s suitable for beginners and advanced users.

The platform lets you prioritize conversations and contacts by pinning them in your inbox, which is a decent way to avoid clutter. You can also schedule email sessions, which is helpful if you tend to check your email too often and want to set some boundaries.

Spark Mail offers some AI assistant features, which help you simplify and speed up email composition to give you the necessary highlights. It can streamline your emailing experience and significantly reduce manual labor.

Unfortunately, the AI assistant and prioritization are only available with Spark Mail’s paid plans:

• Premium Individual: $4.99 per month

• Premium Teams: $6.99/user per month

There are still some helpful organizational features included with the free plan:

• Send Later

• Reminders

• Snooze

• Smart Inbox

Casual users might find the free plan suitable for their needs, but advanced or business users might need to subscribe to enjoy the platform’s full potential.

There’s also no web version, which most clients and providers offer. It’s worth factoring this in, even if you’re only looking for an Android app, as you should have a backup in case the app crashes. 

If you’re seeking an Android Outlook alternative that prioritizes productivity, organization, and efficient email management, Notion Mail stands out. It’s a free, AI-first email service designed to help you beat email overload. It focuses on smart email management and customization, integrates seamlessly with your workflows, and helps you manage your inbox with greater focus and efficiency. 

Notion Mail leverages AI and automation to help you organize your inbox with custom views, auto-labeling, and message prioritization. It also simplifies your workflow through automated tasks, easy meeting scheduling, and AI-assisted email composition, ultimately boosting productivity and freeing up time for other tasks. 

Notion Mail comes with several productivity features designed to boost your productivity, including:

• AI autopilot: You can use AI to simplify multiple aspects of your workspace. For instance, you can create a straightforward prompt to search for emails with a deadline indicated. 

• Intelligent scheduling: Notion Mail can also help you schedule meetings directly in the email, using the short /schedule command or a scheduling button, to avoid conflicts and minimize follow-ups with your team.

• Quick replies and snippets: Notion Mail has built-in quick replies that adapt to you or your organization’s needs. Its reusable email snippets (AI-supported templates) help you create personalized emails in a few clicks.

• Keyboard shortcuts: Notion Mail allows you to use simple keyboard shortcuts to complete tasking actions, such as marking emails as read, replying, or forwarding an email. 

Notion Mail is a Gmail-only client, which means you’ll need to sign up using a Gmail or Google account to gain access. 

Notion Mail is built with the same focus on productivity as Notion itself, offering deep integration with Notion’s ecosystem. You can connect your email directly with tools like Notion Calendar (free of charge) and the core Notion app, creating a unified space for managing email, tasks, scheduling, and notes—all in one place. 

Additional features include the ability to mention or search for Notion docs from your inbox, use AI with Notion content, and even send emails directly to your Notion workspace, streamlining your entire workflow.

Notion Mail is free to use, but if you need access to advanced productivity features, you can also get the Notion AI add-on. To start using Notion Mail, all you need to do is sign up with your Google or Gmail account, and that’s it. 

Bonus read: Want to explore more alternatives or see how other tools compare? Check out some of our other guides: 

• Apple Mail vs. Outlook

• Best Proton Mail alternatives

• Gmail vs. Apple Mail 

• Best Yahoo alternatives

• Business Gmail vs. personal Gmail

• Best Gmail client solutions

• Zoho Mail vs. Office 365

• Best Gmail app for Mac