Gmail in Chrome
Where it runs
Triage + Briefing
Primary job
Still Gmail
Mail storage
InboxSift is not a new email host and not a personality-trained writer. It overlays Gmail, reads recent Inbox messages you authorize, and turns them into a short morning list: things to do, things to know, and everything else.
This review covers what it actually does in 2026: classification, Briefing, contact preferences, categories, multiple Gmail accounts in the UI, and optional Smart Reply.
Act / Know / Noise
Act is mail where you are expected to do something: reply, pay, confirm, submit, attend. Know is a personally relevant fact that is not a task—a package delivered, a room change, a receipt. Noise is the leftover: promotions, generic digests, social kudos.
The overlay does not pretend every automated email is Know. If you would not notice if it never appeared in Briefing, it should not be there.
Briefing is the product surface
Briefing is not a second inbox. Action lines are supposed to look like “Confirm — Thursday 2pm,” not a restated subject. Know lines are a single useful fact. That is how you get through mail faster without speed-reading HTML.
Contacts, categories, accounts
You can teach senders Always Act, Always Know, Always Noise, or let InboxSift decide. Smart categories (newsletters, receipts, travel, school/work, and so on) help you browse by type. The UI can follow personal, work, and school Gmail tabs; OAuth is still per connected Google account.
Who it is for
People who already live in Gmail and hate the mixed pile. It is less useful if you need a full email client, offline IMAP, or a Superhuman-style keyboard command palette as the whole product.
InboxSift vs reading Gmail top to bottom
| Need | Gmail list | InboxSift |
|---|---|---|
| What needs a reply | You open threads | Act list + action line |
| Worth knowing | Buried in recency | Know in Briefing |
| Promotions | Same stack | Noise, still in Gmail |
| Draft a reply | You write it | Smart Reply when you ask |
Privacy, in one paragraph
Emails remain in Gmail. InboxSift requests Gmail read access to classify, brief, and (if used) draft Smart Reply. We process message content for those features—we do not claim we never read your emails. Revoke access anytime in your Google account.
Frequently asked questions
- Is InboxSift free?
- Yes — install from the Chrome Web Store. We may add optional paid features later with notice; there is no invented pricing here.
- Does it send email for me?
- No. Smart Reply proposes a draft. You send from Gmail.
- What Gmail access does it need?
- Google sign-in plus gmail.readonly so it can load recent Inbox mail and threads. It does not ask to send, delete, or modify messages.
Sources & further reading
Published 2026-09-04. See also our full article library.