BlogAI assistant
Business email with an AI assistant included
Most email hosts now sell AI, so ask two things: what does it cost per person, and what does it do in your inbox? Shipmail's assistant is part of the plan price, from $4 a month, however many people use it. It answers questions about your mail, drafts replies in your style and sets up rules you describe in plain words.
Founder of Shipmail. Building business email hosting for solo founders and small teams.
- AI assistant
- Business email
- Pricing
Short answer
Shipmail includes an AI assistant on every plan, from $4 a month for the whole account, with no per-user AI fee. Ask it what still needs a reply, have it draft in your writing style, or describe a rule or automation in plain words. It is in beta, its replies are drafts you send yourself, and it stays off until you turn it on.
What the assistant does in your inbox
Open AI assistant from the sidebar and ask in plain language. It works across the mailboxes you can already open, with the same permissions as the rest of your account.[1]
- "Which emails from this week still need a reply from me?"
- "Summarize what came in from Acme since Monday."
- "Draft a reply to Lena saying we can deliver on the 14th." The draft lands in your Drafts folder.
- "Move every invoice from last month into a Billing folder." It shows the exact effect first and asks you to confirm.
- "Why did my message to this client bounce?" It checks delivery for you.
Drafts follow your Writing Style. You paste a few replies that sound like you, and each save becomes a version. Shipmail never learns from your Sent mail behind your back. On Pro, Team and Scale, a Rewrite button in the composer also shortens or polishes a draft you wrote.[1]
Set up rules and automations in plain language
Sorting by sender or subject is an inbox rule. Describe it in chat, for example "put mail from our accountant in Finance", and the assistant writes the rule. Rules run on the mail server during delivery, with no model involved.Sources[1]Shipmail Assistant documentation[2]Shipmail automations documentation
Work that needs judgment becomes an automation. Say "when an email looks like an invoice we still have to pay, move it to Billing and star it", or "send me a summary of my mail every morning". The assistant compiles the trigger, conditions and actions, and you confirm before anything is saved.[2]
- Test first. A sandbox run uses isolated storage and cannot change live mail.
- Check each run. Recent runs shows what triggered it and every step it took.
- Sending stays off. Automatic replies only work if your organization turns them on, and only inside an existing conversation. Anything new or sensitive is held as a draft.
Where your email goes when you use it
The assistant is off until you turn it on. When it is on, Shipmail sends your prompt and the email or calendar details needed to answer it to OpenAI, which processes them for Shipmail. Shipmail does not use your email to train models.[3]
An admin can turn AI off for the whole organization under Settings, General, Data. Event suggestions from incoming mail work differently. They run on a model on Shipmail's own server in Germany, and no outside AI provider sees that mail.Sources[1]Shipmail Assistant documentation[3]Shipmail privacy policy
What it costs compared with Copilot and Gemini
Shipmail charges for the plan, not for each person, and the assistant is part of it. Five people on Pro pay $9 a month in total, assistant included.Sources[4]Shipmail pricing[1]Shipmail Assistant documentation
- Microsoft 365: Copilot Business is an add-on to a Business plan at $21 per user a month, paid yearly. An offer running until December 31, 2026 cuts the first year to $18. Five people add $105 a month at list price.
- Microsoft also includes Copilot Chat, with Copilot in Outlook, at no extra cost on eligible plans.
- Google Workspace: Gemini in Gmail is included on every Business plan, Starter included. You still pay per user, so each teammate raises the bill.
If you want AI inside documents and spreadsheets, Google and Microsoft do more. Shipmail has no documents. Its assistant works on your mail, calendar and the rules around them.Sources[8]Google Workspace pricing[7]Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing
Prefer Claude or ChatGPT? Connect them instead
The Shipmail MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT, Grok and other agents read, draft and send from a mailbox you pick. You choose the permissions when you sign in, for example Read and draft. You can revoke the connection any time under Developer, Connections.Sources[5]Shipmail MCP server docs[6]Shipmail MCP permissions and security
What beta means here
Beta means it changes week to week. It does not mean the included part is temporary. Chat stays included in paid plans, and features added later may be priced separately. Fair use applies.[1]
How to try it
To try Shipmail's AI assistant, start the 14-day trial, turn the assistant on and open it from the sidebar. Then ask it about real mail in your inbox.[1]
- Step 1
Start a trial or sign in
Every plan starts with a 14-day trial, and the assistant is part of it.
- Step 2
Turn it on and open AI assistant
It sits in the sidebar, next to your mail.
- Step 3
Ask about real mail
Start with "Which emails from this week still need a reply?" Then paste two or three of your replies into Writing Style.
Sources8 sourcesVerified 2026-10-15
- [1]Shipmail Assistant documentation
The AI assistant answers what needs a reply, finds conversations, files messages, sets up inbox rules for future mail and drafts replies. Its replies are normal drafts in the Drafts folder, Writing Style drafts from pasted examples, and organization admins can turn AI off for everyone.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
- [2]Shipmail automations documentation
Plain-language automations compiled by the AI assistant and confirmed before saving: triggers on new email, a schedule or manual runs, sandbox tests, Recent runs, and automatic sending off unless the organization enables it, limited to existing conversations. Deterministic sorting belongs to inbox rules that run on the mail server.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
- [3]Shipmail privacy policy
The optional Assistant runs after the user explicitly enables it; Shipmail then sends prompts and the email or calendar information needed to answer them to OpenAI, which acts as Shipmail's processor. Shipmail does not use email content to train models, and event suggestions run on a model on Shipmail's own server in Germany.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
- [4]Shipmail pricing
Shipmail plan prices, mailbox limits, team access, and send limits.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
- [5]Shipmail MCP server docs
Official Shipmail MCP server tools, resources, prompts, and install steps.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-14
- [6]Shipmail MCP permissions and security
How Shipmail limits an MCP connection: Read and draft, Mail assistant, Full access or Custom permissions, mailbox-password sign-in limited to one mailbox, and revoking under Developer, Connections.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-01
- [7]Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is an add-on for existing Business plan customers at $21 per user per month on annual billing, with an $18 first-year promotion from July 1 to December 31, 2026. Copilot Chat, including Copilot in Outlook, comes at no additional cost with eligible plans.
microsoft.com · 2026-10-15
- [8]Google Workspace pricing
Google Workspace pricing page; it shows the visitor's local currency (USD figures are in the payment-plans table). Business Starter: 30 GB pooled per user, Meet for 100 without recordings saved to Drive, no appointment booking pages, Gemini in Gmail and the Gemini app at basic access. Business Standard: 2 TB pooled, Meet for 150 with recording, appointment booking pages, Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Chat and Vids. Business Plus: 5 TB, Meet for 500 with attendance tracking, Vault and eDiscovery. Business plans capped at 300 users. Enterprise: contact sales, no user minimum or maximum, Meet for 1,000 with in-domain live streaming, AI classification for Drive; AI Expanded Access sold as an add-on. Introductory discounts for new customers only, shown for October 28, 2026 to January 28, 2027, with amounts that varied between visits.
workspace.google.com · 2026-10-15
Questions worth answering
Common questions about business email with AI assistant.
Does Shipmail's AI assistant cost extra?
Can an AI assistant send email without me?
Who sees my email when I use the assistant?
Is Copilot or Gemini cheaper for a small team?
Can the assistant set up email rules for me?
Related guides
More on Shipmail pricing, comparisons, and team workflows.
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