Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Mailpile VS ForthWrite

Compare Mailpile VS ForthWrite and see what are their differences

Mailpile logo Mailpile

Mailpile is a modern, fast web-mail client with user-friendly encryption and privacy features.

ForthWrite logo ForthWrite

Email that sounds like you, and gets measurably more like you every week. Drafts in Gmail, Outlook, and the browser. Free to start.
Visit Website
  • Mailpile Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-16
  • ForthWrite Landing Page
    Landing Page //
    2026-06-19
  • ForthWrite Dashboard
    Dashboard //
    2026-06-19
  • ForthWrite In Gmail
    In Gmail //
    2026-06-19
  • ForthWrite Pricing
    Pricing //
    2026-06-19

ForthWrite is an AI email writing assistant for Gmail and Outlook that learns your writing style from your real sent mail. The more you use it, the more it sounds like you. Get smart drafts in seconds, auto-draft replies before you open your inbox, and maintain your personal voice at scale. Free to start, no credit card required. Works inside Gmail and Outlook on the web.

How it works

ForthWrite captures your tone, sentence rhythm, and sign-offs from your actual sent emails, then uses that profile to generate drafts that match how you write, not a generic AI voice. Every draft you edit or send improves the model over time.

Key features

  • Auto-draft: replies waiting in Gmail before you open your inbox
  • Voice matching from your real sent mail, not templates
  • Recipient-aware drafts that adapt to who you are emailing
  • Prompt Lab for version-controlling and A/B testing your persona prompt
  • BYOK support: bring your own API key for Claude, OpenAI, Grok, Mistral, and more
  • Works in Gmail and Outlook on the web, plus a standalone browser widget
  • Training data export and full data portability

Who uses it

Professionals who send high volumes of relationship-critical email: lawyers, financial advisors, recruiters, account executives, founders, and anyone who wants their inbox handled without sounding like a chatbot wrote it.

Pricing

Free tier includes 10 drafts per week with no credit card required. Paid plans start at $12/month and include unlimited drafts, custom persona prompts, and auto-draft.

Mailpile

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

ForthWrite

$ Details
freemium $12.0 / Monthly (Standard plan)
Platforms
Web
Release Date
2026 June
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
City
San Diego
Founder(s)
Curtis Boortz
Employees
1 - 9

Mailpile features and specs

  • Privacy Focus
    Mailpile emphasizes privacy and security, offering strong encryption and tools to protect your emails from unauthorized access.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Mailpile allows users to inspect the source code, ensuring transparency and fostering community contributions.
  • User Control
    Users have full control over their data since Mailpile can be hosted locally, reducing reliance on third-party servers.
  • Feature-Rich
    Mailpile comes with a variety of features like contact management, email filtering, and search functionality to improve user experience.
  • Customizable
    The platform is highly customizable, allowing users to modify and extend its capabilities according to their needs.

Possible disadvantages of Mailpile

  • Setup Complexity
    Setting up and configuring Mailpile can be complex, particularly for users who are not tech-savvy or familiar with hosting applications.
  • Limited Support
    As an open-source project, Mailpile may lack the robust support options available from commercial email services, relying primarily on community resources.
  • Development Pace
    The development and release of new features and updates may be slower compared to commercial email providers due to potentially limited resources.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Mailpile locally can be resource-intensive, requiring adequate hardware to ensure smooth operation, which might be a limitation for some users.
  • Learning Curve
    Users might face a steep learning curve to fully utilize all the advanced features and customization options offered by Mailpile.

ForthWrite features and specs

  • Voice Matching
    Learns from your real sent mail, not templates
  • Auto-draft replies
    Replies waiting in Gmail before you open your inbox
  • Batch-drafting
    Draft replies for your entire inbox with one click
  • Works in browser
    Gmail, Outlook, and web browsers
  • BYOK support
    Claude, OpenAI, Grok, Mistral, and more
  • Prompt Lab
    Version control and A/B test your persona prompt
  • Free tier
    10 drafts per week, no credit card required

Analysis of Mailpile

Overall verdict

  • Mailpile (mailpile.is) is a good choice for users who prioritize privacy and open-source software.

Why this product is good

  • Mailpile is designed with privacy in mind, offering strong encryption features to protect email communications.
  • It is an open-source project, allowing users to examine and audit the code for security vulnerabilities.
  • The platform provides a user-friendly interface and supports a variety of email protocols.
  • Being a community-driven project, it frequently benefits from community feedback and updates.

Recommended for

  • Privacy-conscious individuals looking for an alternative to mainstream email providers.
  • Technically-savvy users who appreciate the ability to customize and contribute to open-source projects.
  • Users who need advanced encryption options for their email communications.

Mailpile videos

Mailpile tutorial: installing the Mailpile email client

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Mailpile tutorial: adding your first account
  • Review - Mailpile + Own-Mailbox: Finding GPG keys annonymously from key server!

ForthWrite videos

No ForthWrite videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Mailpile and ForthWrite)
Email
96 96%
4% 4
Writing Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Email Clients
100 100%
0% 0
Email Management
100 100%
0% 0

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Mailpile and ForthWrite.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

ForthWrite's answer:

Next.js, React, Supabase, Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Stripe, Vercel, Chrome Extensions API

What makes your product unique?

ForthWrite's answer:

ForthWrite learns your writing style from your actual sent mail, not a generic prompt. Every draft sounds like you wrote it because it was trained on how you actually write. It also auto-drafts replies before you open your inbox, so your email is partially handled before your day starts.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

ForthWrite's answer:

Most AI email tools give you a blank box and a "write for me" button. ForthWrite builds a voice profile from your sent history and gets more accurate with every draft you edit or send. Unlike ChatGPT or Gemini, it works natively inside Gmail and Outlook with no copy-paste. Unlike Lavender, it writes the draft, not just scores it.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

ForthWrite's answer:

Professionals who send high volumes of relationship-critical email and cannot afford to sound generic: lawyers, financial advisors, recruiters, account executives, consultants, and founders managing their own inbox.

What's the story behind your product?

ForthWrite's answer:

Built out of frustration with AI writing tools that produce text that sounds nothing like the person sending it, and as a way to handle large amounts of daily email. The core insight was that your sent mail is the best training data you already have, and no tool was using it.

User comments

Share your experience with using Mailpile and ForthWrite. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Mailpile and ForthWrite

Mailpile Reviews

5 open source webmail clients for browser-based email
Mailpile is an HTML 5 email client, written in Python, and available under the AGPL. Mailpile focuses on speed and privacy.
Source: opensource.com

ForthWrite Reviews

  1. curtisboortz
    ยท Founder at ForthWrite ยท
    I built ForthWrite to fix generic AI email, and I still use it every day

    I built ForthWrite because I kept sending emails that sounded like they came from the same generic AI as everyone else. After launching it, I still use it for my own inbox every day, which is about the most honest endorsement I can give.

    The Chrome extension lives inside Gmail and Outlook on the web. Open a thread, hit Alt+Shift+D, and a draft comes back in your voice, not a template. The free tier is real: 10 drafts per week, no API key, no credit card. Voice matching is included on free, because that is the point.

    What keeps it useful compared to Gemini or a chat tab: it learns from what you actually send. Every edit you make before hitting send becomes a signal. Over time the drafts drift closer to how you really write, and the dashboard shows the improvement curve so you can see it happening.

    The web compose surface lets you draft from forthwrite.ai without installing anything, useful for people who want to try before committing to the extension.

    Standard adds recipient-aware and intent-aware drafting plus AI coaching. Pro adds auto-draft (replies waiting when you open Gmail), batch replies, and Prompt Lab for version-controlling your prompts. Teams adds a shared persona and seat-level analytics.

    ForthWrite is not for everyone. If you just need quick replies and tone does not matter, Gemini is free and already in your inbox. ForthWrite is for people where tone does matter: client communication, relationship-driven threads, external correspondence where sounding off costs something real.

    Disclosure: I am the founder and use it daily. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Jace.ai, Fyxer, Mailmeteor
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Drafts land inside gmail and outlook; no copy-pasting from a chat window|Voice matching is on the free tier, not paywalled behind paid plans|No api key, no credit card to start; free tier runs on a server-side proxy|Learns from every edit you make before sending; drafts improve over time|Full keyboard flow: alt+shift+d to draft in any thread, no mouse required|Byok on paid plans, 9 providers supported, keys encrypted at rest|Web compose at forthwrite.ai works without installing the extension at all
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    10 free drafts/week is enough to evaluate, not enough for a heavy inbox|Auto-draft, batch replies, and prompt lab all require the pro tier|Early-stage product; fewer third-party integrations than mature inbox tools|No mobile app: the extension and add-in are desktop-only (chrome on web, or the outlook desktop add-in)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Mailpile and ForthWrite, you can also consider the following products

Horde - Horde Groupware is a free, enterprise ready, browser based collaboration suite.

Superhuman - Superhuman is an email management tool.

ProtonMail - Secure email with absolutely no compromises. Get your free encrypted email account today.

Gemini - Gemini, formerly known as Bard, is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Google. Based on the large language model (LLM) of the same name, it was launched in 2023 in response to the rise of OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Mailo - Mailo is an email client where you can send and receive emails to and from anyone with an email address.

Lavender - Realtime coaching for sales emails.