I ditched Gmail for Notion Mail, and it changed everything

One thing about most productivity software companies is that they seldom stop at just one product. Instead of basking in the glory of the software they initially started with, they chose to expand into other areas. Take Notion, for example. Notion, the all-in-one productivity, note-taking, and collaboration tool, was founded in 2013 and officially launched in 2016.

While Notion certainly didn’t become the hit it is today overnight, it’s undoubtedly transformed into a household name for anyone and everyone who loves productivity tools. With Notion soaring to the heights it has today, the company began experimenting with services beyond Notion at the start of last year. It began with the release of Notion Calendar in January 2024.

This wasn’t entirely surprising, considering Notion Labs acquired the Cron calendar app in 2022 and essentially rebranded it as Notion Calendar. But the company didn’t stop there. It launched a standalone email app, Notion Mail, in April 2025. I’ve been using it since launch, and in a short period, it’s convinced me to finally bid adieu to Gmail for good.

Notion Mail is aesthetically pleasing to look at

My Instagram feed needs those aesthetic #worklife shots

Thankfully, I don’t work in an industry where I need to obsessively refresh my inbox every few minutes. That doesn’t mean I don’t check my email at least once an hour during my work hours. Even then, replying to emails can be stressful, and the last thing anyone wants is to be intimidated and overwhelmed at the sight of their inbox. Unfortunately, the vast majority of email apps have an incredibly clustered interface and fairly limited customization options.

As someone who works midnight hours, pulls frequent all-nighters, and drinks excessive amounts of coffee, working on light mode for hours on end is torture. Gmail has been around since 2004. After 21 years, I’d expect most people’s go-to email app to have at least a functional dark theme.

While Gmail does offer quite a few themes to choose from, including Dark, alongside other colored themes like Blue, Lavender, and Rose, the Dark theme just doesn’t hit the mark. While it does essentially turn the main interface dark (like your inbox view and sidebars), the moment you open or compose an email, you’re hit with a blinding white screen. Make it make sense! Why would I want everything but the actual email I’m reading or writing to be in dark mode?

On the other hand, Notion Mail has a Light and Dark mode, and the Dark mode actually extends across the entire experience. While I’m sure Gmail’s appearance has come a long way since it launched, it still feels like it’s stuck in the past. I’ve always gravitated toward apps with a cleaner and more minimalist interface, and Notion Mail offers exactly that.

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Snippets are miles ahead of Gmail’s Templates

Snippets: 1, Templates: 0

Since many of the emails I typically draft are incredibly repetitive, like following up with PR teams I work with, replying to embargo confirmations, or acknowledging assignments from my editors, having pre-written responses can make a massive difference in the long run. I used Gmail’s Templates for this for the longest time.

If you have Templates enabled in your Gmail account, you can create a Template once you’re done composing an email. To do so, click the three-dot menu in the compose window, hover over Templates, then click Save draft as template -> Save as new template, and give it a name. If you’d like to insert a template, do the same, but instead of clicking Save draft as template, you simply select your desired template when you hover over Templates.

While this isn’t a particularly time-consuming process, Notion Mail makes it even quicker. Notion Mail calls email templates Snippets, and you can create them by clicking the {} icon at the bottom once you’ve composed an email you’d like to save. Select Turn into snippet to save your draft as a snippet, and a new Edit snippet window will appear. Unlike Gmail’s templates, Snippets automatically strip out details it assumes you’ll want to customize next time.

For instance, here’s an email I decided to save as a Snippet:

Hey Mahnoor,

Thank you for reaching out. Sure, I agree to the embargo of 12/25.

I’m looking forward to the details and seeing what XDA plans to announce this time around.

Have a good one!

Here’s what the Snippet looked like:

Hey {first_name},

Thank you for reaching out. Sure, I agree to the embargo of {embargo_date}.

I’m looking forward to the details and seeing what {company} plans to announce this time around.

Have a good one!

While it didn’t change the content of my email, it removed the sender’s name, embargo date, and company, since these are variables that will change when I’m drafting an email next time.

The best part is that inserting Snippets in Notion Mail is much quicker than Gmail’s templates. When creating a Snippet, you need to add a title. If you decide to create a Snippet like I did above, Notion will add a relevant title based on your content, which you can customize if needed.

For instance, Notion automatically titled the email above Embargo Confirmation. This title also serves as a shortcut. So, next time you need to use a Snippet, you can simply type a slash (/) command (which you’re likely used to if you use Notion), followed by the shortcut name. For instance, I’d type /Embargo Confirmation, fill in the details required, and voila!

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Notion Mail’s filters are quick and easy to use

Phew, finally, some peace in my inbox

Most traditional email apps follow the same organizational setup and rely on labels and folders. For instance, by default, Gmail sorts incoming emails into categories like Primary, Promotions, Social, and Updates.

Though you can create “filters” that categorize emails based on keywords, and choose to have Gmail apply a Label or Category so you can filter through them quickly, I’ve found that it’s just not worth the hassle.

Notion Mail allows you to quickly (I’m not exaggerating, within seconds) create Views to filter and sort your emails. You have three options:

• Describe your view: Enter a brief description of how you want Notion Mail to filter your emails, like tasks and notifications from Trello, and it’ll use Notion AI to filter them.
• Configure manually: Choose to filter your emails using familiar options like Unread, Read, Attachment, Calendar Event, From, etc.
• Use template: Choose from one of Notion Mail’s pre-built templates, like Recruiting, Sales, Priority, Travel, and more.

Once you create a new View, it’ll be automatically added to the sidebar on the left, right under the other default Views.

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Goodbye Gmail, hello Notion Mail

Frankly, Notion Mail is the email app I never knew I needed. I’ve been loyal to Gmail for years, and the thought of switching to another email app never even crossed my mind until I tried Notion Mail. Once I saw all that it has to offer, I realized what I’d been missing out on.

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