SiftbirdStop opening most of your email.
Siftbird auto-triages every new email in Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo or any IMAP inbox — it marks the noise read, archives the clutter, and leaves only what matters unread. So you open less and miss nothing. It stores no email content and never permanently deletes a thing.
Works with Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail and any IMAP inbox · 7-day free trial · no credit card
- Kept · importantMom
Are you coming Sunday?
- Marked readLinkedIn
9 people viewed your profile
- ArchivedThe Daily Brief
📣 Today's top 10 stories
- Kept · importantDr. Lee's office
Appointment reminder: Thu 2:40pm
- ArchivedPromotions
⚡ 50% off — today only!
- Marked readGitHub
[siftbird] CI passed on main
- Kept · importantJordan (your client)
Re: the signed contract
- Marked readSocial
You have 5 new notifications
Always reversible
We only change read & archive state (and move junk to Trash if you turn that on — recoverable until your email provider empties it). Nothing is ever permanently deleted, and one click undoes anything.
Stores no email content
We read a subject and a short snippet to decide, then forget them — nothing is kept. Your mail is never used to train AI.
Revoke it in one click
You connect with an app password, not your real one. Siftbird never sends mail or permanently deletes it, and deleting the app password cuts it off.
Your rules, in plain English.
Write a rule the way you’d say it. “Receipts from my accountant” stays unread. “Anything about the fantasy league” gets archived. Siftbird checks every new email against your rules first, then sorts the rest on its own.
Up to 20 rules, plus exact sender rules that always win. No folders to build.
- Receipts from my accountantKeep unread
- Anything about the fantasy leagueArchive
- Shipping updatesMark read
- newsletter@substack.comArchive
Three decisions, made for you
Siftbird reads each new email and sorts it into one of three buckets — automatically, every few minutes.
Mail from real people, replies, receipts you'll want — stays bold in your inbox, untouched.
Notifications, alerts, low-value updates — silenced, still searchable, never deleted.
Promos, newsletters, social pings — tucked into your archive, one search away if you want them.
Connect your inbox
Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail or any IMAP inbox. You create an app password at your provider and paste it in. Revoke it there anytime.
Siftbird triages quietly
Every few minutes it reads each new email's subject and a short snippet, decides, and acts — then forgets what it read. Your backlog gets cleaned on day one.
You open less, miss nothing
Only the mail that matters stays unread in your inbox. Set per-sender rules and undo anything in one click.
Built to never store your mail
Most “free” inbox cleaners make money from your data. Siftbird charges $5 a month precisely so it never has to. Here’s exactly what that means.
What we keep (to let you undo)
- · The action taken (read / archived / kept)
- · A derived category (e.g. promo, social)
- · The sender's domain
- · The message ID — so you can undo it
What we never store
- ✕ Email subjects
- ✕ Email bodies & attachments
- ✕ Full sender addresses
- ✕ Anything used to train an AI model
How Siftbird compares
The privacy-first, set-and-forget option — without the folder zoo, the per-account upsells, or the data harvesting.
Detailed head-to-heads: vs Unroll.me · vs SaneBox · vs Clean Email
| Siftbird | Gmail filters | Unroll.me | SaneBox | Clean Email | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic AI triage of every email | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes | |
| Stores no email content | Yes | Not applicable | Limited | Limited | |
| Never permanently deletes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable | Yes | Limited |
| One-click undo + full activity log | Yes | Limited | Yes | ||
| Per-sender rules override the AI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Cleans existing backlog on day one | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes | |
| Native iOS app | Soon | Not applicable | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Price | $5/mo · $45/yr | Free | Free* | from ~$7/mo | from ~$10/mo |
* Unroll.me has historically been funded by analyzing inbox data. Competitor details are our reading of public information as of mid-2026 and may change — check each provider for current terms.
“I built Siftbird because I was drowning in email and didn’t trust the ‘inbox cleaners’ that quietly sell your data. So I made one that stores no email content at all — it reads only a subject and a short snippet to make each call, then forgets it. It just keeps your inbox calm, and gets out of the way.”
RyanFounder, Siftbird · support@siftbird.comSiftbird has quietly sorted 9,319 emails — and stored none of them.
One plan. No surprises.
No per-account ladders, no metered AI, no “contact us”. Just a calm inbox for less than a coffee a month.
Billed $45/year — save 25% vs monthly.
7-day free trial · no credit card · cancel anytime.
- Automatic AI triage of every new email
- Cleans your existing unread backlog on day one
- Important mail always left unread, untouched
- Per-sender rules + full activity log with one-click undo
- One-click unsubscribe (optional)
- Stores no email content. Nothing ever permanently deleted.
Never sends mail · nothing permanently deleted · stores no email content
Questions, answered
Will Siftbird hide or lose my important emails?
No. Important mail is left unread in your inbox — never moved, hidden, or deleted. Siftbird only marks noise as read and archives clutter, and archived mail stays fully searchable in your archive (All Mail on Gmail). Per-sender rules let you override the AI, and a full activity log lets you undo anything in one click.
What can Siftbird actually access?
Siftbird connects over IMAP with an app password you create at your email provider. It reads each new email's headers and the first few kilobytes of its text, marks mail read, and moves it between your folders. An app password technically allows more, including sending and deleting; Siftbird never sends mail and never permanently deletes anything. Revoke the app password at your provider and access stops immediately.
Which email providers does Siftbird work with?
Gmail, iCloud Mail, Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail, Zoho, GMX and most other IMAP servers. You connect with an app password you create at your provider. It doesn't work with Outlook, Hotmail or Microsoft 365 (Microsoft no longer allows password sign-in for IMAP) or with Proton Mail (its IMAP only runs through the Bridge app on your own computer).
Do you store or read my emails?
No email content is ever stored. To classify a message we read only its subject and a short snippet, make the decision, then forget them. We keep only what's needed to undo an action: the action, a category, the sender's domain, and the message ID. No bodies, no attachments — and your mail is never used to train any AI model.
What happens if the AI gets one wrong?
Every action is reversible in one click from your activity log, and nothing is ever permanently deleted. Set a per-sender rule once — "always keep mail from my boss" — and Siftbird never misjudges that sender again. Your rules always win over the AI.
How is this different from Gmail filters or Unroll.me?
Gmail filters are manual rules you build and maintain by hand. Siftbird decides automatically for every sender, including ones you've never seen. And unlike free tools such as Unroll.me — whose business has been funded by analyzing inbox data — Siftbird stores no email content and charges a flat fee, so it has nothing to sell.
Will it delete my newsletters or receipts?
Never deleted. Newsletters you subscribed to and receipts are kept (archived and fully searchable). Deletion only ever happens if you turn on a higher cleanup level yourself, and even then junk goes to Trash — recoverable until your email provider empties it — not permanent deletion.
What does it cost, and how do I cancel?
$5/month or $45/year (save 25%). A 7-day free trial, with no credit card to start. Cancel anytime in one click — no email, no "talk to sales".
Who's behind Siftbird?
Siftbird is an independent product built by a founder who uses it daily. You can reach the founder directly at support@siftbird.com.
Free email guides
Clean up your inbox · Reach inbox zero · Stop spam · Unsubscribe fast · What's an app password? · all guides →
Let Siftbird quiet your inbox while you do better things.
Works with Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail and any IMAP inbox. 7 days free, no credit card, cancel anytime.