SaneBox and TidySync both use AI to help you deal with email overload, but they solve fundamentally different parts of the problem. SaneBox focuses on filtering and organizing your inbox. TidySync focuses on turning your emails into actionable tasks. Understanding this distinction is key to choosing the right tool — or deciding you need both.

What Each Tool Actually Does

SaneBox works behind the scenes in your email provider. It sorts incoming emails into folders: SaneLater for non-urgent messages, SaneNews for newsletters, SaneBlackHole for unwanted senders, and your main inbox for what truly matters. Think of it as a smart filter that reduces inbox noise.

TidySync connects to your email account and uses AI to read the content of your emails, extract action items, and automatically create structured tasks with titles, priorities, and due dates. Think of it as an AI assistant that processes your email into a task list.

SaneBox answers: "Which emails should I see first?" TidySync answers: "What do I need to do about these emails?"

Email Filtering vs. Task Extraction

SaneBox's Filtering

SaneBox learns which emails are important based on your behavior. Over time, less important emails get moved to SaneLater, newsletters go to SaneNews, and your inbox only shows what deserves attention. It also offers features like SaneReminders (follow-up reminders), SaneDoNotDisturb (batch email delivery), and SaneAttachments (automatic cloud storage for attachments).

The result: a cleaner inbox with less noise. But you still need to read each email and decide what to do with it.

TidySync's Task Extraction

TidySync goes a step further. After connecting your account, AI reads each incoming email and identifies what action is required. "Can you review this proposal by Wednesday?" becomes a task titled "Review proposal" with a Wednesday due date and medium priority. "URGENT: Server is down" becomes a high-priority task with no due date.

The result: not just a cleaner inbox, but a pre-built task list that tells you exactly what needs to be done.

Bottom line: SaneBox makes your inbox manageable. TidySync makes your inbox actionable. They solve sequential problems — first filter, then process.

AI Approach

SaneBox

SaneBox's AI is focused on classification. It learns from your email patterns — who you respond to, what you open, what you ignore — and sorts future emails accordingly. It's effective at learning your preferences and gets better over time. But it doesn't read the content of your emails to understand what they're asking you to do.

TidySync

TidySync's AI reads email content. It parses language to detect requests, deadlines, urgency, and action items. It also uses an AI Agent with configurable rules — you can set workflows like "if the email mentions a deadline, create a high-priority task and add it to my calendar." The AI distinguishes between informational emails and emails that require action.

Bottom line: SaneBox's AI categorizes emails. TidySync's AI understands emails. Different types of intelligence for different purposes.

Calendar and Productivity Integration

SaneBox

SaneBox doesn't integrate with calendars or task managers directly. Its scope is strictly email organization. For task creation and scheduling, you need a separate tool.

TidySync

TidySync integrates with Google Calendar for two-way sync. Tasks with due dates appear as calendar events, and the AI can detect meeting references in emails to create calendar entries automatically. It also integrates with Slack for team notifications when tasks are created or assigned.

Bottom line: If you want your email processing to flow into a calendar and task system, TidySync provides that pipeline. SaneBox stays within the email layer.

Team Features

SaneBox

SaneBox is primarily a personal productivity tool. Each user manages their own inbox filters. There's no shared workspace, team triage, or collaborative task assignment.

TidySync

TidySync supports team workspaces where members can share inbox triage responsibilities. Tasks extracted from emails can be assigned to team members, tracked with statuses, and managed through a shared task board. This is valuable for customer-facing teams, support teams, and managers who delegate email-based work.

Bottom line: SaneBox is for individual email management. TidySync works for both individuals and teams.

Pricing

SaneBox offers three plans: Snack ($7/month) covers 2 features for 1 email account, Lunch ($12/month) covers 6 features for 2 accounts, and Dinner ($36/month) covers all features for 4 accounts. Annual billing reduces these costs.

TidySync offers a 14-day free trial with individual and team plans. Pricing includes AI task extraction, email sync, calendar integration, and team features.

Bottom line: SaneBox is affordable for basic email filtering. TidySync's pricing reflects the deeper AI processing and task management capabilities included.

When to Use Each

Choose SaneBox if:

• Your main problem is inbox clutter and noise
• You already have a task manager you're happy with
• You want emails sorted but prefer to process them manually
• You work solo and don't need team triage

Choose TidySync if:

• You need emails converted into tasks automatically
• You want AI to extract action items, deadlines, and priorities
• You work with a team and need shared task management
• You want calendar integration with your email tasks

Use both if:

• SaneBox filters your inbox so only actionable emails reach you
• TidySync processes those filtered emails into tasks
• The combination gives you: less noise (SaneBox) + automatic task creation (TidySync)

The Complementary Reality

SaneBox and TidySync aren't really competitors — they're complementary tools that solve adjacent problems. SaneBox is like a smart mail sorter that keeps junk out of your inbox. TidySync is like an assistant who reads the mail that made it through and tells you what needs to be done.

If you're overwhelmed by email volume, SaneBox reduces the noise. If you're overwhelmed by the work buried in your emails, TidySync extracts and organizes it. The most productive setup might be using both.

Try TidySync free for 14 days →