this+that vs Gmail AI
A smarter inbox, or finished work.
Gmail AI (powered by Gemini) is a useful layer on top of one of the world's most-used email products. this+that is an AI agent that reads your messages and handles what comes next, with tasks extracted, workflows run, and your team in the loop. One makes Gmail smarter. The other makes the work that comes from email happen automatically.
A layer on email vs. an agent on top of it
Gmail AI (powered by Gemini) keeps getting more capable. Gemini Spark, Google's always-on personal agent now rolling out, is designed to triage your inbox, label high-priority mail, draft replies, schedule, and run multi-step tasks on its own, all inside the Gmail and Workspace experience you already know. It's remarkably low-friction because it's already there. The line we'd draw is reach, not raw capability. Gmail AI gets more autonomous, but it stays inside Gmail and Google Workspace. this+that does the work that follows your messages across every channel your team uses (Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Teams, Google Chat), turns it into a persistent task layer and workflows, connects to MCP-compatible tools, and grounds it in a shared brain. If you live entirely in Google Workspace, Gmail AI is hard to argue with. If your work spreads across inboxes, chat, and other tools, we built this+that for it.
Feature by feature
How the two products compare across the things that matter most.
| Topic | Gmail AI | this+that |
|---|---|---|
| Core philosophy | Make Gmail smarter for 2B+ existing users: summarization, prioritization, drafting, and, with the Gemini Spark agent now rolling out, autonomous triage and multi-step action, all inside the Gmail and Workspace interface. | Delegate the work that follows messages. Extract tasks, run workflows, keep teams in sync, without you managing it manually. |
| Task extraction | Gemini can extract tasks from email and surface them in Google Tasks. Individual tasks per email rather than a persistent cross-inbox layer with assignment, due dates, and priorities. | Automatic. DoBox reads every conversation and extracts requests, decisions, follow-ups, commitments, and deadlines as trackable, assignable tasks. |
| Workflow automation | Google Workspace Studio (formerly Workspace Flows) is a no-code, Gemini-powered workflow builder included with Business and Enterprise plans. Workflows are scoped to Google Workspace apps (Docs, Sheets, Drive, Meet, Gmail). | Full workflow builder. A broad action set. Plain-language creation. Conditional logic, loops, and sub-agents across any connected tool. |
| Email provider support | Gmail only. | Gmail and Outlook. Works with whatever your team uses. |
| Channels | Scoped to Gmail and Google Workspace. Does not reach into Slack, Teams, or other messaging channels. | Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Google Calendar, and Outlook Calendar treated as one stream of incoming work. |
| AI composition | Help Me Write is useful: full drafts, tone adjustments, length changes, inline suggestions while composing. | Interactive AI reply button drafts from your direction and your brain, and draft-reply also runs as a workflow action. Lighter on trained voice-matching. |
| Thread summarization | One-click AI Overviews on long threads. Works well for catching up on buried conversations. | Not a standalone summarization feature. Context is used within task extraction and workflow decisions. |
| Calendar integration | Tight Calendar integration: event creation and updates suggested from email context. | Calendar automation as workflow steps: RSVP, create events, reschedule, manage attendees. |
| External integrations | Google ecosystem only: Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet. No open integration standard. | Open MCP standard. GitHub, Notion, Jira, Dropbox, HubSpot, and any MCP-compatible tool. |
| Team features | No shared task view or workflow coordination. Individual productivity enhancement. | Shared task view, task assignment, workflow delegation to teammates. Work-level coordination, not just message-level. |
| Cost | Included with Gmail / Google Workspace, zero additional cost. | Free for 30 days, including 3,000 credits, no credit card required. Then $35 per user per month, or $29 billed annually, with 3,000 credits a month per person. |
- Zero additional cost for 2B+ Gmail users: it is already in your inbox.
- Help Me Write is one of the best AI composition experiences available in any email client.
- AI Inbox view surfaces priorities through topic clustering with no configuration required.
- Thread summarization (AI Overviews) is fast and accurate for catching up on long conversations.
- Tight Calendar and Drive integration, with suggested events, inline document previews, and context from across Google Workspace.
- Gemini Spark, an always-on personal agent now rolling out, is built to triage mail, draft, schedule, and run multi-step tasks across Gmail, Calendar, and Drive on its own.
- Google Workspace Studio provides a no-code workflow builder on Business and Enterprise plans. Build automations across Gmail, Sheets, Docs, and Meet without leaving Google.
- No migration, no new tool: it works inside the Gmail interface you already know.
- Task extraction as a persistent layer across all channels: every message scanned for requests, commitments, deadlines, and follow-ups, surfaced in DoBox as trackable, assignable tasks with priorities and due dates, not just per-email to-dos.
- Workflow automation beyond the Google ecosystem, with a broad action set across email, Slack, Teams, Google Chat, calendar, and any tool via MCP, not limited to Workspace apps.
- Multi-channel: reads Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Teams, and Google Chat and treats them as one stream of incoming work.
- Works across email providers: if your team is split between Gmail and Outlook, this+that covers both.
- Open MCP: connect any MCP-compatible tool. GitHub, Jira, Notion, Dropbox, internal MCP servers, not just Google apps.
- Work-level team coordination: assign tasks extracted from messages, not just compose replies faster.
See what's waiting in your inbox
Connect your inbox and this+that starts reading it. The tasks, follow-ups, and open commitments buried in your messages become tracked work, and your workflows write what they learn back to the brain.
Free for 30 days · No credit card required · Then $35 per user per month · $29 billed annually