SaneBox Pricing: Complete Breakdown of Plans and Costs

SaneBox is an AI-powered email management tool that filters your inbox and keeps the important stuff front and center. If you're drowning in emails and considering paying for a solution, here's everything you need to know about what SaneBox actually costs.

Quick answer: SaneBox runs between $7 and $36 per month depending on your plan, with significant discounts if you pay annually or biyearly. There's no free plan, but you get a 14-day free trial with full features.

SaneBox Pricing Plans

SaneBox uses a food-themed pricing structure with three tiers: Snack, Lunch, and Dinner. The main differences are how many email accounts you can connect and how many features you get access to.

Snack Plan

The Snack plan gives you one email account and lets you pick any two features from SaneBox's feature list. Options include SaneLater, SaneNews, SaneBlackHole, SaneNoReplies, SaneDoNotDisturb, and SaneCC. You can swap features whenever you want, which is nice flexibility.

This is the entry-level option for individuals who want basic inbox filtering without all the bells and whistles. Honestly, being limited to just two features feels pretty restrictive. If you're someone who only gets 20-30 emails per day and needs basic filtering, this tier can work. But most professionals will quickly hit the feature ceiling.

The Snack plan is perfect for testing the waters if you're unsure whether automated email management is right for you. Since you can swap between features at any time, you can experiment with different combinations to find what works best before upgrading.

Lunch Plan

Lunch supports two email accounts and gives you access to six features per account. This is the sweet spot for most users-freelancers and professionals juggling a work and personal inbox will find this tier actually useful.

You get enough features to genuinely improve your email workflow: SaneLater for filtering non-urgent mail, SaneBlackHole for nuking unwanted senders, email reminders, snooze functionality, and more. With six features available per account, you can build a comprehensive email management system that handles most daily scenarios.

The ability to connect two email accounts makes this plan particularly valuable. Most professionals maintain at least a work and personal email, and managing both from a single subscription provides excellent value. At roughly $7 per month with biyearly billing, you're essentially paying $3.50 per managed inbox.

Dinner Plan

Dinner is the power user tier. You get four email accounts and access to every single SaneBox feature. This includes everything from the lower tiers plus SaneAttachments (automatically save attachments to cloud storage), advanced filtering options, and priority customer support.

At $36/month, this is pricey for an email filtering tool. But if you're managing multiple inboxes and email is genuinely eating hours of your day, the ROI can make sense. The biyearly option drops the effective monthly cost to about $21, which is more palatable for teams or executives managing high email volumes across multiple accounts.

Priority customer support is a notable addition at this tier. While all SaneBox plans include customer support via email, Dinner plan subscribers get faster response times and more direct access to the support team. If you're running a business and can't afford email disruptions, this added support layer provides peace of mind.

Is There a Free Plan?

No. SaneBox doesn't offer a permanent free tier. They provide a 14-day free trial that gives you access to all features (no credit card required), but once that's up, you need to pay.

The company explains this by noting they don't sell your data or show ads-the subscription model keeps the lights on while maintaining your privacy. Fair enough, but it does mean you can't test-drive SaneBox long-term before committing.

The 14-day trial is genuinely comprehensive. You get full access to all features regardless of which plan you're testing, allowing you to experience the complete SaneBox ecosystem before deciding. This is longer than many competitors offer-Superhuman, for example, charges from day one.

During the free trial, SaneBox analyzes 4-6 weeks of your email history to establish baseline filtering patterns. This means you'll see meaningful results within the first few days rather than waiting weeks for the AI to learn your preferences. Most users report the filtering reaches about 98% accuracy after 1-2 weeks of training.

Why SaneBox Isn't Free: The Business Model Explained

Many email tools offer free tiers supported by advertising or data monetization. SaneBox takes a different approach, and understanding why helps contextualize the pricing.

SaneBox's algorithms require significant computational resources. Each user's email patterns are analyzed continuously, with the AI learning from every action you take. This personalized approach demands dedicated infrastructure that free, ad-supported models can't sustain while maintaining performance.

The company guarantees in their Terms of Service that they never sell user data. Your emails remain private, and SaneBox only analyzes email headers (sender, subject, timestamp)-never the actual content of your messages. This privacy-first approach eliminates the revenue stream that supports many "free" email services.

Starting at $7 per month, SaneBox positions itself as an affordable productivity investment rather than a free tool with limited capabilities. For professionals who value their time, the cost breaks down to roughly 23 cents per day-less than a cup of coffee for software that claims to save 3-4 hours weekly.

Special Discounts and Savings Opportunities

SaneBox offers several ways to reduce your subscription cost beyond the standard billing discounts.

Educational, Non-Profit, and Government Discounts

SaneBox provides a generous 25% discount for educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. This applies to all plans and can be combined with annual or biyearly billing for maximum savings.

To claim this discount, contact SaneBox support during your free trial period. You'll need to provide verification of your status-typically a work email address from an .edu, .gov, or registered non-profit domain, along with identification confirming your employment or affiliation.

The application process typically takes 48-72 hours for review. Once approved, the 25% discount applies automatically to your subscription and renews at the discounted rate as long as you remain eligible.

Referral Program and Credits

SaneBox operates a referral program that benefits both existing users and new sign-ups. For every friend who signs up using your unique referral link, you both receive a $5 credit toward your subscription.

The rewards structure varies based on your status:

Your referral link is accessible from your account dashboard. You can share it via email, social media, or add it to your email signature for passive referral generation. There's no limit to how many people you can refer, making it possible to offset your entire subscription cost through referrals.

Billing Cycle Savings Breakdown

The savings from annual and biyearly billing are substantial. Here's exactly how much you save by paying upfront:

Snack Plan Savings:

Lunch Plan Savings:

Dinner Plan Savings:

The biyearly option consistently provides the best value, offering around 40-42% savings compared to monthly billing. For the Dinner plan, that's over $180 in annual savings-enough to cover a different productivity tool entirely.

What Features Do You Actually Get?

Here's what SaneBox's key features do and how they compare across plans:

Core Features Available Across Plans

SaneLater: Automatically moves non-urgent emails to a separate folder so only important stuff hits your inbox. This is the backbone of SaneBox's filtering system. The AI analyzes sender patterns, your interaction history, and email metadata to determine importance. Over time, it learns which senders and message types you engage with, refining its filtering continuously.

SaneBlackHole: Drag an email here and you'll never see messages from that sender again-permanent unsubscribe. Unlike traditional spam filters, emails sent to SaneBlackHole are deleted after a 7-day review period, giving you time to reverse the decision if needed. This is particularly satisfying for persistent marketing emails that make unsubscribing difficult.

SaneNews: Collects newsletters and subscriptions into their own folder instead of cluttering your inbox. This feature recognizes bulk email patterns and separates them automatically. You can review newsletters when you have time rather than having them interrupt your workflow. SaneBox sends a daily digest summarizing what was filtered, so you never miss something important.

SaneReminders: Get notified when someone hasn't replied to your email by a certain time. You can set custom reminder periods by sending a BCC to reminder addresses like [email protected] or [email protected]. This eliminates the need for manual follow-up tracking.

Snooze: Temporarily hide emails and have them reappear in your inbox when you're ready to deal with them. Similar to SaneReminders, you can snooze messages by moving them to folders like SaneTomorrow or SaneNextWeek. The email resurfaces automatically at the specified time.

SaneDoNotDisturb: Pause incoming emails during focus hours. Activate this feature for meetings, deep work sessions, or after-hours, and all new emails are held in a separate folder until you're ready. You can whitelist VIP senders whose messages should always come through.

SaneNoReplies: Track emails you've sent that haven't received responses. This folder automatically populates with sent messages that haven't gotten replies, making follow-ups effortless. It's invaluable for salespeople, project managers, and anyone who needs to maintain communication threads.

SaneCC: Automatically filters emails where you're CC'd rather than directly addressed. The assumption is that CC'd emails are typically FYI messages requiring less immediate attention. You can review them in batch rather than letting them interrupt your primary inbox flow.

Premium Features (Higher Tier Plans)

SaneAttachments: Automatically save attachments to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, or Evernote. This feature scans incoming emails for attachments and uploads them to your preferred cloud storage automatically. It's a powerful archiving tool that reduces your email storage footprint while keeping files organized and searchable.

SaneNotSpam: Rescues important emails mistakenly caught in your spam folder. SaneBox monitors your spam folder and alerts you when something legitimate gets filtered incorrectly. One click moves it back to your inbox and trains the system to recognize that sender as safe.

Daily Digest: Get a summary of filtered emails so you can quickly scan what was moved. This arrives at your preferred time each day with one-click actions to move messages back to your inbox, black-hole them, or keep them filtered. It takes about 60 seconds to review and ensures nothing important gets lost.

Custom Training Folders: Create your own smart folders with custom rules and filtering logic. This advanced feature lets you build folder structures specific to your workflow-like sorting emails by project, client, or urgency level-with SaneBox learning the patterns you establish.

The AI learns from your behavior over time. When you drag emails between folders, SaneBox adjusts its filtering accordingly. Most users report it reaches 98%+ accuracy within 1-2 weeks of training. The learning is continuous, so as your email patterns change, SaneBox adapts automatically.

Money-Back Guarantee and Refund Policy

SaneBox offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all paid subscriptions. If you're not satisfied with the service within the first 30 days of purchasing a paid plan, you can request a full refund.

The refund policy is straightforward: contact SaneBox support within 30 days of purchase, explain your dissatisfaction, and they'll process a refund to your original payment method. According to their Terms of Service, they'll "try to fix anything about SaneBox that doesn't leave you completely thrilled," but if they can't resolve your concerns, they'll "cheerfully refund the amount."

This guarantee applies separately from the 14-day free trial, meaning you effectively get 44 days to evaluate SaneBox (14-day trial + 30-day money-back guarantee) before you're committed long-term. Few competitors offer this extended evaluation period.

One caveat: SaneBox store credits earned through referrals or promotions are only redeemable for SaneBox subscriptions and aren't eligible for cash refunds. Only payments made with actual currency can be refunded.

How SaneBox Billing Works

Understanding the billing mechanics helps avoid surprises and maximize value.

When you sign up for the free trial, no credit card is required. You'll provide your email credentials so SaneBox can access your inbox, but you won't enter payment information until you decide to subscribe.

At the end of your 14-day trial, SaneBox sends reminder emails prompting you to select a paid plan. If you don't subscribe, the service simply stops filtering your emails-nothing is deleted, and your inbox returns to its original state.

Once you subscribe, billing occurs immediately, and your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing cycle (monthly, annually, or biyearly). You'll receive renewal reminders before each charge.

SaneBox accepts major credit cards and processes payments securely through established payment processors. For organizations requiring alternative payment methods or invoicing, contact their business team for custom arrangements.

Cancellation is straightforward and can be done through your account settings at any time. There are no cancellation fees, early termination penalties, or retention gimmicks. Once canceled, you maintain access to SaneBox features until the end of your current billing period, after which filtering stops but your emails remain untouched.

What I Like About SaneBox

Works with any email provider. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Apple Mail-SaneBox connects via IMAP and works in the background without requiring you to switch apps or change your workflow. This provider-agnostic approach means you're not locked into a specific ecosystem. Whether you're using Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace, or a custom domain email, SaneBox integrates seamlessly.

No new software to learn. SaneBox just creates folders in your existing email account. You keep using whatever email client you already use. There's basically zero learning curve. Unlike standalone email apps like Superhuman or Spark that require you to abandon your current setup, SaneBox enhances what you already have.

The SaneBlackHole is genuinely useful. One-click permanent unsubscribe from annoying senders is satisfying and actually works. The 7-day holding period before permanent deletion provides a safety net, while the training effect means similar emails from other senders get caught automatically.

Good customer support. Multiple reviewers mention being able to get real, live help quickly when they have issues. SaneBox maintains support availability five days per week, and Dinner plan subscribers get priority response times. The support team is particularly helpful during initial setup when you're training the system.

Platform flexibility. You can access your SaneBox-organized inbox from any device-desktop, mobile, tablet-using any email client. The filtering happens at the server level, so all your devices see the same organized structure without installing apps on each one.

Set it and forget it operation. Once trained, SaneBox operates silently in the background. You don't need to actively manage it or adjust settings constantly. It learns from your natural email behavior, so the act of using email normally continues training the system.

Privacy-conscious approach. SaneBox only analyzes email headers-sender information, subject lines, and timestamps. The body content of your emails is never accessed or processed. For professionals handling sensitive communications, this limited data access provides meaningful privacy protection.

What Sucks About SaneBox

Lower tiers are too limited. The Snack plan only giving you two features feels stingy. Many of SaneBox's best tools-like attachment management and advanced folders-require the expensive Dinner plan. The feature gating feels arbitrary, particularly since the technical infrastructure costs don't scale linearly with features enabled.

It's not cheap for what it does. At $12-36/month, SaneBox costs more than many full-featured productivity apps. Some users feel the price point is higher than the current feature set warrants, especially since the "AI" is mostly smart filtering rather than actual AI assistance like drafting replies or summarizing threads.

Takes time to train. You'll need to spend 1-2 weeks moving emails around to get the filtering dialed in. During that initial period, important emails can occasionally get filtered incorrectly. This training period requires active involvement-checking filtered folders regularly and correcting mistakes-which feels like work when you're paying for automation.

No Android app. There's an iOS companion app called SaneBox Companion that provides mobile-specific features, but Android users are left out. You can still use SaneBox through your regular email app on Android, but there's no dedicated mobile experience. This feels like an odd limitation given Android's massive market share.

Limited team collaboration features. SaneBox operates at the individual inbox level. There are no shared inboxes, team notes, assignment features, or collaborative workflows. If your team needs to work together on email management, you'll need a different solution like Front or Help Scout.

No modern AI features. Despite marketing itself as "AI-powered," SaneBox doesn't offer modern AI capabilities like GPT-powered email drafting, automatic summarization of long threads, or intelligent response suggestions. The AI is limited to pattern recognition for filtering-useful, but dated compared to newer tools.

Occasional filtering mistakes. Even after training, SaneBox occasionally misfiles important emails. The daily digest helps catch these errors, but you still need to check filtered folders regularly to ensure nothing critical gets missed. This reduces the "set it and forget it" reliability.

Who Should Pay for SaneBox?

It makes sense if:

Skip it if:

SaneBox vs. Alternatives

SaneBox isn't the only option for email management. Here's how it stacks up against key competitors:

SaneBox vs. Clean Email

Clean Email focuses on bulk inbox cleanup and one-time organization. It offers a free tier for basic features and excels at helping you unsubscribe from multiple lists at once or delete thousands of old emails by category.

The key difference: Clean Email is reactive (cleaning up existing mess) while SaneBox is proactive (preventing future mess). Clean Email is better for one-time inbox overhauls. SaneBox is better for ongoing daily management. Many users benefit from using Clean Email first to clear backlog, then SaneBox to maintain order.

Pricing: Clean Email offers a limited free tier and paid plans starting around $10/month, making it comparable to SaneBox's Lunch plan.

SaneBox vs. Superhuman

Superhuman costs $30/month but delivers a polished, fast email experience with more advanced AI features. It only works with Gmail and Outlook, but provides a completely redesigned interface with keyboard shortcuts, instant search, read receipts, and AI-powered features like automatic email categorization and follow-up reminders.

The key difference: Superhuman is a complete email client replacement with cutting-edge features. SaneBox is a background service that enhances your existing client. Superhuman requires learning a new interface and costs more, but delivers significantly more functionality. SaneBox is less disruptive but more limited in capabilities.

Best for: Choose Superhuman if you want the fastest, most feature-rich email experience and don't mind paying $30/month. Choose SaneBox if you want to keep your current email client and need basic filtering at lower cost.

SaneBox vs. Spark Mail

Spark Mail provides free collaborative email features including shared drafts, team comments, and smart inbox organization. The free tier is generous, making it attractive for budget-conscious users and small teams.

The key difference: Spark requires using their email app-you can't use Gmail's interface or Outlook's interface. It's free but forces you into their ecosystem. SaneBox works with any client you prefer. Spark has better team features; SaneBox has better individual filtering intelligence.

Best for: Choose Spark if you need team collaboration features and don't mind using their app. Choose SaneBox if you want to keep your existing email client and need smarter individual filtering.

SaneBox vs. Native Email Filtering

Both Gmail and Outlook offer built-in filtering and rules. Gmail has smart features like automatic categorization (Primary, Social, Promotions tabs) and filters you can create manually. Outlook has focused inbox and custom rules.

The key difference: Native filtering is free but requires manual configuration. Gmail's automatic categorization is basic and doesn't learn your specific preferences. SaneBox costs money but learns your patterns and adapts continuously without manual rule creation.

Best for: Try native filtering first if you're budget-conscious and receive moderate email volume. Upgrade to SaneBox if you're drowning despite filters, or if creating and maintaining manual rules feels like work.

SaneBox vs. Mailstrom

Mailstrom helps you clean and organize email in bulk, with a focus on quickly processing hundreds of messages at once through grouping by sender, subject, or other attributes.

The key difference: Mailstrom is about fast bulk processing; SaneBox is about intelligent automatic filtering. Mailstrom requires you to actively manage email in sessions. SaneBox works passively in the background. Some users combine both-Mailstrom for occasional deep cleans, SaneBox for daily maintenance.

Pricing: Mailstrom offers a limited free tier and paid plans starting around $10/month, similar to SaneBox's mid-tier pricing.

Real User Time Savings and ROI

SaneBox claims users save an average of 3-4 hours per week. Let's break down whether the ROI justifies the cost.

If you value your time at $25/hour (a modest professional rate), saving 3 hours weekly equals $75 in recovered time value. Even at the highest Dinner plan pricing ($36/month), you'd need to save just 1.5 hours monthly to break even-that's about 20 minutes per week.

User testimonials suggest these time savings are realistic for high-volume email users. One Capterra reviewer noted saving "12+ hours per month" after implementing SaneBox. That's 3 hours weekly-exactly matching SaneBox's claimed average.

The time savings come from several sources:

For executives, salespeople, project managers, and anyone receiving 100+ daily emails, these efficiencies compound quickly. The payback period is often less than one week.

However, if you receive 20-30 emails daily, the time savings are minimal. You might save 10-15 minutes weekly, making the cost harder to justify on pure ROI. In those cases, the value comes from reduced stress and improved focus rather than raw time savings.

Security and Privacy Considerations

Granting a third-party service access to your email raises legitimate security concerns. Here's what you should know about SaneBox's security posture.

SaneBox only accesses email headers-sender information, subject lines, timestamps, and folder locations. The body content of your emails is never read, processed, or stored on SaneBox servers. This limited data access significantly reduces privacy risk compared to services that scan full message content.

The company maintains SOC 2 Type II certification, an independent audit confirming their security controls meet industry standards for data protection. They use OAuth for secure authentication, meaning they never receive or store your email password.

All data transmission between SaneBox servers and your email provider occurs over encrypted connections. Email metadata analyzed by SaneBox is stored on secure servers with enterprise-grade protection.

SaneBox's privacy policy explicitly states they never sell user data. The subscription-based business model eliminates any incentive to monetize your information through advertising or third-party data sales.

If you cancel your subscription, SaneBox automatically deletes all data associated with your account from their servers. Your emails remain in your email account-SaneBox only removes the folders and labels it created, and all data on their end is permanently erased.

For organizations with strict compliance requirements, SaneBox is GDPR compliant and can provide documentation for security assessments. They work with enterprise customers who need custom data processing agreements.

Getting Started: Best Practices for New Users

To maximize SaneBox value from day one, follow these setup recommendations:

Start with the free trial on your busiest email account. Choose the inbox that generates the most stress and volume. You'll see the most dramatic improvement there, making it easier to evaluate whether SaneBox is worth paying for.

Enable the daily digest immediately. This summary email is crucial during the training period. It lets you quickly scan what was filtered and correct mistakes with one click, accelerating the learning process.

Begin with just 2-3 features. Even if you're on the trial with access to everything, start simple. Master SaneLater and SaneBlackHole before adding complexity. This prevents overwhelm and helps you understand what each feature does.

Commit to two weeks of active training. Check your SaneLater folder daily for the first week. Move any important emails back to your inbox. This active correction dramatically improves filtering accuracy. By week two, you should be able to check filtered folders every 2-3 days.

Set up SaneBlackHole early. Start immediately moving junk senders to the BlackHole. This is the fastest way to clean up your inbox and see immediate results. The 7-day holding period protects you from mistakes.

Connect cloud storage for attachments. If you're on Dinner plan, enable SaneAttachments early. Configure it to save to your preferred cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and create an organizational structure before attachments start accumulating.

Experiment with snooze features. Try SaneNextWeek or SaneTomorrow for emails that need attention later but not now. This prevents inbox clutter while ensuring items resurface when relevant.

After two weeks of active use, SaneBox should be operating with minimal input required. You'll settle into a pattern of checking your main inbox for important items and reviewing filtered folders once or twice daily to catch exceptions.

Bottom Line

SaneBox pricing ranges from $7 to $36/month, with the Lunch plan at $12/month being the best value for most users. The biyearly payment option saves you roughly 40% compared to monthly billing, and educational/non-profit discounts add another 25% off.

The core value proposition is simple: automated email filtering that learns your patterns and works with any email provider. Unlike alternatives that require new apps or complete workflow changes, SaneBox enhances what you already use.

The pricing is fair but not cheap. At higher tiers, you're paying premium prices for what's essentially smart filtering-helpful, but not revolutionary. The lack of modern AI features like email drafting or summarization feels like a missed opportunity at these price points.

For the right user-someone receiving 50+ emails daily who values privacy and wants filtering without changing email clients-SaneBox delivers solid ROI. The time savings for high-volume email users justify the cost within weeks.

For low-volume users or those wanting advanced AI capabilities, free alternatives or more feature-rich paid options might provide better value. Gmail's native filtering covers basics for free, while Superhuman delivers more capabilities for just $6/month more than SaneBox's Dinner plan.

If email chaos is costing you serious time, SaneBox can save 3-4 hours per week according to user reports. Whether that's worth $100-300/year depends on how you value your time. The 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee provide 44 days of risk-free testing-enough to know if it's right for you.

Try SaneBox free for 14 days and see if it actually makes a difference for your inbox. The trial gives you full access to all features without needing a credit card, so you can properly test it before deciding.

Looking for other productivity tools to complement your email workflow? Check out our guides to the best CRM software for managing customer relationships and project management tools for keeping your team organized. If you're building out your business tech stack, our reviews of Leadpages for landing pages and Monday.com for project workflows can help you make informed decisions.