Published Nov 27, 2025, 8:30 AM EST
Bryan Wolfe has spent 15+ years writing about the tech people actually use — and occasionally the tech they probably shouldn't. With bylines at Yahoo, MakeUseOf, TechRadar, and Digital Trends, he brings an MBA-sharpened perspective to consumer tech, AI tools, and digital productivity. He's based in State College, PA, where he also runs GoingSolo.Life, a solo travel brand for the independently minded.
The Gmail app used to play an essential role in my digital life. In recent years, however, I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with it and started to dread opening it. After a bit of research, I found a Gmail alternative that convinced me to walk away from the familiar safety net of the Gmail interface.
Spike, available for iOS and Android, is simple to use and works with all my email accounts, including Google, Microsoft, and others. Its unique interface is simple to use and makes email much more enjoyable. Though it might not be for everyone, Spike is worth considering if you can no longer stand using the Gmail interface and are looking for something new.
When Gmail started to feel heavy
There's too much here and too much data sharing
Gmail got its start as a desktop app in 2004. Four years later, Google released the first mobile version for Android. An iPhone version followed in 2011. Over the years, Google has added several new features to the Gmail interface, including labels, filters, and tabs. Another one is “conversational view,” which is supposed to group and streamline back-and-forth communications. Instead, I have always felt that the longer the email chain, the harder it is to find important information.
In time, I also grew tired of how much of my inbox was entrenched with the rest of the Google ecosystem and data model, although there are a lot of surprising Google apps worth using. One benefit of this synergy is that Gmail, like other Google apps, remains free. However, the Gmail app increasingly felt like stepping into a noisy, ad-filled mall when all I wanted was a quick way to catch up on my mail.
Saying hello to Spike
The search for a better solution
When it came time to look for a Gmail alternative, I did what most might do: I searched Google. It took a little time, but I finally found the listing for Spike, which is described as being “built for natural conversation.” That was enough for me to download it to my iPhone.
The most significant difference between Gmail and Spike is how emails are grouped. Spike groups each conversation by the people you’re having a dialogue with in a way that looks like your favorite messaging app. Better still, it strips away signatures and repeated headers that have always driven me nuts on more traditional email solutions. In a single glance, I can now tell which relationships need my attention without annoying subject lines looking back at me.
And there are the Spike built-in notes, tasks, and group chats, which help me save time throughout the week. For example, I can drop meeting notes inside the same workspace where related emails live. This makes it easier for me to avoid using standalone apps like Apple Notes and Apple Reminders.
Spike also has features that are increasingly appearing in other solutions, such as a priority inbox that makes it easier to avoid newsletter and promotional nonsense. Snooze and send-later are also here and work as you would expect.
The app even has a voice messaging component, which gives you another way to communicate directly from the app.
Not surprisingly, Spike also has AI features, which, admittedly, I care much less about than the others. Among other features, AI-enabled Spike can summarize long threads or suggested replies.
Finally, there’s privacy. Although no email system is 100% secure, it’s nice knowing up front that Spike doesn’t sell user data or show targeted ads based on your inbox. I also like that my data is encrypted using AES-256.
What I’ll miss about Gmail
There’s no perfect solution
Gmail isn’t without its benefits, and some of them I’m having a harder time doing without. For example, Gmail has the best search app on the planet, Google, built into its email solution. Google Search continues to add new features that make it better with each passing year. Spike’s search function is admirable, but it definitely doesn’t work as well as Google’s. I’ve also run into the occasional bug that requires me to restart the app. These have been rare and always minor, but when they happen, it reminds me that Spike isn’t backed by one of the biggest tech companies on the planet.
And then there’s the price. Spike is free to use, but honestly, it’s so much better with a
Spike Mail
Spike is an email app designed to boost productivity by combining traditional email with instant messaging-like features. It offers a unified inbox that consolidates all email accounts into a single view, making email management more straightforward and more efficient. Spike includes features such as conversational email that displays messages like chat threads, priority inbox for important emails, customizable notifications, and advanced search capabilities called Super Search. It also supports task tracking within the inbox and integrates calendar functionalities for agenda management and meeting scheduling.
Pro subscription, which runs $5 a month when billed annually. The free version limits its use to one email account and, more importantly, limits search to only 60 days. Many of its AI features are also limited in the free version, as are the file sizes you can send and the storage space.
With a Spike Pro subscription, limits are raised significantly across the board, and you can add up to three emails to create a unified system. Features here include unlimited search history, 5GB of storage, and file uploads up to 100 MB. There’s also a Spike Ultimate subscription that’s $10 per month. This increases the number of people who can join a video call, raises the file upload limit to 1GB, and more.
My new email solution
As I said, Spike isn’t for everyone, especially those who don’t want to pay for a better email client. And yet, there are plenty of great features here that make it much better than the Gmail app. It’s a refreshing alternative to the most used email service on the planet.