MailRules vs Clean Email
Both connect to your mailbox and work with any IMAP provider. Clean Email is built for clearing out a big mailbox and keeping it clear: bulk actions, unsubscribing, and Auto Clean rules. MailRules is built for sorting new mail by rules you describe in your own words.
| MailRules | Clean Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Sorting new mail as it arrives, by rules you write. Cleanup sorts mail already in a folder. | Bulk cleaning of existing mail, an Unsubscriber, a Screener for first-time senders, and Auto Clean rules for new mail. |
| How rules are written | Type or dictate a sentence such as "recruiters I haven't replied to". Add exact conditions on sender, domain, subject, any header or attachments when you want them. | Auto Clean rules use sender, keywords, subject, Smart Folder categories such as Online Shopping, and more. You can also make a rule from emails you've selected. |
| What a rule can do | Move, archive, trash, mark as junk, flag, mark read or unread, or keep. | Move, label, archive, trash, mark as read and other cleaning actions, plus unsubscribe and delete after a set age. |
| When it's unsure | Below your confidence threshold, the email stays in your inbox and waits in Needs review. | Rules act on what matches. A history of automated actions is on by default, with a weekly summary by email. |
| Undo | Every action shows a one-line reason and can be undone for 30 days, one email at a time or the last hour at once. | You can review processed messages and pause, edit or delete any rule. |
| Where it runs | On your own server, free under AGPL-3.0. A hosted cloud version is coming. | Hosted only. It connects to your mailbox and analyses and cleans email in the cloud. Web, desktop and mobile apps. |
| Price | Self-hosting is free; you pay your model provider. Hosted cloud is coming: Personal $5 a month, Pro $10 a month, Team $8 per seat. | Free for up to 1,000 cleaned emails, without Auto Clean. Paid plans cover 1, 5 or 10 accounts, monthly or yearly, with a 14-day free trial. |
Cleaning a backlog, or sorting what arrives
Clean Email is built around a big, messy mailbox. It groups mail into Smart Folders, lets you act on thousands of emails at once and unsubscribes you from lists. Auto Clean then keeps new mail in line. MailRules starts from the other end: you describe how new mail should be filed, and it files it seconds after it lands. Cleanup can apply the same rules to mail you already have.
Categories versus your own words
Auto Clean rules are built from senders, keywords, subjects and Clean Email’s categories, such as Online Shopping or Food Delivery. That covers a lot. It’s harder when the split is inside one sender, such as receipts but not shipping updates, or depends on you, such as recruiters you haven’t replied to. In MailRules you write that. It checks senders you’ve corrected and exact conditions first, then asks a small model only when it needs to.
Hosted, or on your own server
Clean Email is a hosted service with web, desktop and mobile apps. MailRules is open source: one Go binary with SQLite that you run yourself, with your own model key or with Ollama. A hosted version is coming for people who don’t want to run anything.
When Clean Email is the better pick
Pick Clean Email if your mailbox has years of backlog and you want to clear it fast: group thousands of emails, unsubscribe in bulk, and hold first-time senders in a Screener. It has mobile apps and needs no server or AI model. Its Auto Clean rules cover sender, keyword and category sorting well. MailRules has no unsubscribe tool and no Screener.
Sources
Checked on 8 October 2026.
Questions
Can Clean Email understand a rule written as a sentence?
Its Auto Clean rules are built from senders, keywords, subjects and its own categories. MailRules takes the sentence itself and turns it into a rule.
Does MailRules unsubscribe me from lists?
No. It sorts mail into folders. Clean Email's Unsubscriber is a better fit if that's what you need.
Do both work with iCloud?
Yes. Clean Email lists iCloud among its providers, and MailRules connects to iCloud with an app-specific password.
Can I clean up old mail with MailRules?
Yes. Cleanup runs your rules over mail already in a folder you choose, and every move can be undone for 30 days.
Can I run Clean Email myself?
No. It's a hosted service. MailRules is open source and runs on your own server, with Ollama if you want no email to reach an outside model.