Pick ChatGPT if you already pay for it, want one AI for writing, research, and code as well as email, and are comfortable setting up the Gmail or Outlook plugin and a scheduled prompt. Pick Synced, the AI inbox assistant, if you want every new message from email, Slack, Teams chats, or WhatsApp Business read without prompting, with drafts collected in one approval queue. Synced is in private beta; ChatGPT is generally available.
Synced and ChatGPT side by side
ChatGPT details come from OpenAI's ChatGPT Learn documentation, including its pricing page, plugins page, and inbox use-case guide, checked on September 13, 2026. OpenAI's main pricing and help-center pages blocked automated access when we checked, so anything only stated there is left out.
| ChatGPT | Synced | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free $0. Go $8/month. Plus $20/month. Pro from $100/month. Business $20/user/month billed annually (2+ users), $25 billed monthly. Enterprise: contact sales | Listed on the pricing page: Free $0. Pro $29.99/user/month, or $24.99/user/month billed annually. Enterprise: contact sales |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes. 20 Action Plans a week with Gmail, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Google Calendar |
| Platforms | Web, desktop apps (Mac and Windows), mobile | Web app for desktop browsers, and iPhone (iOS 16.4+). No iPad app. Android is planned, no date |
| Email providers | Gmail and Outlook, through plugins you install | Gmail (Free and up), Outlook (Pro) |
| Other channels | Slack plugin (summarize channels, draft replies), plus Google Drive, calendar, and many other plugins | Slack, Microsoft Teams chats, WhatsApp Business, Instagram Business DMs, Messenger (Facebook Pages), SMS via your own Twilio number, GroupMe (Pro) |
| AI drafting | Yes. OpenAI's inbox guide drafts replies in your voice from your sent mail | Yes. Replies and documents, with context from connected Drive, OneDrive, and Calendar |
| Sends without approval | OpenAI's inbox workflow prepares replies without sending and asks before sending or deleting. The Gmail plugin acts when you explicitly ask | No. Every AI-drafted message waits for your approval |
| Model training policy | Business, Enterprise, and Edu: not used to train OpenAI models by default. Individual plans: not stated on the pages we could access | Google Workspace data isn't used to train generalized AI/ML models. LLM providers are bound not to train on the data |
| Status | Generally available | Private beta (waitlist) |
Checked September 13, 2026. Prices in USD. Plugin availability can differ by plan and workspace settings.
Where ChatGPT is the better pick
- You want one AI for everything. ChatGPT handles research, documents, analysis, and code in the same place as your email work. Synced only works on incoming messages.
- You like shaping the workflow yourself. OpenAI's inbox guide is a prompt you can edit: which accounts to review, what to archive, when to check (for example 8 AM and 4 PM on weekdays), and how to report back.
- You want broad cleanup. With the Gmail plugin, ChatGPT can label, archive, or move messages to Trash when you explicitly ask. Synced is focused on drafting and the work around each reply.
- You want a native Windows or Mac app. ChatGPT documents desktop apps for both; Synced is a desktop web app and an iPhone app.
Where Synced is the better pick
- You don't want to write or maintain a prompt. Synced reads each new message as it lands and writes an Action Plan for it. There is no schedule to set up.
- Customers message you on WhatsApp Business, Instagram, Messenger, or SMS. Synced connects those, plus GroupMe and Microsoft Teams chats, as Inboxes next to Gmail, Outlook, and Slack. We didn't find those channels in the ChatGPT plugin documentation we checked.
- You want approvals in one place. Every AI-drafted message from every channel waits in Decide, and none is sent until you approve it, regardless of how the request was phrased.
- You want a usage count that's easy to predict. Synced plans are counted in Action Plans: 20 a week on Free, 100 on Pro, one per message regardless of steps.
Using ChatGPT and Synced together
Plenty of people will keep ChatGPT for thinking and writing and add Synced for the inbox. They can connect to the same Gmail or Outlook account independently. If you do connect both, be deliberate about which one handles replies, so two tools aren't drafting for the same thread. For a manual approach with any chatbot, see how to use AI to draft email replies.
- ChatGPT Learn: Pricing (checked 2026-09-13)
- ChatGPT Learn: Get your email to inbox zero (checked 2026-09-13)
- ChatGPT Learn: Plugins (checked 2026-09-13)
- ChatGPT Learn documentation index (data handling for Business, Enterprise, and Edu) (checked 2026-09-13)
- OpenAI Gmail plugin (checked 2026-09-13)