Element
Element rebuilds its timeline with MVVM architecture while cutting legacy OS support in v1.12.28.
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Gromox and Superhuman — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
| Feature | Gromox | Superhuman |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Comms | Comms |
| Velocity score | 2.5 | 6.3 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 1 |
| Top themes | groupware, exchange-compatibility, ews, imap | ai-drafting, calendar-integration, mcp, mobile |
| Last editorial update | 21d ago | 7h ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
Gromox keeps closing the gap with Exchange one protocol surface at a time — this round it's IMAP flags and Outlook for Mac.
Gromox ships a numbered release roughly monthly, each a mix of Exchange-protocol enhancements and fixes across emsmdb, EWS, IMAP, and the store layer. Version 3.10 makes midb synchronize IMAP message flags to and from the mailbox so they survive deletion of midb.sqlite3, adds IMAP keyword support, teaches EWS the Outlook-for-Mac smart response draft types, extends FindPeople and GetUserPhoto to personal contacts, and adds a short-TTL cache for recurring user ID and group membership lookups.
Superhuman rebuilt its mobile apps and wired every inbox into AI assistants — the email client is becoming a suite.
Superhuman has evolved from a keyboard-shortcut email client into an AI-native communication platform covering email, calendar, and AI drafting agents — all gated on Business/Enterprise tiers. The mobile apps, long a weak point relative to desktop, received their first major overhaul in years with a redesigned navigation model and native iOS/Android aesthetics. MCP support with multi-account access is live, letting AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT operate across all connected inboxes simultaneously. Calendar coverage now spans desktop, Android, and iOS with room booking and multi-day views.
Gromox ships a numbered release roughly monthly, each a mix of Exchange-protocol enhancements and fixes across emsmdb, EWS, IMAP, and the store layer. Version 3.10 makes midb synchronize IMAP message flags to and from the mailbox so they survive deletion of midb.sqlite3, adds IMAP keyword support, teaches EWS the Outlook-for-Mac smart response draft types, extends FindPeople and GetUserPhoto to personal contacts, and adds a short-TTL cache for recurring user ID and group membership lookups.
The project is methodically completing Microsoft's protocol surface rather than building an alternative one. EWS went from partial handlers in 3.2 to the full meeting, delegate, and task surface in 3.6, and now picks up client-specific dialects like Outlook for Mac's draft types. IMAP is on the same path — keywords and colour categories in 3.8, IMAP4rev2 pieces, and now flag durability. Meanwhile the store layer keeps being split and cached for operability. The audience is clearly administrators migrating off Exchange or Kopano who need existing clients to behave unchanged.
Expect IMAP4rev2 coverage to keep filling in and more client-specific EWS dialects to appear as particular Outlook builds are tested against it.
Superhuman has evolved from a keyboard-shortcut email client into an AI-native communication platform covering email, calendar, and AI drafting agents — all gated on Business/Enterprise tiers. The mobile apps, long a weak point relative to desktop, received their first major overhaul in years with a redesigned navigation model and native iOS/Android aesthetics. MCP support with multi-account access is live, letting AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT operate across all connected inboxes simultaneously. Calendar coverage now spans desktop, Android, and iOS with room booking and multi-day views.
Superhuman is building toward a unified communication suite — the rebranded 'Superhuman Mail' name explicitly anticipates Mail, Docs, and Go as sibling products. The heavy investment in calendar (rooms, Android, multi-day iOS views) signals calendar parity with email as a near-term priority. AI drafting is moving toward full automation: Auto Drafts 2.0 already completes 60% of replies without editing, and the team has announced a voice mode and a rewritten email engine as the next milestones.
Voice mode and a rewritten email engine are both on the stated roadmap. The most likely next shipping moment is deeper tool integrations for Auto Drafts — Slack and meeting-notes context were specifically teased — which would close the gap between drafting and the rest of a user's work context.
Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Gromox or Superhuman.
Element rebuilds its timeline with MVVM architecture while cutting legacy OS support in v1.12.28.
Chatwoot is building an AI-first support platform, with Captain gaining audience targeting and macro automation reaching the keyboard-native workflow.
Signal adds granular notification controls: badge content, muted threads, restore defaults
Zoho Cliq 7.0 bets on AI conversation summaries and Neat hardware to close the gap with enterprise messaging platforms
Krisp adds deepfake detection and expands Voice Translation as its Call Center AI platform deepens enterprise compliance tools.
Netcore's recent entries are blog content, not product releases — the signal is a BFSI and ecommerce vertical sales push.
See all Gromox alternatives → · See all Superhuman alternatives →
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Superhuman is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Superhuman is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.
Top Gromox alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Gromox alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/gromox for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
Top Superhuman alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Superhuman alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/superhuman for the full list with editorial commentary on each.