Email · checked 2026-10-14

Can I vibecode Superhuman?

KINDA· weekend project

Superhuman is a fast front end for a mailbox you already have, which makes a personal copy plausible: a local cache of your Gmail, a split inbox, snooze, send later, undo send and a command palette fit in a weekend. The time goes on trust rather than features: incremental sync that never loses or duplicates a message, drafts that survive a crash, sending from aliases, and Google's OAuth rules, since a project left in Testing status gets refresh tokens that die after 7 days. The phone apps, shared team inboxes and tuned AI triage stay behind.

$30/moprice per seat

$360you'd save a year

weekendbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyAdvanced · Real infrastructure or OAuth work.

TimeA weekend; Google's console setup and sync edge cases take the most time

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
Node.js 22better-sqlite3 compiles a native module, so build tools must be installed.
A Google Cloud projectEnable the Gmail API, create an OAuth client and add yourself as a test user; budget 30 minutes.
A Gmail or Google Workspace accountWorkspace admins can block third-party OAuth apps.
A language model endpointOptional: a hosted key or local Ollama for draft replies.

Before you buildSuperhuman has no free Mail tier, but Gmail's own shortcuts, snooze and schedule send cost nothing; try them first.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a keyboard-first Gmail client for one account to replace Superhuman. Requirements:

- Node.js 22 + TypeScript: a Fastify server and a React front end built with Vite, with `cmdk`
for the command palette. `npm start` serves http://localhost:4900.
- Storage: better-sqlite3 in ./data/mail.db with threads, messages, labels and an FTS5 index
over subject, sender and body, so search answers from the local copy.
- Sync: the Gmail API through `googleapis`. First sync pulls the last 90 days; afterwards use
history.list from the stored historyId, and fall back to a full resync if Google answers 404.
OAuth client id and secret in .env; the refresh token is kept in ./data/token.json (mode 600).
- Inbox: j/k to move, Enter to open, e archive, # trash, s star, r reply, a reply all, f forward,
c compose, / search, g then i / s / d to jump to Inbox / Starred / Drafts, Cmd+K palette.
- Split inbox: tabs defined by rules (sender, domain, Gmail label or category), edited in a
settings page and stored in SQLite; mail matches the first rule that fits.
- Time tools: snooze (h) removes a thread from the inbox until a chosen time; send later schedules
a message; undo send keeps it for 10 seconds. A worker checks every 30 seconds and the server
must be running for snooze and send later to fire.
- Reading: sanitize HTML with DOMPurify and render it in a sandboxed iframe; remote images stay
blocked until I allow them for that sender.
- Drafts: autosave to Gmail drafts every 3 seconds. Optional "Draft reply" button: send the thread
to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint (LLM_BASE_URL, LLM_MODEL, LLM_API_KEY; local Ollama works) and
insert the answer into the editor. Nothing is ever sent without my pressing send.
- Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: Gmail and the LLM endpoint.
- Out of scope: Outlook, IMAP, mobile apps, read receipts, team features.
- README: the Google Cloud console steps (budget 30 minutes), a warning that an OAuth app in
Testing status issues refresh tokens that expire after 7 days (set the status to In production),
and how to revoke access.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Superhuman.

Add follow-up reminders to the mail client in this folder. Requirements:

- When I send a message, offer "remind me in" with 2, 5 or 7 days or a date; store it per thread.
- If a reply arrives first, drop the reminder; otherwise put the thread back at the top of
  the inbox with a "No reply yet" label at the chosen time.
- A Reminders tab lists all pending ones, each with a button to snooze or clear it.
- A keyboard shortcut (shift+h) sets a reminder on an open thread.
- Update the README.

Add AI triage to the mail client in this folder. Requirements:

- For each new inbox thread, send sender, subject and the first 1,500 characters to the
  configured LLM endpoint and ask for one label from: needs-reply, fyi, newsletter, receipt,
  calendar. Store the label locally and as a Gmail label prefixed "Triage/".
- Add a split-inbox rule type "triage label" so each label can be its own tab.
- Keep a log of the last 200 decisions with a one-key way to correct one; corrected examples
  are added to the prompt as few-shot hints.
- Skip threads from my own address. Update the README with the privacy note that mail
  excerpts leave the machine unless the endpoint is local.

Add snippets to the mail client in this folder. Requirements:

- A Snippets page to create, edit and delete named text blocks with {first_name},
  {sender_name} and {today} placeholders.
- In the compose window, Cmd+K then "snippet" lists them with fuzzy search; Enter inserts the
  snippet at the cursor with placeholders filled from the thread.
- Store snippets in SQLite and export them as a single Markdown file.
- Update the README.

Add availability sharing to the mail client in this folder. Requirements:

- Read busy times from Google Calendar with the existing OAuth login (add the read-only
  calendar scope) for the next 14 days.
- A compose shortcut inserts up to 5 free 30-minute slots in my time zone, working hours
  taken from .env, written out in my time zone with the zone name.
- Never write to the calendar. Update the README with the extra scope and re-consent step.

What you lose

The iPhone and Android apps
Microsoft 365 and Outlook accounts, and several accounts side by side
Shared conversations and team comments
Auto Drafts, Ask AI and auto labels tuned over a whole mailbox
Calendar scheduling and Share Availability links

Why people still pay

Every action is a keystroke, the inbox opens instantly, and the apps behave the same on desktop and phone, which turns clearing email into a habit. Community threads we read split along that line: one subscriber says it's the first time email has been enjoyable, another is leaving after a price rise because they mostly use the split inbox.

Moatexecution polish integrations

Do the math

Superhuman or your own copy?

Seats

Over

Your usage

Count my time12h ×$/h

Superhuman, 1 yr$360

Your own copy, 1 yr$70running + build session

You keep$290pays for itself in the first month

Estimate · Gmail API calls at one mailbox's volume are free. Drafts through a hosted model cost cents a day, and a local model costs nothing. The build is token usage on your agent plan.

Leaving Superhuman

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Superhuman

1There is nothing to export for your mail: Superhuman works on top of your Gmail or Microsoft 365 account, so messages, labels and drafts stay with the provider.
2What lives in the app is your setup. Copy your snippets and note your split-inbox rules and shortcuts before you leave.
3Superhuman only supports Gmail and Microsoft 365 hosted accounts, so any other mailbox you used never went through it.

2 · Cancel Superhuman

1Individual Mail subscription: press Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows) and choose Cancel Subscription, or sign in at superhuman.com/admin.
2Alternatively open settings.superhuman.com/billing, scroll to the bottom and click Cancel Subscription.
3Access continues until the end of the term you paid for. Earlier charges aren't refunded.
4To come back, sign up again at superhuman.com/plans/mail with the same account.

If you bought the Business suite under a different email while holding a Mail subscription, you may be double-charged; cancel the Mail-only one with Cmd+K, then Billing.
Cancelling a team Mail subscription doesn't carry its data and settings into a suite.
After cancelling, revoke Superhuman's access from your Google or Microsoft account security page.

Checked 2026-10-14 against Superhuman's docs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

ZeroOpen sourceMIT-licensed, self-hostable mail app with an AI assistant that connects Gmail and other providers. Self-hosting needs Postgres and Google OAuth credentials; the last push was in May 2026.★ 11k · active May 2026 · self-host, real ops
WebVisit ↗MailspringOpen sourceGPL-3.0 desktop client with a unified inbox, snooze, send later, templates and rules in the free version; link tracking and read receipts are in the paid Pro tier.★ 18k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
Windows, macOS, LinuxVisit ↗Flectar MailOpen sourceAGPL-3.0, local-first mail, calendar and contacts client with Gmail, Microsoft 365, IMAP and JMAP support, built for low memory use; releases are still preview builds.★ 1.4k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
macOS, Windows, LinuxVisit ↗

All 5 free alternatives to Superhuman ›

The numbers

Superhuman pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Starter	$30	$25	Mail with Superhuman AI, team collaboration, calendar and scheduling, unified admin and billing.
Business	$40	$33	Everything in Starter plus the most advanced AI, Auto Drafts, Ask AI, the Mail MCP, custom auto labels and CRM integrations.
Enterprise	custom	—	Admin security and controls, single sign-on, a customer success manager, team analytics and priority support.

Billing: Monthly or annual per member. Cancelling keeps access until the end of the paid term and earlier charges are not refunded. The pricing pages we read list no free trial.
Hidden costs: One paid seat per person. Superhuman only works with Gmail and Microsoft 365 mailboxes, so a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 address is still paid for separately. Buying the Business suite under a second email while holding a Mail subscription means paying twice until the older one is cancelled.
Source: superhuman.com

Also on the list

Inbox Zero$20/mo · EmailKINDA

Front$35/mo · Customer supportKINDA

Airtable$24/mo · DatabasesYES

Questions

Superhuman, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

None for Mail. The wider Superhuman suite has a free tier, but it covers Grammarly, Docs and Go, not Mail.

Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: The iPhone and Android apps, Microsoft 365 and Outlook accounts, and several accounts side by side.

About $30 a month on the Starter (Mail) plan per seat, $360 a year (checked 2026-10-14).

The iPhone and Android apps; Microsoft 365 and Outlook accounts, and several accounts side by side; Shared conversations and team comments; Auto Drafts, Ask AI and auto labels tuned over a whole mailbox; Calendar scheduling and Share Availability links. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.