Head to head

inrelay vs Missive

The two closest products in this category — team inboxes built as real desktop apps — compared with the respect that deserves.

The case for Missive

Choose Missive for multi-channel team email today: more channels live, a decade of polish, and AI where you bring your own model key or buy credits.

The case for inrelay

Choose inrelay for the agent in the box — AI drafting included with an approval gate as the default — plus a knowledge base and CSAT built in, at a flat price per account instead of per seat.

If you’re comparing inrelay vs Missive, you’ve already found the two teams who agree on the most important thing: support belongs in a fast app on your desk with a human at the send button. The differences are real but narrower than any other page in our comparison hub — and the Missive alternatives roundup covers the wider field.

01 · The matrix

Feature by feature.

Gaps rendered as gaps, on both sides — and this pair shares a few honestly.

Missiveinrelay
Pricing shape
Modelper seat, capped tiersflat per account
Free tier30-day trial onlythe Solo plan, free forever — small AI reply budget
Channels
Email
Live chatyes, via your Twilio accountyes, built in
Instagram DMin development
TikTok Shop—in development
SMSyes, via your Twilio accountin development
WhatsAppin development
Help-desk layer
Knowledge base—yes, custom domains
CSAT surveys—
Collision detection
SLA rules—in development
Analyticsbasic on Productive, advanced on Businessincluded on Team
AI
AI draftingyes — your API key or creditsincluded on every plan
Human approval before sendyes — a human always sendsdefault; auto is opt-in
Apps
Desktop app (Mac + Windows)
Mobile app

Missive features and pricing as of August 2026, from missiveapp.com. Neither product has SLA rules today — a shared gap, in development on inrelay.

02 · Their wins

Where Missive is stronger

Plenty, and we’ll be specific. Maturity first: Missive has been refining one product for a decade, and it shows — threading, swipe triage, chat-style internal comments, and up to a thousand rules and automations on Productive. inrelay is young; some of that polish simply takes years.

Channels second: Instagram DM, WhatsApp, SMS and live chat are all live on Missive today (SMS and chat ride your own Twilio account), where inrelay’s social channels and SMS are still in development. If your queue is multi-channel this quarter, Missive covers it now.

Third, integrations and an open API on Productive and up, plus analytics tiers with years of refinement behind them — inrelay’s analytics ship on the Team plan but are newer. And fourth, the entry price: at one or two people, $14 per user undercuts our flat plans, and Missive’s bring-your-own-key AI is genuinely flexible if you already have model preferences and an API account. For a small team that lives in email and doesn’t need help-desk furniture, Missive is an excellent product — that’s exactly why this page exists.

03 · Our wins

Where inrelay is stronger

The agent is in the box. Missive’s AI assistant is real, but the model usage isn’t bundled — you bring an API key or buy credits, roughly another $2–15 per user per month in practice. Every inrelay plan includes the full agent — drafts in your voice, triage, routing — in the flat price, governed by a monthly reply budget you set.

Second, the help-desk layer Missive deliberately leaves out: a knowledge base on your own domain and CSAT surveys ship built in, so a growing support team doesn’t bolt on a second product. Third, the pricing shape at team scale — flat per plan, and teammates are never priced, so the sixth and sixteenth hires cost the same: nothing. And there’s a permanent free tier — the Solo plan with a small reply budget — where Missive offers a 30-day trial. What we cheerfully concede: both products keep a human at the send button. On Missive that’s the whole design; on inrelay the agent drafts everything and approval is the default, with auto-send a deliberate per-workspace opt-in.

04 · The bill

Pricing, side by side.

Per-seat with tier caps against flat per account — at three people and at eight.

TeamMissive Starter ($14/user)Missive Productive ($24/user)inrelay, flat
2 people$28$48$79 Team, flat
3 people$42$72$79 Team, flat
8 peopleover the 5-user cap$192$79 Team
+ AI draftingyour API key or credits, ~$2–15/usersameincluded — a reply budget you set

As of August 2026, annual billing, from missiveapp.com/pricing; monthly billing runs higher. Missive’s Starter caps at 5 users and gates integrations, API and analytics to Productive. inrelay numbers per pricing. Honest note: at one or two seats, Missive’s $14–28 undercuts $19 Solo and $79 Team — the flat shape wins as the team grows.

05 · The move

Migrating from Missive

Your email never left home

Missive works on top of your Gmail, Outlook or IMAP accounts, so the mail itself stays with your provider. Connect the same accounts to inrelay and the history is simply there — nothing to import.

Export the collaboration layer

What lives in Missive is the layer on top: comments, assignments and labels. Settings → Login & Security offers a self-serve export of comments, contacts and full conversations, with individual emails downloadable as .eml. Run it before you cancel.

Rebuild rules, gain the rest

Rules and automations are rebuilt by hand on any destination. Most teams are reading their mail in inrelay the same afternoon — and setting up the knowledge base and CSAT they didn’t have before by the end of the week.

Start today

Same philosophy. Agent included.

A desktop-first team inbox with the AI in the box, a human on every send, and one flat price — free to try alongside Missive with the same accounts.

Start freeSee pricing

Questions, answered.

Is Missive cheaper than inrelay?
For one or two people, yes — $14 per user undercuts our $19 Solo plan, and that’s worth saying plainly. From a few seats the flat shape catches up, and by eight people it’s $192 a month on Missive Productive against $79 flat on Team, AI included.
Which covers more channels today?
Missive. Instagram DM, WhatsApp, SMS and live chat are live now (SMS and chat via your own Twilio account), while inrelay ships email and built-in live chat today with social channels and SMS in development. If multi-channel is this quarter’s problem, that’s a real point for Missive.
Don’t both keep a human on the send button?
Yes, and we respect Missive for it. The difference is what happens before the send: inrelay’s agent works the inbox down — triage, tagging, a draft in your voice on every conversation — with approval as the default gate, and the model usage is bundled rather than billed to your own API key.
Will I lose my email history if I switch?
No. Your mail lives on Gmail, Outlook or IMAP, not inside Missive — reconnect the same accounts and it’s all there. Export comments, assignments and contacts from Missive’s settings first; that collaboration layer is the only part that needs saving.

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