Inbox Zero
AI email assistant that drafts replies, triages mail and helps clear shared inboxes.
Quick answer
Inbox Zero is an AI email assistant that drafts replies, triages mail and helps clear shared inboxes, listed under Customer support & email AI. A typical small-business use: draft and suggest replies for a shared support or sales inbox. Official hardware: minimum 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB disk. That fits a Hetzner Cloud CPX22 server at about €19.99/month (server only, excl. VAT). License: AGPL-3.0 with additional Inbox Zero terms.
Last updated · facts verified against official docs on · sources
Activity data comes from GitHub and was last refreshed Oct 25, 2026.
What is Inbox Zero?
Inbox Zero is an open-source AI email assistant for Gmail and Microsoft mailboxes. Self-host it with Docker Compose (or Vercel/Kubernetes/AWS) so rules, drafts and automations run on your infrastructure while calling the LLM provider you configure. Official VPS guidance is at least 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU cores and 20 GB storage plus a domain pointed at the host.
Where it fits in a 10–200 person business
- Draft and suggest replies for a shared support or sales inbox
- Auto-label, archive or unsubscribe noise so humans only see mail that needs a decision
- Team inbox assistant with Google or Microsoft OAuth and optional SAML SSO
These use cases are our editorial suggestions, not claims made by the project.
Can a business use Inbox Zero? (license)
| License | AGPL-3.0 with additional Inbox Zero terms |
|---|---|
| Type | Custom / conditional: Apache- or BSD-based with extra conditions (branding, multi-tenant SaaS, derivatives). |
| Internal business use | yes only for orgs with fewer than 5 business users; 5+ need an enterprise license |
| What to watch | AGPL-3.0 plus extra terms from Inbox Zero Inc. Personal, educational and research use, and organisations with fewer than five business users, are exempt from the commercial and enterprise restrictions. Organisations with five or more employees/contractors/users who will use it for business need an enterprise license. You may not monetize the software itself (sell access, offer it as a paid service, or put it in a commercial product) without written permission. |
This is a plain-English summary of the license text, not legal advice. Third-party models you run with it have their own licenses.
Data & compliance: does Inbox Zero phone home?
| Telemetry (usage data sent to the vendor) | Not documented Docs mention a Default Organization Analytics Consent setting for newly created organization members. No product-wide phone-home / opt-out page for the self-hosted binary was found. How to turn it off: unknown |
|---|---|
| Other calls home by default (updates, marketplaces, default cloud services) | Yes, by default Outbound calls to Google/Microsoft APIs, your configured AI provider and any enabled integrations (Slack, Teams, Telegram, etc.). How to turn it off: Not applicable for core mail+AI features; disable unused integrations. |
| Single sign-on (OIDC / SAML / LDAP) | Free By protocol: SAML free. Self-hosted admins configure SAML SSO and SCIM from /admin (set SSO_LOGIN_ENABLED=true). Hosted cloud needs sales to enable SSO/SCIM. Google and Microsoft OAuth are the usual login path. |
| Audit log | Not documented |
| Role-based access control (RBAC) | Not documented ADMINS env lists users who can open /admin (including SSO/SCIM). Broader org-role RBAC details were not found in the public docs reviewed. |
| Data residency / GDPR notes from the project | Not documented |
Checked against the project's own docs and repository on . "Not documented" means we could not find the answer in official sources; it does not mean the feature is missing or that no data is sent. Third-party services you connect (model APIs, vector databases, search engines) have their own data policies. Compare all apps.
What hardware does Inbox Zero need?
| Minimum | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB disk |
|---|---|
| Recommended | Not published |
| GPU | No. Needs an LLM API (or your own endpoint); no local GPU requirement is documented. |
Official Docker/VPS guide requires a VPS with at least 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 20 GB storage and a supported Linux distribution, plus a domain pointed at the VPS.
How much does it cost to host Inbox Zero per month?
| Minimum spec | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB disk → CPX22 (2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB disk) €19.99/mo |
|---|
How we got this: we took the cheapest Hetzner Cloud Regular Performance (shared AMD vCPU) plan with at least the RAM and vCPU the project lists, using prices read from www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance on 2026-10-22. "From" monthly price cap shown by Hetzner, excluding VAT. Prices vary by location. Covers the server only; it excludes LLM API usage, backups, extra storage, GPUs and your time. Disk is not matched; add a volume if you need more than the plan includes.
How to deploy Inbox Zero
Method: Docker Compose (CLI setup)
# standalone setup (downloads Compose + .env template)
npx @inbox-zero/cli setup
# then start with the Compose command the CLI prints, e.g.:
# NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=https://yourdomain.com \
# docker compose --env-file apps/web/.env --profile all up -d
# Image: ghcr.io/elie222/inbox-zero:latest (pin a version without the v prefix, e.g. :2.30.0)From the official instructions: docs.getinboxzero.com/hosting/self-hosting. Always check the source for the current version before you run it.
Known gotchas when self-hosting Inbox Zero
- Organisations with five or more business users need an enterprise license before using Inbox Zero for business; smaller teams and personal use are exempt under the additional LICENSE terms. source
- Needs Google and/or Microsoft OAuth credentials, an LLM provider key and generated secrets (EMAIL_ENCRYPT_SECRET, etc.). Changing encryption secrets without a migration forces every user to reconnect. source
- Mail content is sent to the AI provider you configure. Choose retention terms that match your policy; optional SENSITIVE_DATA_POLICY_DEFAULT can redact or block credentials/PANs. source
- Gmail/Outlook webhooks and some integrations must be reachable from the provider, or mail will not process as it arrives when the app sits on a private network. source
Inbox Zero FAQ
How much RAM does Inbox Zero need?
The official minimum is 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB disk. Official Docker/VPS guide requires a VPS with at least 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 20 GB storage and a supported Linux distribution, plus a domain pointed at the VPS.
Does Inbox Zero need a GPU?
No. Needs an LLM API (or your own endpoint); no local GPU requirement is documented.
How much does it cost to self-host Inbox Zero?
The software is free to download. Based on the official minimum 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB disk: That fits a Hetzner Cloud CPX22 server at about €19.99/month (server only, excl. VAT). That covers the server only, not LLM API usage, backups, extra storage or your time.
Is Inbox Zero free for commercial use?
Inbox Zero is licensed under AGPL-3.0 with additional Inbox Zero terms (Custom / conditional). yes only for orgs with fewer than 5 business users; 5+ need an enterprise license AGPL-3.0 plus extra terms from Inbox Zero Inc. Personal, educational and research use, and organisations with fewer than five business users, are exempt from the commercial and enterprise restrictions. Organisations with five or more employees/contractors/users who will use it for business need an enterprise license. You may not monetize the software itself (sell access, offer it as a paid service, or put it in a commercial product) without written permission. This is a summary, not legal advice.
What are common problems when self-hosting Inbox Zero?
Organisations with five or more business users need an enterprise license before using Inbox Zero for business; smaller teams and personal use are exempt under the additional LICENSE terms. Needs Google and/or Microsoft OAuth credentials, an LLM provider key and generated secrets (EMAIL_ENCRYPT_SECRET, etc.). Changing encryption secrets without a migration forces every user to reconnect. Mail content is sent to the AI provider you configure. Choose retention terms that match your policy; optional SENSITIVE_DATA_POLICY_DEFAULT can redact or block credentials/PANs. Gmail/Outlook webhooks and some integrations must be reachable from the provider, or mail will not process as it arrives when the app sits on a private network.
Is Inbox Zero still maintained?
Yes, it is actively developed. Last commit: Oct 23, 2026. Latest release: desktop-v0.1.21 (Oct 21, 2026). Checked Oct 25, 2026.
How do I install Inbox Zero?
The official method is Docker Compose (CLI setup). The exact commands are in the "How to deploy" section above and in the official instructions: https://docs.getinboxzero.com/hosting/self-hosting
Sources
- GitHub repository: github.com/elie222/inbox-zero
- Official documentation, Hardware requirements, Deploy instructions, Gotcha 2: docs.getinboxzero.com/hosting/self-hosting
- License text, Gotcha 1: github.com/elie222/inbox-zero/blob/main/LICENSE
- Gotcha 3, Gotcha 4: docs.getinboxzero.com/hosting/security-hardening
- Hetzner Cloud pricing (cost estimate): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub stars, commits and releases: GitHub REST API, fetched
Facts on this page were checked against the project's own repository and docs on 2026-10-25. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.