Review: MailHub (plugin for Mail.app)

One of the things I do is "collect" software never knowing when I'll use it, but there are a small staple of applications I use all the time. When I saw MailHub, a plugin for Mail.app, I quickly downloaded it and played with it for a few minutes. I don't think I spent more than 10 minutes with it before I pulled out my credit card and purchased it! One of the problems with receiving so much email is what to do with it. I used to run rules on messages and kept having to setup new rules to move messages. This was inefficient for me, so dealing with messages as I read them seemed much more efficient.

If you don't use rules in Mail, you have to use the mouse to move messages to different mailboxes/folders. For people like me that like to use the keyboard as much as possible, the process of reading a message, then moving my hand to the trackpad/mouse to file a message just wasn't attractive. With MailHub one or two keystrokes is all it takes to move messages to mailboxes. To top it off, MailHub has smarts that tries to figure out where the messages will go and it does a pretty decent job. MailHub does a number of other things, but the ability to file messages quickly is ideal for me. My inbox is now down to zero as I deal with messages quickly as I read it.

The $19 cost for MailHub is peanuts as it saves me a significant amount of time. The plugin hasn't affected the stability of Mail and is quite integrated into Mail.

Pros

  • Excellent integration with Mail.
  • Learns about where to file messages.
  • Easy to use keystrokes to file messages.
  • Low price.

Cons

  • Every update to Mail requires a plugin update. Mail plugins are not supported by Apple and with Snow Leopard, Apple has added a version ID to each Mail release, so plugins have to get updated. MailHub has been updated to support the new Mail versions.
  • Only works with Mail. This really isn't a knock on MailHub, but I've started using Outlook for Mac to integrate with my work's Exchange server and I miss MailHub when using Outlook

Summary

If you use Mail on the Mac and get more than just a few messages a day, MailHub is definitely worth a look. There is a 30 day trial, but I suspect that you'll purchase it after just a few days. The plugin is well done and it's simplicity makes it a breeze to use.

Comments

August 21st, 2011
Manoel Tavares

Hi Scott, For the past decade (I think) I have been using and am a great fan of NEO (Nelson E-mail Organizer) by Caelo (www.caelo.com) for Outlook on the MS OS but will soon leave it all behind because I am switching from the IBM PC to Apple with MAC OS and NEO is not available there.
I have been searching the web endlessly for a MAC OS e-mail client or add in that would resemble NEO. Then I found your review and other online material on MailHub. From the looks and sounds MailHub is the closest thing to NEO = that does automated filing. But, my question is: when you have multiple correspondents, whether in incoming or outgoing e-mails, does MailHub files a copy of the e-mail to each correspondent? Have you come accross any other addin solution for Outlook on the MAC? Thank you for your earliest attention, Kindest Regards,

August 22nd, 2011
Scott Gruby

I don’t think that MailHub will file a message into multiple mailboxes. However, you should contact the author to see if it can do this or it might be implemented in the future.

January 8th, 2017
Jos

Hi Scott,

Sorry to resurrect this old post! I have been looking for an alternative to MailHub that will integrate with Outlook. Did you ever stumble upon one?

Thank you!

January 9th, 2017
Scott Gruby

Hi Jos,

I never did find anything to integrate with Outlook, but luckily I no longer use Outlook :-)

March 5th, 2017
Tom

But do you still use MailHub?! Just came across this post looking to auto-file sent messages, wondering if your review still holds true 6 years later…

March 5th, 2017
Scott Gruby

Hi Tom,

Yes, I still use MailHub and find it invaluable!