A lightweight Shift Browser alternative for Mac

If you came to Shift just to juggle several Gmail accounts, you're paying a lot for it: a full Chromium runtime, hundreds of megabytes of RAM, and a recurring subscription. Smails is the focused, native alternative. It does one thing, keeping all your Gmail accounts in one window, and it does it without the weight. If you want the whole field on one screen, the comparison table puts Smails next to Shift, Wavebox, Kiwi, Orbit and Mimestream.

Native, not an Electron memory hog

Shift bundles its own copy of Chrome. Smails is built with Swift and WebKit, the engine already in macOS, so the whole app is a couple of megabytes and starts instantly. Your fans stay quiet and your battery lasts. The same goes on a PC: there is a Gmail desktop app for Windows too, and one licence covers two devices. If Shift was mostly for juggling accounts, see multiple Gmail accounts on Windows. Mixing Gmail and Outlook? See Gmail and Outlook in one app.

Pay once, not forever

Shift charges a subscription for multiple accounts. Smails is $9.99, one time, free with one account and a single payment to add as many as you like. No monthly bill, free updates. The maths over a few years is on the email app without a subscription page.

The same multi-account flow, lighter

• Every Gmail account in one window. A thin sidebar, click or ⌘1–9 to switch instantly, each account fully isolated and signed in. It is the last of the six ways to run multiple Gmail accounts on a Mac, and the one we built for it.
• The real Gmail. Labels, search, chat, filters, your settings, untouched. If Kiwi for Gmail is the other app on your shortlist, the Kiwi for Gmail alternative page covers that pairing, and the Mimestream alternative page covers the rebuilt-client route.
• Links open in your real browser, not trapped inside the app.
• Be your default mail app. Clicking any mailto: link pops a quick account picker and a pre-filled Gmail compose.

Smails vs Shift