vs Nylas

Build a CRM, or
wire up your inbox in 60 seconds.

Nylas is the email API you build a SaaS product on top of — scheduling apps, CRMs, mail clients. CME is what you wire into Claude Desktop on a Tuesday afternoon. Different audiences, different price floors.

ConnectMyEmail

MCP-native, self-serve, $0 to start.

Connect Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, IMAP in under a minute. No app registration, no sales call, no contract.

Nylas

Email API for B2B app developers.

REST/webhook SDK for embedding email in your product. Strong CRM and scheduling primitives, enterprise pricing.

Decision matrix

Which one is right for you?

Choose CME if…

›You want Claude/Cursor/ChatGPT working on your own inbox — not building a SaaS.
›You want flat self-serve pricing without a sales cycle.
›You need MCP-native tools, not a REST SDK to wrap.

Choose Nylas if…

›You're building a B2B SaaS product that embeds email or scheduling.
›You need a managed Calendar API alongside email.
›You need SOC 2 Type II and a procurement-ready vendor today.

Choose both if…

›You're shipping a SaaS on Nylas AND want CME on your own inbox.
›You need calendar (Nylas) plus AI inbox actions (CME).

Feature-by-feature

17 rows. Every cell sourced.

Audience

Who is this product designed for?

FeatureCMENylasNote

Primary userIndividuals + small teamsB2B app developers

Self-serve setupyes (60 seconds)—Nylas requires app registration; entry plans gated.

Sales call to start—

Primary user

CME

Individuals + small teams

Nylas

B2B app developers

Self-serve setup

CME

yes (60 seconds)

Nylas

—

Nylas requires app registration; entry plans gated.

Sales call to start

CME

—

Nylas

Tool surface

How does the agent actually call email?

FeatureCMENylasNote

MCP server (native)yes (free OSS CLI/MCP)Nylas ships a separate OSS MCP with ~16 tools.

Tools exposed195~16 (OSS MCP)

REST API

SDKs (Python, TS, Java, Ruby)—

Calendar API—

MCP server (native)

CME

Nylas

yes (free OSS CLI/MCP)

Nylas ships a separate OSS MCP with ~16 tools.

Tools exposed

CME

195

Nylas

~16 (OSS MCP)

REST API

CME

Nylas

SDKs (Python, TS, Java, Ruby)

CME

—

Nylas

Calendar API

CME

—

Nylas

Providers

What inbox can you actually plug in?

FeatureCMENylasNote

Gmail / Outlook

iCloud / Yahoo / Fastmail / Proton / AOL / Zoho—Nylas covers ~6 providers; CME covers 8+ first-class.

Generic IMAP

Gmail / Outlook

CME

Nylas

iCloud / Yahoo / Fastmail / Proton / AOL / Zoho

CME

Nylas

—

Nylas covers ~6 providers; CME covers 8+ first-class.

Generic IMAP

CME

Nylas

Privacy & storage

Where does the mail live?

FeatureCMENylasNote

Stateless / token-only—Nylas syncs and stores message data for API access.

SOC 2 Type IIin progress

HIPAA / DPA available—

Stateless / token-only

CME

Nylas

—

Nylas syncs and stores message data for API access.

SOC 2 Type II

CME

in progress

Nylas

HIPAA / DPA available

CME

—

Nylas

Pricing

What you pay to start.

FeatureCMENylasNote

Free tier$0 (full features)Sandbox only

Entry paid$9/mofrom ~$299/mo (legacy public)Nylas current pricing requires sales contact.

Per-account fee—yes (per CA / month)

Free tier

CME

$0 (full features)

Nylas

Sandbox only

Entry paid

CME

$9/mo

Nylas

from ~$299/mo (legacy public)

Nylas current pricing requires sales contact.

Per-account fee

CME

—

Nylas

yes (per CA / month)

Pricing

Side by side.

Nylas is enterprise-API priced (per-connected-account, contract-based). CME is consumer SaaS pricing (flat per user).

ConnectMyEmail

Free1 inbox, 5K cleanup actions/mo
$0
Pro3 inboxes, 25K cleanup actions/mo
$9/mo
Power10 inboxes, 100K cleanup actions/mo
$25/mo

Nylas

SandboxDev only, limited
$0
StandardPer-CA usage, contact sales
from ~$299/mo
EnterpriseVolume + SLA + SOC 2
Custom

Nylas's entry tier is ~30x CME Pro. If you're not building a SaaS, the math doesn't work — and CME ships an MCP server out of the box, not a REST SDK to wrap.

Different jobs

Nylas is the platform you build a scheduling app on top of. CME is what you wire into your AI when email IS the workflow.