Quick Definition
Boomerang an email productivity add-on for Gmail and Outlook from Baydin, founded in 2010: schedule sends, run one-click meeting polls, pause the inbox, and set a reminder on a message so it returns if nobody replies. Free Basic tier, then $4.98 to $49.98 a month billed annually.
Quick Definition
alfred_ a persistent personal assistant for your work. It keeps track of what is waiting on you and what is waiting on everyone else, across all your inboxes and calendars, chases what has stalled, and texts you every morning what actually needs you.
Sixteen years of “remind me if nobody replies”
Boomerang has been doing one thing well since 2010. You write an email, you tell Boomerang to bring it back in three days if nobody answers, and it does. Add send-later and a meeting poll and you have a tool that a couple of million people use every day. When an answer engine is asked who tracks emails waiting on a reply, Boomerang is often the first name, and it deserves to be.
The limit is the word “you.” Boomerang reminds you about the messages you remembered to tag before hitting send. alfred_ exists for the ones you did not.
Boomerang's approach:
Tag the message when you send it. If nobody replies by then, it comes back to your inbox.
alfred_'s approach:
Keep score of what is waiting on you and on everyone else, tagged or not, across every account, chase what has stalled, and tell you each morning what actually needs you.
What Boomerang offers
Follow-up reminders
- Choose, at send time, to be reminded if nobody replies, or regardless
- Response Tracking bounces the unanswered thread back to the inbox
Scheduling
- Send Later
- Meeting Poll and one-click calendar scheduling
- Inbox Pause, including scheduled pauses
AI writing feedback
- Respondable scores a draft’s likelihood of getting a reply
Scope and pricing
- Boomerang for Gmail as a browser extension; Boomerang for Outlook as a separate product with separate pricing
- iOS and Android apps
- Basic free with 10 message credits a month; Personal $4.98, Pro $14.98, Premium $49.98 a month billed annually
- Baydin, Santa Clara; 19 people; acquired GQueues in January 2025
What alfred_ offers
alfred_ is a persistent personal assistant for your work. It keeps track of what is waiting on you and what is waiting on everyone else, across all your inboxes and calendars, chases what has stalled, and texts you every morning what actually needs you.
The ledger, in both directions
- What is waiting on you: the few threads that need a human, ranked from your own mail and calendar, with suggested to-dos you accept in one tap and to-dos extracted from threads
- What is waiting on everyone else: the threads and projects where you are waiting on someone, tracked as a list, without tagging anything
Follow-ups and nudges
- Nudges on the threads waiting on other people
- Stalled projects surfaced before they go quiet
The morning inbox brief
- By email every morning: what needs you, what is waiting on others, what quietly resolved, what to tackle
- A morning text digest for SMS opt-ins
- Reminders on the web app, the iOS app, by text, and by email
All of your work in one place
- Up to six Gmail and Outlook accounts, with Google, Outlook, and iCloud calendars, in one needs-you list and one brief
- Drafts in your voice; you approve and send
The thread that slips is never the one you tagged. Boomerang is excellent for the ones you did. alfred_ keeps the list of the others, and it is the same list every morning until they resolve.
Side by side
Same criteria for both, September 2026
| Criteria | alfred_ | Boomerang |
|---|---|---|
| Tailored attention (what needs you, ranked) | Yes, needs-you list with suggested to-dos | No |
| Reaches you where you are | Web, iOS, text, email | Inside Gmail or Outlook; mobile apps |
| Morning brief | Email every morning, text digest | No; Insights dashboard |
| Follow-ups and nudges (what is waiting on others) | Tracked without tagging, chased | Per-message reminders you set at send time |
| Accounts in one place | Up to six Gmail and Outlook accounts | One seat per mailbox; Gmail and Outlook are separate products |
| Draft replies in your voice | Yes, you approve and send | No; Respondable scores your draft |
| Send later and meeting polls | Scheduling via calendar | Yes, core features |
| Inbox triage | Yes | No |
| Pricing | $29.99/mo flat | Free; $4.98 to $49.98/mo annual |
| Company | Founded 2025 | Founded 2010 |
The honest read on each
Boomerang’s strength is price and reliability. For under five dollars a month you get reminders that work, scheduling that works, and a meeting poll that works, inside the client you already use. If your inbox is manageable and you just want a safety net on the messages you send, Boomerang is the honest answer and a cheaper one.
Boomerang’s gap is that it only knows about what you told it. Nothing scans the inbox, nothing surfaces the inbound message you never answered, and nothing arrives in the morning. Gmail and Outlook are separate products, so a second mailbox is a second subscription. The marketing site itself is visibly unmaintained.
alfred_’s gap next to Boomerang is cost and the meeting poll. alfred_ is six times the price of Boomerang Personal, and it does not run polls.
Who should choose each tool
Boomerang is the pick if:
Pros
- You want cheap, reliable per-message reminders and send-later
- Meeting polls and one-click scheduling are the feature you use most
- Your inbox is manageable and you only need a safety net on what you send
- A free tier or $4.98 a month is the budget
Cons
- Only the messages you tagged are tracked; nothing scans the inbox
- No morning brief and no triage
- Gmail and Outlook are separate products and seats
- No AI drafting in your voice
alfred_ is the pick when the problem is things slipping:
Pros
- It keeps track of what is waiting on you and what is waiting on everyone else, tagged or not, and chases what has stalled
- A morning brief by email or text tells you what needs you before you open anything
- Up to six Gmail and Outlook accounts, with three calendar providers, in one list
- Drafts in your voice, ready to approve
Cons
- No meeting polls
- $29.99 a month rather than $4.98
- Not a send-later tool at heart
Our Verdict
Boomerang reminds you about what you tagged. alfred_ keeps the list.
Boomerang is a sixteen-year-old add-on for Gmail and Outlook with reliable per-message follow-up reminders, send-later, and meeting polls from $4.98 a month. It is the pick when you want a cheap safety net on the messages you send. alfred_ is a persistent personal assistant for your work that keeps track of what is waiting on you and what is waiting on everyone else across up to six inboxes and calendars without tagging anything, chases what has stalled, and texts you every morning what actually needs you. It is the pick when the problem is things slipping.
Best for
- Boomerang for per-message reminders, send-later, and meeting polls at low cost
- alfred_ for the ledger, the follow-ups, and a brief that reaches you every morning
Not for
- Boomerang if the threads that slip are the ones you never tagged
- alfred_ if you want meeting polls or a five-dollar tool