Delegate your day.
Otto Mail vs Motion
Motion plans your tasks into your calendar. Otto works the mail you already have, with its calendar and tasks, and asks before it acts.
You just approve.
The short version
- Motion is a planner. Otto is a mail app with a calendar and tasks next to the inbox, and an assistant that asks first.
- Pick Motion for auto-scheduling and project plans. Pick Otto for Gmail or Outlook with a calendar and tasks alongside.
- Otto doesn't auto-schedule your task list into time blocks.
Which one fits you
Pick Otto if
Your day starts in Gmail or Outlook and you want mail, calendar and tasks together, with every send and booking approved by you.
Stay with Motion if
You want tasks and projects scheduled into your calendar for you, plus meeting notes and project tracking, and email is not the center of your day.
At a glance
Prices in USD where listed, as of Sept 2026 unless a row gives a later date. — means not verified here, not that a feature is absent. Confirm current offers and billing intervals before subscribing.
| Compare | Otto Mail | Motion |
|---|---|---|
| Price (USD where listed, checked Sept–Nov 2026) | Free; Plus $6.99/month or $55.99/year; Pro $19.99/month or $159.99/year | Per-seat plans with AI credits, see its pricing page; no amount read (reviewed 2 November 2026) |
| Platforms | Web, iOS | Desktop, iOS and Android apps |
| Gmail + Outlook | Both supported; one account on Free | Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars; Gmail integration listed |
| Approval model | Review AI actions; chosen senders may auto-reply under an explicit rule; check the recorded result afterward. | Re-plans your calendar as things change; not an email assistant |
| Free tier | One connected Gmail or Outlook account with core mail, calendar and tasks, plus an AI allowance. | A free trial; its pricing page does not state the length |
| Calendar / tasks | Calendar plus Google Tasks or Microsoft To Do for the selected account | Auto-scheduled calendar, tasks, projects, booking links and meeting notes |
Price (USD where listed, checked Sept–Nov 2026)
- Otto Mail
- Free; Plus $6.99/month or $55.99/year; Pro $19.99/month or $159.99/year
- Motion
- Per-seat plans with AI credits, see its pricing page; no amount read (reviewed 2 November 2026)
Platforms
- Otto Mail
- Web, iOS
- Motion
- Desktop, iOS and Android apps
Gmail + Outlook
- Otto Mail
- Both supported; one account on Free
- Motion
- Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars; Gmail integration listed
Approval model
- Otto Mail
- Review AI actions; chosen senders may auto-reply under an explicit rule; check the recorded result afterward.
- Motion
- Re-plans your calendar as things change; not an email assistant
Free tier
- Otto Mail
- One connected Gmail or Outlook account with core mail, calendar and tasks, plus an AI allowance.
- Motion
- A free trial; its pricing page does not state the length
Calendar / tasks
- Otto Mail
- Calendar plus Google Tasks or Microsoft To Do for the selected account
- Motion
- Auto-scheduled calendar, tasks, projects, booking links and meeting notes
Otto Mail and Motion do different jobs. Motion is a planner: it ranks your tasks, time-blocks them into your calendar and re-plans when things change. Otto is a mail app with a calendar and tasks, sitting on your existing Gmail or Outlook account. Its assistant drafts and books, and files too, then waits for your approval.
Otto is ours, so take this with that in mind. If you want an auto-planner, Motion is the better tool. If you're looking for a Motion alternative that keeps email at the center, that's Otto.
Where Motion is stronger
Motion's own pages describe auto-planning and project management with Gantt charts. There are booking links and a meeting notetaker too. Its pricing page adds team capacity planning and dashboards on the Business AI plan, along with time tracking.
Otto doesn't have that depth. It won't time-block your task list for you. You turn a task into an event, or ask Otto to, and you approve the event card.
Where Otto fits
Motion's pages list Gmail among its integrations but don't describe an email client. Otto is the email client. Open a thread and ask Otto for the reply, or for a time to meet. It drafts the reply, proposes the time on your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar, and puts any task in Google Tasks or Microsoft To Do. Nothing sends or books, and nothing changes, until you've approved it. See how Otto's assistant works.
Price and fit
Motion's pricing page lists Pro AI and Business AI as per-seat plans with monthly AI credits and a free trial. When we read it on 2 November 2026, both plan cards carried a "This plan is not available" note, so we're giving no amount. Otto Free covers one connected account with core mail plus calendar and tasks. Plus is $6.99 a month and Pro is $19.99/month.
Motion supports Google, Outlook and iCloud calendars, so the two can share a calendar. Decide which one owns your schedule. Otherwise two tools will edit the same events.
Keep reading
- Mail with calendar and tasks in one app
- Otto's plans
- The calendar app for Gmail and Outlook
- Gmail and Outlook calendar apps compared
- The to-do app for email
- To-do apps for email compared
Questions, answered
Is Motion an email app?
No. Motion's pages describe a planner built around tasks and projects. It has calendar and meeting features and a Gmail integration. Otto is the email app. Calendar and tasks sit beside the inbox.
Does Otto auto-schedule my tasks like Motion?
No. Otto proposes meeting times from an email and books the event once you approve. It doesn't time-block your task list on its own.
Try your next step in Otto
Core mail, calendar and tasks are free. AI has an allowance.
Open Otto