How to Cancel Superhuman (2026 Guide) — Is a $30/Month Email App Worth It?
Updated 2026-02-24 · 5 min read
Superhuman costs $30/month — making it quite possibly the most expensive email client in existence. It's fast, beautifully designed, and keyboard-driven. But $360/year for email? Gmail is free. Here's how to cancel and what you can use instead.
How to Cancel Superhuman
Open Superhuman
Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) to open the command palette
They'll offer a retention discount — decline if you're done
Access continues until end of billing period
💡 Your Email Is Safe: Superhuman is just a client — it reads your Gmail or Outlook inbox. Canceling Superhuman doesn't delete any emails. Everything stays in Gmail/Outlook exactly as it was. You just switch back to using the standard Gmail/Outlook interface.
Why People Cancel Superhuman
$360/year for email is hard to justify — Even if it saves 15 minutes/day, that's $1.64/hour for the time saved. Most productivity gains wear off after a few months
Gmail has caught up — Gmail's keyboard shortcuts, snooze, undo send, and search are now comparable
AI features are everywhere — Superhuman AI is nice, but Gmail has Gemini built in for free
The "Inbox Zero" novelty wears off — After the initial dopamine hit of getting to zero, you realize the email itself hasn't changed
Free & Cheaper Email Alternatives
Gmail (free) — Turn on keyboard shortcuts (Settings → General → Keyboard Shortcuts ON) and it's 80% of Superhuman
Spark (free/$7.99/mo) — Smart inbox, snooze, send later, team features. Beautiful design. Free tier is generous
Shortwave (free/$9/mo) — By ex-Google engineers. AI-powered inbox grouping. Feels like Superhuman at 1/3 the price
Apple Mail (free) — If you're on Mac/iPhone, it's surprisingly capable with recent updates
Fastmail ($5/mo) — Full email + calendar + contacts. Privacy-focused, fast interface, excellent search
Making Gmail Feel Like Superhuman (Free)
Enable keyboard shortcuts — Settings → General → Keyboard Shortcuts → ON. Now you can use j/k to navigate, e to archive, r to reply
Turn on Auto-Advance — Settings → Advanced → Auto-Advance. After archiving, it goes to the next email (like Superhuman)
Use multiple inboxes or priority inbox — Settings → Inbox → Priority Inbox
Install Simplify Gmail extension — Cleans up Gmail's cluttered interface to look more minimal
Use Gmail's Schedule Send — Click the dropdown arrow next to Send → Schedule Send
Superhuman Retention Offers
When you cancel, Superhuman typically offers:
50% off for 3 months ($15/mo)
A free month to reconsider
These offers can be worth taking if you're on the fence — you can always cancel again
Some users report getting multiple retention offers by canceling and resubscribing
🔍 Productivity Tool Audit: Superhuman + Notion + Slack + Calendar apps + to-do apps — "productivity" subscriptions can cost $80-200+/month while your actual output stays the same. Upload your bank statement to JustCancel to find every tool you're paying for.