Gmail
Direct answer
Gmail is the inbox these email guides assume. Labels and filters do the sorting. ChatGPT or Gemini may draft beside that inbox. Gmail itself is included with a Google account. A Workspace plan is a separate price if you need a custom domain and admin controls. The agent never gets the send button.
A personal or Google Workspace inbox under about fifty meaningful messages a day.
Watch out. Filters that skip the inbox will hide a customer if you write them too loosely. Test each filter on a real thread.
Gmail is the system of record for the email playbooks on AgentShed. A free Google account includes it. Google Workspace adds a custom domain and admin controls, at a price you should read on Google's pricing page before you switch.
The features these guides rely on are labels, filters, and drafts. They have been stable for years. The agent products around them have not. Keep send permission inside Gmail, with you at the keyboard.
Playbooks using Gmail
- Weekly admin digestn8n2–3 hours the first timeabout £0 licence if self-hosted, or about £17 for Cloud Starter/mo
A Monday admin digest with n8n
Use n8n to email you one Monday morning note: unread mail that needs a reply, the week's calendar, and invoices you have marked overdue. It is a reminder, not a manager. Start on n8n Cloud if you do not want to host a server. Not live-tested yet.
- Meeting and job schedulingChatGPT30–45 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
A scheduling agent that does not touch the calendar
Set up a free Google Calendar appointment page so people book a real gap in your diary, then use ChatGPT only to draft the reply that sends the link. Do not let an agent create events from incoming email without you. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageGeminiAbout 30 minutes, once the button is visibleAbout £4 and £15 at the planning rate, from those US list prices/mo
AI email assistant in Gmail with Gemini
Help me write inside Gmail is an email assistant only if the account has it. Google lists it as global on eligible paid plans and US-only on unpaid personal Gmail. On 25 October 2026 the US plans page showed Plus at $4.99 a month and Pro at $19.99. You still send. This has not been live-tested.
- Meeting and job schedulingCalendlyAbout 45 minutes£0 on the free plan/mo
Appointment booking with a Calendly link
Appointment booking for a small business should be a page of real gaps, not a chat that invents a time. Calendly's free plan, on 25 October 2026, was one event type and one calendar. You send a link. An agent may draft that email. It must not create events. This setup has not been live-tested.
- Automate invoice chasingMake1–2 hours if the built-in reminder is not enoughabout £0, or about £7 if you outgrow the free plan/mo
Chase overdue invoices with Make drafts
Turn on the reminder feature inside the accounting software you already pay for. If that wording is too blunt, use Make to create Gmail drafts for overdue invoices and send them yourself. Do not let an automation mark invoices paid. This has not been live-tested.
- Customer FAQ repliesChatGPT1–2 hours, mostly writing the policyabout £0–£15/mo
Customer replies from a written FAQ, drafted in ChatGPT
Put your real refund, price, and booking rules into a ChatGPT Project and let it draft customer replies from that page only. You send the email. If the answer is not in the page, the draft should say you will check, not invent a policy. Not live-tested yet.
- Automate email triageChatGPT45–90 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
Email triage for a small Gmail inbox with ChatGPT
Use Gmail labels and filters to sort a small inbox, then a ChatGPT Project to draft replies you still send yourself. It fits a sole trader under about fifty messages a day. Do not give the agent permission to send. This setup has not been timed in a live test.
Questions
Do I need Google Workspace?
Not for a personal Gmail address you already use for the business. Workspace matters when you want a company domain, extra storage, or admin control. Check Google's pricing page for the current plan.
Will filters hide customers?
They will if you write them loosely. The triage playbook tells you to test each filter on a real thread before you trust it.
Which playbooks use Gmail?
Email triage, meeting emails, invoice drafts, the Monday digest, and the Gemini assistant. The tool page lists them.