Preview of Spike for Mac iOS

Email App Review: Spikenow.com

With its goal to reinvent your email, Spike attempts to streamline your workflow by combining plain, old email with the power of chat. 

The result is an entire workspace that’s not only simple,  but also convenient and hassle-free!

Fast-paced work environments can often feel like everyone’s rushing to get things done. Your workflow typically involves opening multiple tabs and apps and switching between them each day. 

That’s just not efficient!

Spike’s multiple features work together to create an immersive experience where everything you’ll ever need is within reach.

If you’re wondering how Spike can help you make better use of your time, read on to learn more about its key features and how users think of the platform in this email app review.


What is Spike?


Dvir Ben Aroya and Erez Pilosof co-founded Spike in 2013 to simplify email threads and make them more seamless. 

Spike boldly touts itself as a leader of modern communication. Over the years, it has managed to prove its capabilities. 

Keeping itself in step with the changes in today’s work environments, Spike aims to move conversations from stuffy emails to more instantaneous and laidback conversations.

And– this approach works! Spike now has more than 1.3 million people enjoying the revolutionized email experience that the platform offers.

Many huge brands also trust Spike with their emails including Zoom, Sephora, Shopify, and Fiverr. This alone speaks volumes about the platform’s reliability.


Spike Features


Although Spike is an email app, it’s also much more than that. Its goal to revolutionize your workflow means it has loads of features to offer. 

There’s an integrated web of systems dealing with chats, calendars, calls, documents, and tasks in one platform that you can access from any of your devices.

Put simply: Spike is a blend of email, text, audio, and video messaging that also includes collaborative notes and tasks that integrate with your calendar and the cloud. 

Instead of switching between multiple apps, Spike promises to organize everything in one easy-to-use place for maximum efficiency.

Spike also has a sleek interface that’s reminiscent of instant messaging apps, and this appearance adds to its clutter-free branding.

With so many features that set it apart from other email and chat platforms, Spike allows users to excel in their work life!

1. Conversational Email

Spike seamlessly blends email and chat for the ultimate form of communication by allowing you to instantly message just like you would in a standard instant messaging app. Through this feature, you can create group chats, team chats, or one-on-one chats! 

There’s also a handy read receipt feature that lets you know if your recipient has already seen your message. 

True to its goal of simplifying your workflow, Spike also offers a unified inbox. Acting like an email hub, you can view all your emails in a single place. Spike currently supports popular email platforms like Google, Outlook, and Yahoo, among others.

What makes this feature more impressive is that it works even if your recipient doesn’t have a Spike account. You can collaborate with virtually anyone without having to go through the trouble of setting up a similar platform.

Like other email apps, Spike also supports schedule-send, snooze, quick-reply, and customization features.

2. Unified Calendar

Aside from a unified inbox, Spike also has a unified calendar. By merging all your calendars together, you can view all your events at a glance so you’ll never have to worry about missing an important appointment again.

The unified calendar is complemented by a unique in-line RSVP feature. When you receive an invitation, you can quickly respond without needing to open the message!

Invites that you accept will also be automatically added to your calendar; you don’t need to go through the trouble of manually updating your calendar to accommodate the invitation.

3. Super Search

Have you ever been frustrated because you’re looking for something, but just can’t remember where it is?

Spike understands this problem well. When you use the app, you can use its Super Search feature to quickly find the message, file, or attachment you need.

Traditional email boxes fold the attachments in the conversation, making them difficult to find. With Spike, you only need to tap away on Search, and Spike will gladly lead you to where you need to go.

4. Cloud Integration

Today’s workspace usually requires moving large files between different employees and departments. 

With cloud storage becoming more of a necessity, it can be inconvenient if you have to manually search for the file before sending it over. 

Spike streamlines everything by letting you directly attach files from Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. The days of compressing files are long gone!

5. Conversational Modes

Spike offers three types of conversational modes. 

The first one is People Mode, where you can organize your email by contacts. This is pretty handy when you’re working with multiple clients and coordinating with other individuals.

The second is Subject Mode. Here, you can organize your email based on the subject you’re talking about.

Lastly, there’s also the Inbox Mode, which is the traditional way of organizing your emails. Even though you’re using Inbox Mode, you’ll still have access to Spike’s advanced tools.

6. Manage Your Tasks

With Spike, you get to organize and prioritize tasks and team projects. Additionally, you can also create and edit notes and task lists, update calendars, set reminders, create events, and manage files!

Of course, task management relies on instantaneous communication. Spike helps you easily share files and collaborate in real time through text, audio, or video chats.

Whenever a task is complete, the user will also receive an instant notification.


AI Features


✔️ Magic AI: Spike’s Magic AI feature harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to help you work smarter and faster. It allows you to write messages, send replies, and complete tasks with incredible speed and efficiency.

✔️ Unified Team Collaboration Tool: Spike brings together team chats, emails, notes, and meetings into one space, now with AI. It helps teams of all sizes overcome communication chaos.

✔️ Co-editing documents: Spike allows you to co-edit documents, sheets, presentations, and fillable forms in real-time using an AI assistant and collaborative tools.

These features help to optimize your workflow, making your email experience more efficient and productive.


Spike Reviews: What Do People Think of It?


For the most part, people love Spike. Those who are burdened by ordinary email platforms find comfort in the ease of what Spike has to offer. 

Some have praised its efforts to modernize communication and organize files, resulting in a less cluttered and faster work environment.

Presenting email threads as chat conversations also appeals to many users who think the feature is intuitive and just makes sense.

The ability to sort in different ways using Spike’s conversational modes is also a win for people who like to perform bulk actions.

However, some have noted many growing pains, such as the app continuously crashing, minor details needing to be fixed, and many missing key features (such as a signature option). 

In saying that, these same people also commented on how Spike has made an active effort to fix these issues as time passes.

With how much progress the platform has shown since it was created, many users may soon struggle to find fault with the app!


Spike Pricing


Spike offers three standard payment plans, from its Free option to its more advanced Pro and Business options. These payments can be made either monthly or annually. 

Spike’s pricing tiers are as follows:

  • Spike Free costs $0 forever (no sneaky fees or cards needed to sign up)
  • Spike Pro costs $5 a month per user when billed annually, and $8 a month per user when billed monthly
  • Spike Business costs $10 a month per user when billed annually and $16 a month per user when billed monthly.

The Free option is best for individual use, while the Pro and Business options allow for more professional use with bigger teams. 

If you are unsure which option is best for you, it’s worth trying the Free version first before upgrading.

Spike also offers unique Enterprise plans for larger teams. For custom plans catered to your needs, you should contact the company’s sales team through the main website to get started.

Finally, Spike offers a Spike For Students Program that provides Spike Pro for free for all students and educators. 


Spike Pros and Cons

In summary, here are the pros and cons of using Spike as your new email app:


Pros

  • Ease of use
  • Features to allow you to show your online status and know when people have viewed your messages
  • The priority inbox allows for easy management of essential emails
  • Optimizes time management
  • Modern interface
  • Complete file manager
  • Works with whatever email you already have, so you don’t have to worry about starting again with a whole new email address
  • Everything you need to manage your workflow is now in one place.

Cons

  • Hidden features which may be hard to find
  • High cost per user for Pro and Business plans
  • You must pay to use a business email
  • The free version is limited in what it offers
  • App has been prone to freezing
  • To access your entire email history, you must have a paid account (the Free version limits your search history results to only the last 60 days).

The Bottom Line: Should You Use Spike?

Spike has modernized the email experience by providing everything you need to manage your work and daily life in one easy-to-use place. 

If you are looking for the perfect combination of chat, email, and organizational features, Spike may be the one for you!

However, many people still prefer to stick to the traditional way of emailing, as the many added features could be unnecessary (and even overwhelming, at times)

Additionally, if you’re not willing to pay for the upgraded versions, you may be very limited in what you can actually do. 

Since Spike’s features are geared toward promoting efficiency, this app is most useful within a workforce that thrives on well-organized digital communication!


Sources
  1. https://www.nitdit.com/product/spike-review/ 
  2. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3759259,00.html
  3. https://www.spikenow.com/
  4. https://www.spikenow.com/features/
  5. https://venturebeat.com/business/how-spike-increases-productivity-with-conversational-email-platform/
  6. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2019-08-21/ty-article/the-israeli-startup-that-puts-some-zip-into-stodgy-old-email/0000017f-e883-dea7-adff-f9fb3f9c0000
  7. https://www.spikenow.com/features/advanced-search/ 
  8. https://www.spikenow.com/features/conversational-email/
  9. https://www.spikenow.com/blog/productivity/sorting-your-email-inbox-inbox-vs-subject-vs-people-mode/ 
  10. https://www.spikenow.com/pricing/