Molted vs giving your agent a Gmail account
It's the first thing most builders try, and it works. Until your agent reads mail from strangers and sends on its own.
Gmail is a good inbox for a person, and plenty of agents start there. A personal account costs nothing, Google filters spam and phishing hard, and Calendar and Drive come with the same sign-in.
It gets harder once software runs the inbox by itself. Reading mail through the API takes a restricted scope, and once other people use your app, Google has to review it. Workspace charges per user, so every agent with its own inbox is a seat. And the duplicate checks, approvals and handoffs are code you write.
Molted gives each agent its own mailbox, screens what comes in before your agent reads it, and checks every send on the server. Keep Gmail for yourself.
Google facts checked on Nov 6, 2026, each linked to Google's own page.
Side by side.
An address for each agent
Molted
Your agent creates its own mailboxes, each with its own address and inbox. Free has 3, Solo 10 and Team 50.
Gmail
One Google Account per inbox, so on Workspace one paid user per agent. Aliases are free, up to 30 per user, but mail to every alias lands in that user's one inbox.
Source 1Source 2Connecting your agent
Molted
MCP (hosted at mcp.molted.email), a CLI, REST, webhooks and a live event stream. No IMAP or SMTP.
Gmail
The Gmail API with OAuth, or IMAP and SMTP (always on for personal accounts). Google says app passwords "aren't recommended and are unnecessary in most cases", and they need 2-Step Verification.
Source 1Source 2Approval from Google
Molted
None. Your agent uses an API key for the workspace, or one limited to a single mailbox.
Gmail
Reading mail takes a restricted scope. An app other people sign in to has to pass Google's OAuth verification, plus a security assessment every year if it keeps or passes that mail through its servers.
Source 1Source 2Your own agent on your own account
Molted
The same API key setup as everyone else. There's no OAuth sign-in to renew.
Gmail
An app for your personal use, under 100 users, can skip verification behind an "unverified app" warning. While its status is "Testing", refresh tokens expire after 7 days.
Source 1Source 2Screening incoming mail
Molted
On for every mailbox from the start. A message scored high risk for trying to instruct your agent is quarantined before your agent reads it.
Gmail
Spam, phishing and malware filtering. Google says "99.9% of spam, phishing attempts, and malware are automatically blocked in Gmail." Its prompt injection protection is described for Gemini in Workspace. We found nothing on Google's pages about screening mail for an agent you connect over the API or IMAP.
Source 1Source 2What reaches your agent
Molted
A placeholder marked untrusted, with its risk level. The original stays out of your agent's context, and only a person can release it.
Gmail
Whatever your code fetches. Spam and Trash show up in a message list when you set includeSpamTrash. A Workspace admin can also send mail that matches their own rules to an admin quarantine.
Source 1Source 2Duplicate sends
Molted
Checked on the server for every send. The same email to the same person inside a cooldown is blocked, across every agent on the mailbox.
Gmail
The send method's reference describes no duplicate check, so your code keeps track of what it already sent.
SourceSending limits
Molted
Set by plan, from 100 a day on Free to 5,000 on Team. Suppressions and opt-outs are checked before every send.
Gmail
500 emails a day on a personal account, and 2,000 per Workspace user (500 during a trial). Hit a limit and sending stops for up to 24 hours.
Source 1Source 2Approving emails before they go out
Molted
A setting per mailbox. First emails to new contacts, or every email, wait for you to approve in the dashboard or the iPhone app.
Gmail
Your agent can save drafts for you to read and send in Gmail. Making it wait for you is up to your code.
SourceHanding a conversation to a person
Molted
Your agent hands you the thread with a note, and it can't email that contact until you hand the thread back.
Gmail
You can open the same inbox in Gmail and reply yourself. Keeping the agent out of that thread is up to your code.
SourceRules about automation
Molted
Made for software. Your agent can sign itself up and send you the checkout link to pay.
Gmail
Gmail's program policies say "You are not allowed to automate the Gmail interface, whether to send, delete, or filter emails, in a manner that misleads or deceives users." Google's terms give "misleading others into thinking that generative AI content was created by a human" as an example of abuse.
Source 1Source 2What it costs.
Every agent with its own Workspace inbox is a paid user. Running 10 agents on Business Starter comes to €68 a month before tax. Molted Solo is $19 a month for 10 mailboxes. One personal Gmail account costs nothing.
| Plan | Price | Mailboxes | Sends | Inbound | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 | 3,000 a month | 1,000 | 0 |
| Solo | $19/mo | 10 | 10,000 a month | 5,000 | 3 |
| Team | $79/mo | 50 | 50,000 a month | 25,000 | 10 |
More than 50 mailboxes: contact us.
| Plan | Price per user | Sends a day |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | No cost | 500 |
| Business Starter | €6.80/mo | 2,000 per user |
| Business Standard | €13.60/mo | 2,000 per user |
| Business Plus | €21.10/mo | 2,000 per user |
Workspace prices as Google showed them in Sweden on Nov 6, 2026, before tax and without the introductory discount. Google sets prices by country. Business plans go up to 300 users. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4
Choose Molted if
- Your agent reads mail from strangers and acts on it.
- You want duplicates, cooldowns and suppressions checked on the server, not in your code.
- You run several agents and want a mailbox each without paying per user.
- You'd rather be pulled in for handoffs and approvals than watch the inbox, on the web or your phone.
Choose Gmail if
- The agent helps with your own mail, in the inbox you already read.
- You want Calendar, Drive and Docs in the same account.
- It's one agent, and a personal account that costs nothing covers it.
- Your company runs on Workspace and an admin already manages the accounts.
- The app is for your own use, so Google's app verification doesn't apply.
Moving over.
Keep your own Gmail. Your agent signs up for Molted from the command line, gets its own mailbox and connects over MCP. Bring your own domain on Solo or Team when you're ready.
npx @molted/cli auth signup · mcp.molted.email · /skill.md
Questions.
- Can I give my AI agent a Gmail account?
- Yes, and plenty of builders do, over the Gmail API or IMAP. Gmail's program policies say you may not automate Gmail "in a manner that misleads or deceives users", so don't pass the agent off as a person. Past that, the duplicate checks, approvals and handoffs are yours to build.
- Does my agent's Gmail app need Google's approval?
- If other people sign in to it, yes. Reading mail takes a restricted scope, which means OAuth verification, plus a security assessment every year if the app keeps or passes that mail through its servers. An app for your own use, under 100 users, can skip verification. You click through an "unverified app" warning instead.
- Does Gmail protect an agent from prompt injection?
- Gmail filters spam, phishing and malware, and Google describes prompt injection protection for Gemini in Workspace. We found nothing on Google's pages about screening mail for an agent you connect yourself. Molted quarantines high-risk mail on every mailbox, and your agent never sees the original.
- Is Molted cheaper than Google Workspace?
- With three or more agents, yes, at the prices we saw. Workspace charges per user, so each agent with its own inbox is a seat. Molted Solo is $19 a month for 10 mailboxes, and Team is $79 for 50. For a single agent, a personal Gmail account costs nothing.
Hand it to your agent.
It sets up its own inbox. You decide how much it does on its own.