Notion has announced the discontinuation of its email application, Notion Mail, with the service set to shutter across web, desktop, and iOS platforms on September 22. The decision marks the end of a brief integration period following the company’s acquisition of the encrypted email startup Skiff in February 2024, as Notion pivots its focus toward AI-driven productivity tools. According to the company, the shift reflects a broader trend where users prioritize AI agents over traditional email client interfaces for managing electronic correspondence.
The announcement, which was first identified on the social media platform X, confirms that Notion is moving away from the standalone email product that was largely developed by the engineering team inherited from the Skiff acquisition. While Notion Mail was released to the public in April 2025, the company stated that internal data shows most of its user base does not rely on traditional email clients, opting instead for integrated AI features to handle communication workflows. This move effectively concludes the integration of Skiff’s technology into the Notion ecosystem.
The Transition from Skiff to Notion Mail
The journey of Skiff within the Notion product suite was relatively short-lived. In February 2024, Notion acquired Skiff, a startup known for its focus on end-to-end encrypted email and collaborative document editing. Following the acquisition, Notion moved quickly to sunset the original Skiff email service, a process that included the eventual decommissioning of @skiff.com email addresses. This consolidation was intended to fold Skiff’s collaborative email functionality into Notion’s existing workspace infrastructure.
By April 2025, the company launched Notion Mail, a specialized Gmail client. The development of this tool was primarily led by the former Skiff team, who transitioned into Notion’s engineering department after the acquisition. The software was positioned as a way to bring email into the Notion workspace, but its lifespan proved limited. The decision to discontinue the client highlights the challenges of maintaining specialized communication tools in a market that is increasingly shifting toward automated, AI-assisted productivity.
Shifting User Preferences Toward AI Agents
Notion’s rationale for shutting down the service centers on changing user behaviors. In its public statement, the company noted that its core user base predominantly manages correspondence through AI agents rather than dedicated email clients. This transition suggests that for power users of productivity software, the act of manually sorting, drafting, and managing emails is being replaced by intelligent automation that summarizes and organizes communications directly within a workspace.
The reliance on AI agents represents a significant shift in the consumer electronics and software landscape. Rather than logging into a separate application to check an inbox, users are increasingly expecting their primary productivity platforms to ingest email data and provide actionable insights. This strategy aligns with Notion’s ongoing investment in artificial intelligence, which has become a central component of its product roadmap over the past two years.
What Happens Next for Notion Users
Users currently utilizing Notion Mail will need to transition to alternative email clients before the September 22 deadline. Because the application was built as a client for existing services like Gmail, users will retain their underlying email accounts and data, but they will lose the specific interface and organizational features provided by the Notion Mail app. The company has not announced any further email-related projects, suggesting that the team will likely be reallocated to other areas of the platform’s AI or core document-management features.
For those who integrated their workflows heavily into the Notion Mail client, the upcoming shutdown necessitates a migration back to standard web-based or desktop email applications. As the industry continues to favor integrated AI assistants over standalone clients, the closure of this service serves as a case study in how quickly product priorities can shift in the competitive software-as-a-service market. Further updates regarding the final transition steps are expected to be communicated directly to Notion account holders as the September date approaches.
We encourage our readers to share their thoughts on the evolution of productivity tools and whether they prefer integrated AI agents over traditional email software in the comments section below.