Daylite: Outlook Alternative That Connects Email to Your Business

What’s the main difference?

Daylite

Outlook

Daylite is an all-in-one business platform where Mail lives alongside CRM, Opportunities, Projects, Calendar, Tasks, and Notes. Every message connects to the contacts, deals, and work it relates to, giving you full context without switching apps.

Outlook is an email client within the Microsoft 365 suite. It handles messages, calendar, and basic contacts, but client data, tasks, and project notes are scattered across To Do, Teams, OneDrive, and Excel as separate tools.

Turn your email into action. Create tasks, appointments, meetings, sales opportunities and/or projects right from your inbox. Automate with Activity Sets, segment Contacts with Smart Lists and personalize bulk messages. Workflows move forward without leaving email.

Organize email with folders, rules, and categories. Copilot AI assists with drafting and summaries. Distribution lists and automatic replies handle basic automation. Sales pipelines require separate Dynamics 365 subscription.

Native Mac and iOS apps built with Apple frameworks. Full offline access to your complete database. Integrate with Apple Calendar and Contacts. No browser required.

Cross-platform compatibility across Windows, Mac, and web. Deep integration with Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and Teams. Mac version lacks some Windows features. Limited offline capability.

Daylite is ideal for consultants, agencies, legal firms, and service professionals on Mac who need their inbox connected to CRM, opportunity (sales) tracking, and project delivery in one workspace.

Outlook is best suited for teams invested in Microsoft 365 who need structured email management and seamless sync with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams across Windows and Mac.

Why choose Daylite over Outlook?

Get everything your email client is missing: CRM, sales opportunities, and projects, all connected to your inbox.

	Outlook	Daylite
Send and receive email	✓	✓
Contact management	✓	✓
Calendar and scheduling	✓	✓
Task lists and reminders	✓	✓
Reusable email templates	✓	✓
Mobile access on iOS devices	✓	✓
Built-in CRM with complete relationship history in one view	✕	✓
Email links automatically to contacts, opportunities, and projects	✕	✓
Visual sales pipeline with opportunity tracking and forecasting	✕	✓
Project management with tasks, pipelines, boards, and team delegation	✕	✓
Turn emails into tasks, meetings, projects, or sales opportunities with one click via the Action Bar	✕	✓
Activity Sets for repeatable workflows that save time and prevent missed steps	✕	✓
Native Mac and iOS apps with full offline database access	✕	✓
Single subscription includes a complete business suite: CRM, sales, projects, email, calendar, and more	✕	✓

Connected Inbox vs. Siloed Email

Your inbox should show you the full picture, not just the latest message.

Outlook keeps email separate from business data. The People page lives apart from your inbox, and contact details don't show related projects or deals. Organizing requires folders, rules, and manual sorting that grows harder as volume increases.

Daylite puts your inbox inside your business hub, so every email shows its full context:

See related chronological records beside every message, including the contact, their company, open opportunities, active projects, and previous conversations
Link emails to the work they belong to as they arrive, without manual filing or guesswork
Smart Suggestions point out relevant contacts, opportunities, or projects while you read, making it easier to link emails correctly
Use the Action Bar to turn emails into tasks, appointments, sales opportunities and projects, so requests leave your inbox and enter workflows that drive real productivity
Priority Inbox automatically surfaces emails tied to leads, clients, and your team, so important conversations never get buried
Search your entire business history to instantly surface a specific, connected detail across email and your entire business

With Daylite, your inbox becomes a window into your entire business, not just a list of messages to process.

Business Platform vs. Email Client

Run your business from one hub instead of jumping between apps.

Outlook handles email and calendar well, but business management spreads across separate tools. Tasks go to Microsoft To Do, files to OneDrive, collaboration to Teams, and sales tracking requires Dynamics 365. Each app works independently, creating fragmented workflows.

Daylite brings your entire operation into one interconnected workspace:

CRM, Opportunities, Projects, Mail, Calendar, Tasks, and Notes all live in the same database and reference each other automatically
Visual Opportunities Board displays your sales pipeline with probability tracking, forecast dates, and linked contacts on every deal
Projects Board with pipelines track delivery from kickoff through completion with task delegation, due dates, and status updates
Forms standardize data collection so client information enters your CRM consistently every time
Insight View dashboard highlights activity trends, project progress, and sales performance across all your work
Home View highlights what matters most today and in the week ahead, including priorities, overdue items, and upcoming work

Stop assembling your workflow from separate apps. Daylite handles the full operation in one place.

Business Workflow Automation vs. Simple Inbox Rules

Organizing messages keeps your inbox tidy; workflow automation gets work done.

Outlook automates email handling with rules that sort, flag, and move messages. Automatic replies handle out-of-office responses. Copilot assists with drafting. But automation stays limited to the inbox and doesn't extend to business workflows.

Daylite fuels the momentum of the work that happens after emails arrive:

Activity Sets let you apply repeatable workflows that create tasks and meetings with relative due dates, so follow-ups and project steps stay consistent and on track
Smart Lists update themselves based on criteria you define, keeping contact segments current without manual maintenance
Personalize bulk messages by inserting fields like first name, company, or last contact date into templates automatically
Business Suggestions surface related records while you read emails, making it easy to link messages to the right opportunity or project
Email templates store reusable messages for thank-you notes, renewals, welcome letters, and standard follow-ups
Apple Intelligence integration assists with drafting and rewriting directly on supported devices

Daylite doesn't just organize your inbox. It automates the follow-ups, tasks, and workflows that keep your business moving.

Ready for an inbox that drives your business forward?

Get started with Daylite in 3 steps!

Start Your Free Trial

Start a 14-day free trial with full feature access. Choose your plan based on team size: Leap for individuals, Growth for 1 to 20 users, Scale for 1 to 100 users, or Tailored for custom needs. Download the Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps.
Connect Your Email

Add your existing email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, or any IMAP provider) to Daylite. Import contacts from your current system. Set up your Opportunity pipeline to track deals through each stage, and create Projects to manage work from kickoff to delivery.
Work from One Place

Read and send email with full client context visible. Turn messages into tasks or opportunities. Track deals through your pipeline and manage project delivery. Everything stays connected without switching apps.

Trusted by the best, across the globe.

See how small service businesses use Daylite to stop losing track of clients, opportunities, and follow-ups.

"My greatest achievement with Daylite is the fact that I can manage over 50 clients with a staff of 7 while my competitors would take 20 senior and junior consultants. This achieved efficiency can only be realized by Daylite sophistication and unleashing the CRM’s capacity for organization. My clients often wonder how we are always on our game, I tell them I wish I was that smart, but in reality, it’s the software that allows me to be one step ahead of them!"

Ron Gersh,
The CCS Group

Amazed Daylite Customer