AI assistants that follow up when nobody replies: 7 compared
OpenAssistant is our recommendation for follow-ups. It is the only vendor in the table whose own wording covers the whole loop: it “chases replies, reminds people of what they owe you, and tells you when something is stuck”. Most of the others only remind you to send the nudge yourself.
Most work that slips does not slip because someone said no. It slips because nobody replied, and nobody noticed. A follow-up feature is only worth paying for if it notices for you, nudges at a sensible pace, stops when the thing arrives, and tells you when to give up. This article reads what seven vendors say about that job.
Two kinds of follow-up
Vendors use the same word for two different things, so we split them up front.
- It sends the nudge. The assistant writes to the other person itself.
- It reminds you to nudge. The tool tells you nobody replied, and may draft a follow-up for you to send.
Both can be useful. But they are different jobs, and the second one leaves the sending, and the remembering to send, with you. If you want control over every message, that is a feature. If you want the job off your plate, it is not.
From each vendor’s own page:
| Product | Which kind, per the vendor | What the vendor says | Plan assessed, list price |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAssistant (ours) | Sends | “Chases replies, reminds people of what they owe you, and tells you when something is stuck” (OpenAssistant) | Pro, $72 per user per month billed monthly or $60 billed annually, with 5,000 credits (pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen) |
| Town | Can send, if you allow it | Asks before any email by default; a trusted contacts list lets it email chosen people directly, “always opt-in and off by default” (Town docs) | Pro, $59 a month billed monthly (pricing) |
| ChatGPT with Work | Can send, with approval | Recurring tasks and monitoring; tasks that send a message may pause for your approval (OpenAI) | Plus, $20 a month (pricing) |
| Claude with Cowork | Can send, but the vendor advises against it on a schedule | Scheduled tasks run on their own (Anthropic); Anthropic says “Don’t schedule tasks that access sensitive files, send messages on your behalf” (Anthropic) | Pro, $20 a month billed monthly (pricing) |
| Fyxer | Drafts for you | “a follow-up draft is created and ready to review” (Fyxer help) | Pro, $49 per person a month billed monthly, $37 billed annually (pricing) |
| Superhuman Mail | Reminds you | “If you don’t hear back by then, we’ll remind you to follow up” (Superhuman); Auto Reminders in the plan table (plans) | Business, $40 a member billed monthly (plans) |
| Shortwave | Reminds you | “Be reminded if no one replies so you never drop the ball again” (pricing) | Pro, $18 a month (pricing) |
Claude: Anthropic’s own advice is to avoid scheduling tasks that send messages on your behalf. That makes Claude the one general assistant here whose vendor steers you away from unattended sending.
Town: the trusted contacts setting is what a user would choose if they want Town to write to chosen people directly. Town’s docs describe it as opt-in and off by default.
Scheduling assistants that chase people about meeting requests (we cover those in our 3-person meeting comparison) are not in this article, which is about chasing things people owe you, not meeting times.
The jobs
Chase people who do not reply (hub Job 9)
The job: you are waiting on several things from outside people, such as a signed contract, headcount numbers and travel dates. You ask the assistant to nudge them politely every few business days for two weeks and to tell you when each one arrives.
What to look for in a vendor’s documentation:
- Critical: limits on how often one person can be nudged, so nobody gets two nudges in two days.
- Nudges stop as soon as that person delivers.
- A short reply such as “Next week.” pauses the nudges until then.
- After a set time, you are told that someone never replied, and the nudges stop.
- Each nudge reads like a person wrote it and does not repeat the last one word for word.
- You hear when each item arrives.
Remember what the user promised (hub Job 10)
The job: you ask, “What have I promised people this week, and what’s due soon?” The assistant should find promises you made in email, such as “I’ll send the deck Friday” or “Let me check with legal and get back to you”, invent none, and offer to remind you or draft a message without sending it.
Find the thread you forgot to answer (hub Job 7)
The job: you ask whether there is anything in the last two weeks you never replied to that you should have. A good answer finds the real misses and does not flag threads you did answer.
What the public information says about each job
| Product | Pacing, stop on reply, give up (Job 9) | Finds your promises (Job 10) | Finds unanswered threads (Job 7) |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAssistant | Pages describe chasing replies and telling you when something is stuck; pacing and stop rules are Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Town | Can email trusted contacts directly if you opt in; pacing Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| ChatGPT with Work | Recurring tasks and monitoring; pacing and stop rules are Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Claude with Cowork | Scheduled tasks exist; vendor advises against sending on a schedule | Not stated | Not stated |
| Fyxer | Creates a follow-up draft for review | Not stated | Not stated |
| Superhuman Mail | Reminds you if you do not hear back | Not stated | Not stated |
| Shortwave | Reminds you if no one replies | Not stated | Not stated |
None of the cited pages describe how a product handles a “Next week.” reply or when it stops chasing someone who never answers, so ask any vendor about both.
What the public information suggests
This order ranks how fully each vendor says it takes the follow-up off your plate. It reverses if you want to approve every message.
- OpenAssistant. Why we recommend it. The only vendor in the table whose own wording covers the whole loop: chases replies, reminds people of what they owe you, and tells you when something is stuck. Where competitors do better: it gives no detail on pacing or stop rules, and at $72 per user per month billed monthly it is the most expensive. That makes it worth considering if you want an assistant to handle the follow-up, subject to the limits above.
- Town. Documents a way to let it email chosen people directly, with approval as the default. $59 a month.
- ChatGPT with Work. Recurring tasks and monitoring that can send with approval, for $20 a month. The pages cited here do not say how pacing is handled.
- Claude with Cowork. Can run scheduled tasks, but Anthropic itself advises against scheduling tasks that send messages for you. $20 a month.
- Fyxer. Writes the follow-up draft and leaves the sending to you. $49 a month billed monthly.
- Superhuman Mail. Reminds you to follow up. $40 a month on Business, which bundles other products.
- Shortwave. Reminds you if no one replies, at the lowest price in the table, $18 a month.
- The “reminds you” tools cost more of your attention by design. Superhuman and Shortwave say they remind you, and Fyxer drafts the follow-up for your review. Every nudge becomes a tap or a send for you.
- The hardest criteria are knowing when to stop. “Next week.” and “never replies” are where a timer-based reminder is most likely to misbehave, by nudging too soon or chasing forever. Ask any vendor how it handles both before you rely on it.
- Price ranges from $18 to $72 per user a month. Shortwave Pro is the cheapest in the table and OpenAssistant Pro the most expensive.
Related reading
- Best AI assistants to triage a busy inbox (10 compared): ten products compared on triage, drafts, forgotten threads and a scheduled digest.
- Best AI assistants to book a 3-person meeting across time zones: ten products compared on booking one meeting with two outside people.
- How to Use AI to Follow Up on Unanswered Emails: steps for OpenAssistant, Gmail Nudges, Superhuman and Fyxer.
- How to Set Up an AI Assistant to Manage Your Gmail: steps for OpenAssistant, Gemini in Gmail and Fyxer.
Frequently asked questions
Can an AI assistant follow up for me when nobody replies?
OpenAssistant says it “chases replies, reminds people of what they owe you, and tells you when something is stuck”. Town can email chosen trusted contacts directly if you opt in. ChatGPT with Work can send with approval.
Which tools only remind me to follow up?
Superhuman Mail and Shortwave remind you if no one replies, and Fyxer creates a follow-up draft for you to review. The sending stays with you.
Does Claude send follow-ups on a schedule?
It can run scheduled tasks, but Anthropic says “Don’t schedule tasks that access sensitive files, send messages on your behalf”.
What is the cheapest AI follow-up tool?
Shortwave Pro is $18 a month. ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro are $20, Town Pro is $59 and OpenAssistant Pro is $72 per user per month billed monthly ($60 annually).
Try OpenAssistant
Let OpenAssistant chase the replies you are waiting on and tell you when something is stuck. Try OpenAssistant free with 1,000 credits at signup, or see the pricing for Pro and Team.