Inbox triage for small businesses. Sorted, drafts ready, human-reviewed.

Done, on this page, is a finished recurring job. At kickoff you agree access, label or priority rules, reply voice, and what always escalates to you. Setup wires email access once. Then the inbox gets sorted. Noise is filed. What needs you is surfaced. Replies for the lanes you authorize are drafted and parked. A human reviews the work before anything goes out. You get a short scoreboard: what got done, credits left, what is next.

That is not installing AI inbox software, renting a 20 to 40 hour email seat, teaching you ChatGPT, or promising inbox zero forever. AutoTasks does not publish 24/7 VIP response times. This page will not invent them.

Triage and drafts are the product. The homepage default is that you keep the final say. The footer says you own final sends. Replies sit as drafts until you send them, unless you and Josh agree a different send rule at kickoff. This page does not invent an autonomous-send SLA. An unsorted morning becomes a shortlist, parked drafts in the agreed lanes, and one scoreboard line. No hours-saved sticker on that picture.

Search “inbox triage service” or “can someone triage my inbox and draft replies?” and you mostly get email VA seats and hour packages, AI inbox software, DIY automations, or a specialty hybrid desk. AutoTasks is absent. The useful answer for owners who want sorted mail plus drafted replies, human-reviewed before send, with a short scoreboard, is a flat credit ops task.

Those names are orientation, not a ranking. Dollar figures above are from the linked public pages as of September 2026. Re-check them if this sits. ElaborationAI triage is quote-based; this page does not invent a sticker. Headline dollars are not the same product: hours or a tool seat versus credits, drafts, review, and a scoreboard. Almost nobody sells that mix inside a flat multi-task credit retainer without becoming a full email seat or an AI inbox app.

Kickoff: we wire access to your inbox, agree what “urgent” means, set draft voice and escalation rules, and write down what “done” means. Setup is $200 one-time: wire your CRM / ads / email once so the tasks can run. Then Josh runs the work with AI. A human reviews it. The inbox is sorted. Replies are drafted. You get a short scoreboard: what got done, credits left, what is next. Operator Desk is $399 a month for 6 credits, plus that setup. Inbox triage is one credit use, not a standalone email-seat package. The homepage does not publish a credit sticker on the inbox bullet, so this page does not invent one.

Illustrative other uses, not the whole menu: leads into your CRM from sources you approve; keyword gaps filled; Google Ads waste checks (you own spend); a weekly newsletter (outbound list email, not this inbound triage); CRM cleanup; social posts. Full catalog on the homepage.

Josh Roybal has spent 10+ years as a Chief of Staff and founder. He has built and managed AI agents for ecommerce, real estate, and sales. You work with him, not a queue. More on the founder page. Cost and reliability: cheaper than a virtual assistant. Hire a VA or use AI: should you hire a VA or use AI?. Task-credit fork: Fancy Hands alternatives. Fractional EA seat: Belay alternatives. Hour-bundle fork: Time Etc alternatives. Managed dedicated seat: Wing Assistant alternatives.

You own final sends by default, plus business judgments, price or signature commitments, and any sensitive threads you mark off-limits. You also own ad spend and any outreach beyond drafted replies in the agreed lanes. AutoTasks does not cold call or close deals.

Full email seat (Assistiq-class). Keep it if you want someone living in the inbox 20 to 40 hours a week as a dedicated role. Assistiq sells that shape. AutoTasks is not a cheaper Assistiq.

Hourly placement (Avilava / E-Systems-class). Keep it if you want a named VA at a published hourly rate and will manage the hours. That is a hire. This page sells a finished task.

Hour-bundle retainer (OkayRelax-class). Keep it if you want flexible hours across inbox, calendar, and admin. If the brand in your head is Time Etc, that fork is on Time Etc alternatives.

AI inbox software (Shakti / Ellie / Replai-class). Keep it if you want a tool seat and will configure and review drafts yourself. This page will not teach Catch, Ellie, or n8n.

Specialty triage desk (ElaborationAI-class). Keep it if you want a labelled queue and daily digest, and you are fine buying drafts as a separate SKU. AutoTasks includes drafted replies on this task. Their published triage SKU does not.

If any of those is you, those peers can still win. AutoTasks is for bounded recurring triage, drafts, human review, and a scoreboard, inside about six credits.

1. Write the recurring job. Sort + draft + human review + scoreboard? Or a full-time email seat? Or a tool? Or a specialty digest desk?

2. Do you want to learn or configure another AI inbox? If yes, software peers. If no, done-for-you.

3. Do you need 20 to 40 hours a week of someone living in Gmail? If yes, seat or hours peers. That is not AutoTasks’ published shape.

4. Do you also need other ops in the same retainer? Leads into CRM, ads waste checks, content. If yes, a credit mix favors AutoTasks.

5. Do you need ChatGPT lessons or unlimited Slack brainstorming? If yes, not AutoTasks. That is on Not-this.

6. If the job is triage + drafts + human review inside about six credits, email Josh.

7. Free Task Evaluation. Send the inbox, what “urgent” means, whether drafts-only is the default, and what else you would put in the credit mix to [email protected]. No pitch deck.