ForwardThis vs Carly
Carly and ForwardThis both work by email, but they solve different problems. Carly is an assistant you CC into a thread: she handles the scheduling back-and-forth, manages your calendar, and runs agents that keep working after you stop. ForwardThis is not an assistant. You forward an email, write what you need done in your business apps, and it happens once, with a confirmation and an undo. If you want your meetings booked and a helper in your threads, you probably want Carly. If you want one-off admin done safely in the tools you already run, you want ForwardThis.
ForwardThis and Carly, side by side
How it works
Setup
Runs without you
Meeting scheduling
Pricing unit
Free plan
Paid from
Apps
Undo
Carly pricing and limits checked 1 September 2026.
Which one fits how you work?
Choose Carly if
You want the meeting booked for you. Carly handles the whole back-and-forth over email and SMS until a time is found.
You want an assistant who takes part in your threads. CC her on an email and she replies to the other people on it.
You want work that continues after you stop. Carly's agents watch inboxes, run on schedules and follow up with leads.
You want to build a custom agent with its own name, email address and permissions, and teach it your policies.
Choose ForwardThis if
Your job is a one-off with consequences: log the deal, file the contract, update the record. ForwardThis does it once and confirms.
You want nothing running unattended. The only trigger is the email you forward, so nothing acts on your accounts overnight.
You want a way back. ForwardThis can undo reversible work for 24 hours after it is done.
You'd rather count jobs than credits. One forwarded email is one action, however long the exchange gets, and the free plan has every feature.
What a single forwarded email does
The trigger is the email you forward. There is no editor and nothing to design in advance. This whole job is one email, and in Carly it would be a workflow you build first.
Tom Okafor
Enquiry: office refurb, budget around £40k
refurb-brief.pdf
Your instructions
Add this to Pipedrive as a new lead with the budget, save the brief to the leads folder, and set a follow-up task for Thursday.
Pipedrive
Create the lead
Office refurb, £40k budget
Google Drive
File refurb-brief.pdf
Leads / Okafor Partners
Todoist
Set the follow-up task
Thursday 3 September
You receive a confirmation email once complete, with an undo button that works for 24 hours.
Setup in 30 seconds.
What is ForwardThis?
ForwardThis is an ops assistant for your inbox. It turns email into action, without the hassle. Compatible with over 145+ of the apps you use every day.
Works with any email
Compatible with any personal or professional email provider. Gmail, Outlook and more.
145+ apps
Works across all the apps you already use every day. With more being added every month.
Setup in seconds
No complex setup, apps to install or workflows to build. Sign up, forward, done.
Secure & private
ForwardThis only acts on the emails you send it, and no data gets retained after actions have been completed.
Try it with a real email.
Forward any work email to the address below and see what ForwardThis can do. No signup required.
Occasional product emails may follow.
FAQs
- Is ForwardThis a Carly alternative?
- For the ops side of your inbox, yes: filing, logging, record updates and task creation from emails you forward, with undo on reversible work. For scheduling, no. Carly negotiates meeting times over a thread and ForwardThis deliberately does not.
- Can ForwardThis schedule meetings like Carly does?
- Not in the way Carly means it. Forward an email that contains a time and ForwardThis will put the event in your calendar. It will not email the other person, offer slots, or handle the back-and-forth until a time is agreed. That negotiation is Carly's home ground.
- How does the pricing actually compare?
- The units differ. Carly's Personal plan is $35 a month and includes 200 credits, which AI work draws down. A ForwardThis action is one email from you, however many things it asks for, at $15 a month for 100 actions. Carly's free tier covers simple workflows and calendar tools without the assistant; the ForwardThis free plan is 10 full actions a month with every feature.
- Does either tool watch my inbox?
- Carly can. Her agents monitor incoming email, sort it, and act on schedules, which is much of her value. ForwardThis never sees your inbox at all. It only receives the individual emails you choose to forward, and nothing else reaches it.
- Which one has more integrations?
- Carly lists 258+ integrations against 145+ for ForwardThis. Both cover the tools most businesses run on every day. If a niche app matters to you, check both lists before deciding.
- Can I use both?
- Yes, and the split is natural. Carly for scheduling and for agents that work your inbox and pipeline on their own. ForwardThis for the one-off jobs you want done deliberately, with a confirmation email and 24 hours of undo. They act on different emails, so they never collide.