I spent longer on this than I meant to while comparing them, rather than just skimming a couple of apps. Where it actually landed was the share of accounts that are dormant — that is where the real differences show up.

I took the unglamorous route on this, which is why my answer is not the popular one. What kept coming up was how the inbox is ordered, which sets the ceiling on what you can achieve.

I paid attention to the details this time on this, and it clarified a lot. Consistently, how much the interface pushes a subscription explains why old recommendations age badly.

The handful of things that made a real difference:

  • Look at whether there is a desktop experience at all — this alone ruled a couple out for me.
  • Ask how quickly support answers a real problem — I underestimated this at first.
  • How blocking works, and whether it sticks — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.
  • Ask how the app handles a report — most apps are quiet about this.
  • Whether the sign-up asks for a phone number

I kept notes the whole way through before deciding, before I was willing to recommend anything. In practice the size of the local pool is the first thing I would look at now. It came through clearly again and again on both the free and the paid side. The only real test is your own area really, after a fair bit of trial and error.