Disclosure: we make Prof Insider. What we say about EmailYourProfessor comes from its own public pages as of September 30, 2026, listed under “How we compared” below, and from our own testing and review where noted. Prof Insider is new, and some features described here, including follow-ups and the replies inbox, are still rolling out.
Short answer: Choose EmailYourProfessor if you're applying for advertised PhD or research assistant positions and want a free tool that drafts each email and opens it in Gmail. Choose Prof Insider if you're writing to professors who haven't posted an opening, want drafts in your voice from your resume, and want a tool built to handle follow-ups and replies in one inbox.
What EmailYourProfessor is
EmailYourProfessor helps students find open PhD and research positions and email the professor behind them. It says it scrapes listings daily from portals like FindAPhD and Euraxess and ranks them against your profile. OpenAI drafts each email from your profile, and an Open in Gmail button opens it pre-filled. Its guides also describe a professor search by university and department.
EmailYourProfessor vs Prof Insider at a glance
| Feature | EmailYourProfessor | Prof Insider |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | PhD and research assistant applicants; its guides also cover undergraduates | High school, undergraduate and graduate students |
| Where professors come from | Positions scraped from FindAPhD, Euraxess and other portals; professors' public research | The most accurate, verified professor database, built in-house; not pulled from free public databases |
| Stated coverage | Advertised positions from portals worldwide; professor-search coverage not stated | 188 US and Canadian universities, including 26 in Canada |
| Writes the email | Yes, by OpenAI, from your profile and the professor's research interests | Yes, in your voice, from your resume and the professor's research |
| Changing a draft | Review and edit the draft yourself | Ask for changes in plain English |
| How emails are sent | Opens a pre-filled draft in your Gmail; says it never requests inbox access | Sends from your own Gmail, now or scheduled |
| Follow-ups and replies | Tracks sent and unsent emails; follow-up reminders listed as coming soon | Built to follow up and bring replies into one inbox (not live yet) |
| Email address checks | Not stated | Flags addresses that look generic or belong to someone else |
| Extras | Position matching; deadline filters; storage for your CV and other documents | Sorts professors into matches and skips from your resume |
| Price | Says free for a limited time; also lists a 10-email Free plan and $9 Premium | Not yet listed |
| Availability | Live; bulk and scheduled email listed as coming soon | New; follow-ups and the replies inbox are still rolling out |
EmailYourProfessor’s column is from its public pages on September 30, 2026; prices are as listed there. Prof Insider’s column describes our own product.
What EmailYourProfessor does well
- It gathers advertised positions from several portals into one ranked list, and you can browse without an account.
- It asks for very little access. It says sign-in only shares your name, email and photo, never your inbox.
- It says every feature is free for now, and its listed paid plan is $9 a month.
- It stores your CV, statement of purpose, transcripts and reference letters in one place.
- Its guides are practical and candid, including that most research positions are never advertised.
Where Prof Insider is different
- Prof Insider starts from its own professor database, so you can write to professors who haven't posted anything. EmailYourProfessor's home page starts from advertised positions.
- Prof Insider covers 188 named US and Canadian universities, 26 in Canada. EmailYourProfessor doesn't say which universities its professor search covers.
- Prof Insider drafts in your voice from your resume, and you change a draft by asking. EmailYourProfessor drafts from profile fields, and you edit it yourself.
- Prof Insider is built to follow up and bring replies into one inbox. EmailYourProfessor lists follow-up reminders as coming soon.
- Prof Insider flags addresses that look generic or belong to someone else. EmailYourProfessor doesn't say whether it checks addresses.
Advertised positions or professors who haven't posted
EmailYourProfessor's home page centers on live listings scraped daily from job portals. Its guide notes that a listed position confirms a lab has funding and is recruiting now, which makes listings a useful start for PhD applicants.
The same guide says most research positions are never advertised. It mentions a professor search for those, but not which universities it covers or where the data comes from. Prof Insider is built for this kind of cold outreach, starting from its own professor database and sorting professors into matches and skips from your resume. New to research? See research with no experience.
Drafting from a profile or from your resume
EmailYourProfessor asks for your degree, interests, skills, GPA and publications, then OpenAI drafts from that profile and the professor's research interests. Its guide says a draft takes under a minute and tells you to check names, papers and tone before sending.
Prof Insider drafts from your resume and the professor's research, in your voice, and you change it by asking. Either way, check every draft against how to email a professor for research.
Gmail: a pre-filled draft or a connected inbox
EmailYourProfessor's sign-in page says it only accesses your name, email address and profile photo, and never requests access to your Gmail inbox. Open in Gmail fills in the recipient, subject and body, and you press send. Bulk email, scheduled email and follow-up reminders are listed as coming soon.
Prof Insider is designed to send from your Gmail, follow up for you and bring replies into one inbox, which needs more access to your mail. If you'd rather no tool touch your inbox, EmailYourProfessor fits better.
Price
EmailYourProfessor's pricing section says every feature is free for a limited time. The same section still lists a Free plan with 10 AI emails a month and a Premium plan at $9 a month, and its guides mention 10 free emails. Our reading is that it's free today and the $9 plan may apply later. Prof Insider hasn't published pricing yet.
Which should you choose?
Choose EmailYourProfessor if
- You're applying for advertised PhD or research assistant positions
- You want listings from portals like FindAPhD and Euraxess in one place
- You want a tool that's free today
- You want Gmail to open a draft without any tool reading your inbox
Choose Prof Insider if
- You're writing to professors who haven't posted an opening
- You want Canadian universities named in your list
- You want drafts in your voice from your resume, changed by asking
- You want a tool built to handle follow-ups and replies in one inbox
Common questions
Is EmailYourProfessor free?
Right now, it says yes: every premium feature is free for a limited time. It still lists a Free plan with 10 AI emails a month and a $9 Premium plan, so check before you rely on it.
Where does EmailYourProfessor find research positions?
It says it scrapes PhD and research assistant openings daily from FindAPhD, Euraxess, PhD Portal, Academic Positions and other portals. You can browse them without an account.
Does EmailYourProfessor send emails from Gmail?
Not by itself. Open in Gmail opens a pre-filled compose window, and you press send. It says it never requests access to your Gmail inbox.
Can EmailYourProfessor help with professors who haven't posted a position?
Its guides mention a professor search by university and department, but not which universities it covers. Prof Insider's own database covers 188 US and Canadian universities; see research at Canadian universities.
How we compared
On September 30, 2026 we read EmailYourProfessor’s public pages below. We report what EmailYourProfessor says about itself, and say when something comes from our own testing, our review or our inference. Features and prices change, so check its site before you decide.