Best Gmail MCP servers, compared

Five ways to give an AI agent access to Gmail over MCP, and the specific failure each one hands you.

Every option here works. They fail differently, and that is what actually decides which one you should use. The short version: Google's own server is the most trustworthy operator and cannot send email, self-hosting gives you full control and a token that expires every 7 days until you publish your OAuth app, and hosted options trade a broad permission grant for not having to run anything. Pick by which of those you can live with.

The options

Google's official Gmail MCP server Official

What it requires: Enrollment in Google's Developer Preview Program, plus a Google Cloud project and OAuth client. The server itself is remote and hosted by Google at gmailmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1, so there is nothing to run.
Best for: Read-heavy assistants where Google being the operator matters, and teams already inside the Workspace developer programs.
Watch out: It cannot send email. The published tool list covers searching threads, reading a thread, listing and creating drafts, and adding or removing labels. An agent using it can draft a reply but not deliver it, which is the opposite of what most people mean by inbox automation.

Community self-hosted Gmail MCP servers Self-hosted

What it requires: Your own Google Cloud project, the Gmail API enabled, an OAuth consent screen, a downloaded client secret, and a process you keep running wherever the agent can reach it.
Best for: People who want to own the OAuth client outright, run everything locally, and modify the server's behaviour.
Watch out: The consent screen stays in Testing status unless you publish it, and Google expires refresh tokens for Testing apps after 7 days. That is the single most common reason a working setup dies quietly about a week later.

ClawLink Hosted

What it requires: A browser. Install one skill, click Connect, approve on Google's consent screen. No Google Cloud project, no client secret, nothing running on your side.
Best for: Getting an agent reading and sending real mail in a couple of minutes, and for anyone who does not want to operate an OAuth client.
Watch out: The OAuth grant covers full mailbox access, the same reach a Gmail app password gives, because sending and labeling require it. It is revocable in one click at myaccount.google.com/permissions, but it is not a narrow scope and we will not describe it as one.

Composio Developer platform

What it requires: An API key and SDK wiring, or their MCP endpoint. Built to be integrated into a product rather than installed by an end user.
Best for: Teams shipping an agent product who want one vendor across a very large catalog. Their Gmail toolkit advertises 61 tools and 2 triggers.
Watch out: It is developer infrastructure, so the setup assumes you are writing code. If you just want your own assistant reading your own inbox, it is more platform than the job needs.

PulseMCP directory Directory

What it requires: Nothing. It is a browsable index, not a server.
Best for: Seeing what exists right now. The MCP server list turns over quickly and a directory stays current in a way any written comparison cannot.
Watch out: Listing is not vetting. Anything you find there still needs the questions in this table asked of it: what does it require, what can it actually do, and how does it fail.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google have an official Gmail MCP server?

Yes. It is a remote server at gmailmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1, offered through Google's Developer Preview Program, and it inherits the same permissions and data governance controls as the signed-in user. Its published tools cover searching threads, reading a thread, listing labels, listing and creating drafts, and adding or removing labels. There is no send tool, so an agent can prepare a reply but not deliver it.

Which Gmail MCP server can actually send email?

The self-hosted community servers and the hosted options can. Google's official preview server currently cannot: it creates drafts. If your goal is an agent that replies to mail rather than one that prepares replies for you to send, that rules the official server out today.

Why did my Gmail MCP server stop working after a week?

Almost always the OAuth consent screen is still in Testing status. Google issues refresh tokens that expire in 7 days for apps in Testing, so a self-hosted server authorized against your own Cloud project stops receiving valid tokens about a week later. Re-authorizing buys another 7 days; publishing the app is the real fix. Hosted options do not have this problem because their OAuth client is already published.

Do I need a Google Cloud project to use a Gmail MCP server?

For Google's official server and for any self-hosted community server, yes: a Cloud project, the Gmail API enabled, an OAuth consent screen, and a client secret. Hosted services run the OAuth client for you, so you approve on Google's consent screen and skip the Console entirely.

Is it safe to give an MCP server access to my Gmail?

Judge it on two things. First, what the grant covers: anything that can send or label mail needs broad access, so treat claims of a narrow scope skeptically and read the consent screen. Second, where the credential lives: an OAuth grant you can revoke from your Google account is easier to contain than a standing app password sitting in a config file on a machine you are not watching. Also remember an agent reading your mail is reading text written by strangers, so keep a human between drafting and sending.

Connect Gmail without running a server

ClawLink is the hosted option in the table above: install one skill, approve Gmail on Google's consent screen, and your agent can search, read, draft, and send from chat. The full setup, the permission it asks for, and the errors people actually hit are on the OpenClaw Gmail page.