Choose an email source
Compare Gmail, Outlook, IMAP, and Forwarding to pick the right connection.
Choose an email source
Inbox Ledger captures incoming invoices and receipts four ways. Pick the one that fits your workflow. You can add more later, and they all feed into the same processing pipeline.
Comparison
| Source | Setup time | Auto-sync | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 1 min | Yes (every 60 min) | Most personal and work email with attachments |
| Outlook | 1 min | Yes (every 60 min) | Microsoft 365 and Exchange users |
| IMAP | 3 to 5 min | Yes (every 60 min) | Any provider, custom hosts, on-prem mail servers |
| Forwarding | 30 sec | On receive | Capturing specific senders without granting access to your full inbox |
Which should I pick?
- If you use Gmail (personal or Google Workspace), start with Gmail OAuth.
- If you use Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com, use Outlook OAuth.
- If your provider is neither Google nor Microsoft (Fastmail, Zoho, hosted Exchange, on-prem), use IMAP.
- If you only want to forward specific invoices from another address, use a forwarding address.
What you'll need
A Gmail or Outlook connection needs nothing more than your account and one approval screen. For IMAP, have your email host, port, username, and an app password ready before you start.
How to add a source
In the dashboard, open Sources and click Add Source. Choose your provider, approve the read-only access on Google's or Microsoft's screen (or enter your IMAP details), and the inbox appears in your Sources list with a connected badge.
OAuth scopes stay minimal: gmail.readonly for Gmail and Mail.Read for
Outlook. We never request send or modify access. IMAP passwords are encrypted
in Supabase Vault (where we store sensitive credentials), never in plaintext
and never visible to staff.
Related
Connect Gmail
OAuth flow, scopes, and sync behavior.
Connect Outlook
Microsoft 365 OAuth and Delta Query sync.
Connect IMAP
Any provider with credentials encrypted at rest.
Forwarding addresses
Capture specific senders without an OAuth grant.
Ready to try this?
Inbox Ledger turns your inbox into clean accounting data. The free tier includes 10 credits, refilled every 30 days.
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