The Inbox Index
The Q3 2026 quarter has not closed. The panel is still receiving mail, so every figure on this page — scores, bands and rankings included — will change before publication, and some brands will move between bands. Nothing here should be cited as a result yet. The final Q3 2026 Publisher Edition, covering the complete quarter, publishes on Oct 1.
The table
Three dimensions, 0 to 4 each: Cadence (does it keep its own rhythm), Volume (how much it sends) and Sales pressure (how often it is selling rather than telling). The grade is the Siftbox Score, out of 12.
| Newsletter | Welcome week | Cadence sends on rhythm | Volume emails / week | Sales pressure sends selling | Siftbox Score out of 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBC Newsletters News & Politics | 7 | 80% | 4.9/wk | 0% | 10 Attention-first |
| 2 | TSN Sports | 7 | 100% | 7/wk | 0% | 10 Attention-first |
| 3 | The Points Guy Travel & Destinations | 8 | 100% | 7/wk | 0% | 10 Attention-first |
| 4 | Now Toronto News & Politics | 6 | 92% | 7.3/wk | 0% | 10 Attention-first |
| 5 | Axios Macro Finance & Investing | 6 | 81% | 5.2/wk | 0% | 9 Attention-first |
| 6 | The Hustle Business & Entrepreneurship | 6 | 78% | 6.4/wk | 0% | 9 Attention-first |
| 7 | Who What Wear Fashion & Style | 8 | 100% | 7/wk | 4% | 9 Attention-first |
| 8 | Axios Closer Finance & Investing | 6 | 81% | 5.2/wk | 6% | 8 Compliance-first |
| 9 | Axios Markets Finance & Investing | 5 | 81% | 5.2/wk | 6% | 8 Compliance-first |
| 10 | NYT Wirecutter Shopping & Reviews | 8 | 96% | 7.3/wk | 21% | 7 Compliance-first |
| 11 | The Verge News & Politics | 7 | 81% | 5.2/wk | 18% | 6 Compliance-first |
| 12 | Axios Daily Essentials News & Politics | 17 | 46% | 15.2/wk | 0% | 5 Compliance-first |
| 13 | Vogue Fashion & Style | 18 | 41% | 17/wk | 2% | 4 Volume-first |
| 14 | TLDR Technology & Science | 27 | 15% | 28.5/wk | 1% | 4 Volume-first |
| 15 | Front Office Sports Sports | 13 | 56% | 12.5/wk | 7% | 3 Volume-first |
Welcome week counts the emails sent in the seven days after a subscription's first one — the burst the rate calculation sets aside, published rather than hidden. A ▲ marks a welcome week at least half again the edition median of 7. Emails per week is per subscriber, measured over days actually subscribed with the welcome week set aside.
The weeklies
For a publisher, under twelve emails in a window usually just means a weekly. Rhythm cannot be inferred from a handful of sends, so these are scored on Volume alone and graduate to the full table at twelve.
| Newsletter | Welcome week | Emails | Volume emails / week | Weeks observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axios Business Suite Business & Entrepreneurship | 3 | 1 | 0.3/wk | ~3 |
| Heather Cowper Travel & Destinations | 2 | 1 | 0.3/wk | ~3 |
| the smitten kitchen digest Food & Cooking | 3 | 3 | 0.9/wk | ~3 |
| Time Out Travel & Destinations | 1 | 3 | 0.9/wk | ~3 |
| Lukas Volger Food & Cooking | 1 | 3 | 0.9/wk | ~3 |
| Wealthsimple Finance & Investing | 1 | 4 | 1.1/wk | ~4 |
| Axios Media Trends Media | 2 | 4 | 1.2/wk | ~3 |
| James Clear Self-Improvement & Productivity | 3 | 4 | 1.3/wk | ~3 |
| Nomadic Matt Travel & Destinations | 4 | 6 | 1.8/wk | ~3 |
| Platformer News & Politics | 3 | 7 | 2.1/wk | ~3 |
| Healthline: Wellness Wire Health & Wellness | 4 | 7 | 2.1/wk | ~3 |
| Embedded Technology & Science | 4 | 10 | 3/wk | ~3 |
How the index is made
Siftbox sells a solution to the problem this index measures.
The index is free, brands are never contacted before publication, and no brand is ever offered a way to change a score. Scores compare within an edition, not across editions: the Retail Edition measures different dimensions on the same scale. Past editions are never restated.
The panel. Siftbox operates a panel of subscriber inboxes that sign up the way any reader would: an email form on the publisher's own site, no account created, no terms assented to. Every claim traces to a specific email the panel received.
Eligibility. One uniform window for every newsletter. Volume is scored from any live subscription with enough steady-state runway; the other two dimensions additionally require twelve received emails, since a thin sample genuinely misleads. Scoring begins seven days after each subscription's first email, so no newsletter is judged on its welcome series.