Question 1

What is Kerna and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Kerna is an AI inbox workflow tool that runs directly inside Gmail and Outlook as an add-on. Open any email, click the Kerna icon in the sidebar, and get instant translations, summaries, smart replies, and email composition — all in 45+ languages.

Question 2

How do I install Kerna?

Accepted Answer

Sign in with your Google account at kerna.io, then follow the prompts to add Kerna to your Gmail. It will appear as an icon in your Gmail sidebar. No downloads or browser extensions needed.

Question 3

Does Kerna work with Google Workspace / business accounts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna works with both personal Gmail and Google Workspace (business) accounts. Workspace admins can install it organization-wide or allow individual users to install it themselves.

Question 4

Why isn't Kerna showing in my Gmail?

Accepted Answer

Make sure you've completed the Google sign-in at kerna.io. The add-on may take a few minutes to appear. Try refreshing Gmail or checking Settings → Add-ons. If using a Google Workspace account, your admin may need to approve the add-on first.

Question 5

Does Kerna work with Microsoft Outlook?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alongside the Gmail add-on, Kerna runs as an add-in inside Outlook — on the web, the new Outlook for Windows and Mac, and classic desktop Outlook. The same features (Reply, Summarize, Translate, Compose, Smart Focus Extraction and Rewrite) work the same way in both. Your mailbox needs to be hosted by Microsoft: Microsoft 365, Exchange Online or Outlook.com.

Question 6

How do I install Kerna for Outlook?

Accepted Answer

Kerna for Outlook installs from Microsoft AppSource, or your Microsoft 365 administrator can deploy it for your whole organization from the Microsoft 365 admin center. Once it is added, open any message and Kerna appears in the Outlook ribbon.

Question 7

Which Outlook accounts and versions does Kerna work with?

Accepted Answer

Kerna needs a mailbox hosted by Microsoft — Microsoft 365, Exchange Online or Outlook.com. Microsoft does not load add-ins on accounts connected over POP or IMAP, and mailboxes that stay on an on-premises Exchange server are not supported. On the client side Kerna runs in Outlook on the web, the new Outlook for Windows and Mac, and classic desktop Outlook.

Question 8

Can I sign in to Kerna with a Microsoft account?

Accepted Answer

Yes — you can sign in with either Google or a Microsoft account. For now each provider is a separate Kerna account, so sign in with the same provider you used when you first set up your plan.

Question 9

Why isn't Kerna showing in Outlook?

Accepted Answer

First check that your mailbox is hosted by Microsoft — Kerna cannot load on accounts connected over POP or IMAP. Then close Outlook completely and reopen it, since a newly added add-in usually needs a restart before it appears. If your organization deploys add-ins centrally, your administrator may need to approve Kerna first.

Question 10

Does Kerna work on mobile?

Accepted Answer

The Gmail add-on works in the Gmail mobile app on Android and iOS. Kerna for Outlook is built for desktop and web only — it does not appear in Outlook on Android or iOS.

Question 11

Can an administrator deploy Kerna for a whole organization?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on both platforms. A Google Workspace administrator can install the Gmail add-on for the entire domain from the Google Workspace Marketplace, and a Microsoft 365 administrator can deploy the Outlook add-in from the Microsoft 365 admin center. Each person still signs in individually to link their Kerna plan.

Question 12

What languages does Kerna support?

Accepted Answer

Kerna supports 45 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Polish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, and many more. You can translate emails, compose in any language, and switch your UI language at any time.

Question 13

Can Kerna summarize entire email threads?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna can fetch all messages in a Gmail thread and provide a summary in your preferred language. You can choose between brief (1–2 sentences), standard (3–5 points), or detailed summaries.

Question 14

What is Smart Focus Extraction?

Accepted Answer

Smart Focus lets you define custom fields to extract from emails — like ticket numbers, error codes, or tracking IDs. Kerna pulls out each data point automatically. You can configure your extraction fields in Settings.

Question 15

Can I save custom reply prompts?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Pro plans and above. You can create reusable reply instructions (e.g., 'Decline politely and suggest next quarter') that appear in your tone/intent dropdown for one-click access.

Question 16

Does Kerna integrate with Google Calendar and Tasks?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna can detect events and tasks in your emails, check your calendar for conflicts, and create events or tasks directly from the sidebar. It also integrates with Google Contacts and Sheets for recipient management.

Question 17

How does inbox triage work?

Accepted Answer

Kerna sorts your open messages into categories so you can see at a glance what each one needs, and only when you ask. In Outlook you can also turn on Scan automatically, which repeats your scan every 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes while Kerna is open; nothing is scanned while it is closed. Five categories are built in: Urgent, Respond, Invoice, Waiting and Notification. Replace them with a taxonomy of your own of up to six, or start from one of 20 built for your industry.

Question 18

Can I control the tone and intent of replies?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every reply is built from a tone and an intent you choose: seven tones from formal to friendly, and eight intents such as accept, decline, follow up or request information. The same combination works across all 45 languages, so a polite decline reads naturally in Polish or Japanese instead of like a translated English sentence.

Question 19

What is the Compose Assistant?

Accepted Answer

It writes a new email from a short brief instead of a blank page. Choose your industry and the kind of message, and Kerna loads a topic brief covering 200 common business situations across 20 industries, then asks for the few specifics it needs — dates, names, amounts — through a short form. You get a complete draft with the subject line written for you.

Question 20

Can Kerna read attachments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna can summarize an attachment alongside the message it arrived with, and pull structured data out of it. Nothing is processed until you trigger the action, and the file is never stored.

Question 21

Can I export the extracted data?

Accepted Answer

Yes, from both. In Gmail the extracted table exports to Google Sheets or Google Docs; in Outlook to Excel, Word or CSV. Outlook can run extraction across every attachment in a thread at once, where Gmail takes one file at a time.

Question 22

Does Kerna send email automatically?

Accepted Answer

No. Kerna writes a draft and places it in your compose window, and that is where it stops. Nothing is sent, replied to or filed without you reading it and pressing send yourself. There is no autopilot and no background processing of your inbox. When you answer a calendar invitation in Kerna with Accept, Maybe or Decline, your calendar sends that answer to the organiser, as the invitation's own buttons do. Likewise, when you add a meeting with Google Meet or Teams and leave people ticked under Invite to the meeting, your calendar sends them the invitation.

Question 23

What's the difference between the plans?

Accepted Answer

Starter is free with 100,000 tokens. Standard (€12/mo) gives 500,000 and Pro (€22/mo) 1,000,000. Business (€125/mo) adds team management with up to 5 seats and 10,000,000 shared tokens. Enterprise (€599/mo) covers 25 seats and 50,000,000 tokens, with fully custom plans on request. Every plan runs on the GPT-6 family with all features available — the allowance and the seats are what differ.

Question 24

What are tokens and how are they used?

Accepted Answer

Tokens measure AI usage — roughly 1 token per word processed. Every action (translate, summarize, reply, compose) uses tokens. Your monthly allocation resets on each billing cycle. You can track usage in your dashboard.

Question 25

How do I cancel or change my plan?

Accepted Answer

Go to Dashboard → Subscription and manage your plan. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your billing period — you keep access until then.

Question 26

Do you offer annual billing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Annual plans are available at a discounted rate. You can switch between monthly and annual billing from the Subscription page in your dashboard.

Question 27

What payment methods do you accept?

Accepted Answer

We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Business customers can also provide a VAT/Tax ID during checkout for proper invoicing.

Question 28

What happens when I run out of tokens?

Accepted Answer

AI features pause until your next billing cycle begins, or until you upgrade to a plan with a larger allocation. Nothing else changes — your settings, saved prompts and account stay exactly as they were, and everything resumes when the new cycle starts.

Question 29

Do unused tokens roll over?

Accepted Answer

No. Each plan includes a fixed monthly allocation that resets at the start of every billing cycle, and unused tokens do not carry forward. On Business and Enterprise the pool is shared, so a quiet month for one member leaves more headroom for everyone else within that same month.

Question 30

Is Starter free forever?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Starter is free with no time limit and no card required — 100,000 tokens a month on the GPT-6 family, with all features available to a single user. It exists so you can try Kerna properly before deciding whether to pay for it.

Question 31

Which AI model does each plan use?

Accepted Answer

Every plan — Starter, Standard, Pro, Business and Enterprise — runs on a model from the GPT-6 family, which handles long threads and non-English writing noticeably better. That name refers to an OpenAI model family rather than one specific model, so the exact model can change as OpenAI releases newer versions.

Question 32

Do you offer refunds?

Accepted Answer

Subscription fees are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise, and cancelling part-way through a cycle does not trigger a prorated refund — you keep access until the period ends. We do look at refund requests individually, so if something has gone wrong, write to support@kerna.io.

Question 33

Can I use Kerna with a team?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Business plans include team management with up to 5 seats sharing a 10M token pool. Enterprise plans support up to 25 seats with a 50M token pool. Team leaders can add/remove members, set individual limits, and monitor usage.

Question 34

How does the shared token pool work?

Accepted Answer

On Business and Enterprise plans, all members draw from a single shared token pool — 10M tokens/month on Business, 50M on Enterprise. The team leader can set individual limits per member or use a default allocation. Usage is tracked per member in the Team dashboard.

Question 35

What does the Enterprise plan include?

Accepted Answer

Enterprise includes up to 25 team seats, a 50M monthly token pool, team management, and priority support. For needs beyond Enterprise — custom token limits, more seats, dedicated deployment, or specialized SLAs — contact sales@kerna.io for a tailored quote.

Question 36

How do I add or remove team members?

Accepted Answer

The team leader manages seats from Dashboard → Team. Adding a member sends an invitation to their email address, and once they accept and sign in they draw from the shared pool. Removing a member frees the seat immediately. Business includes 5 seats and Enterprise 25.

Question 37

Can I set token limits for individual members?

Accepted Answer

Yes. By default everyone draws from the shared pool freely, but the team leader can cap individual members so that one heavy user cannot consume the whole month's allocation. Limits can be changed at any time from team settings.

Question 38

What happens when someone leaves the team?

Accepted Answer

Removing a member releases the seat straight away and ends their access to the shared pool. Their own Kerna account remains, so they can continue on a personal plan if they want to. Tokens already used are not returned to the pool.

Question 39

Do you support single sign-on?

Accepted Answer

Sign-in is through Google or Microsoft, which for most organizations means people are already using their company identity along with whatever multi-factor policy is in place. Dedicated SAML single sign-on is not available today — if your procurement process requires it, contact us and we will tell you where it stands.

Question 40

Will you sign a data processing agreement?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our Data Processing Agreement is published at kerna.io/dpa, with our sub-processor list and the safeguards we rely on for international transfers. It forms part of our Terms whenever Kerna is used for business, on every plan, and applies from the moment you start using Kerna or subscribe, with no separate signature. If your procurement process needs a countersigned copy, write to support@kerna.io and tell us which entity it should name.

Question 41

Is my email data safe with Kerna?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna reads your email only when you use a feature. Its content is never written to our databases, logs or backups, and OpenAI keeps none of it under Zero Data Retention terms. We operate under EU data protection law, and your emails are never used to train AI models.

Question 42

Where are Kerna's servers located?

Accepted Answer

Kerna runs on Google Cloud in Europe: the application on Cloud Run in Belgium (europe-west1), with account data in Firestore in Poland (europe-central2). Kerna sp. z o.o. is a Polish company, so the controller sits in the EU as well as the infrastructure. Section 11 of our Privacy Policy sets out the position on sub-processors and the safeguards covering them.

Question 43

What Google permissions does Kerna need?

Accepted Answer

Kerna uses granular OAuth consent. Core features need Gmail read access. Optional features like Calendar sync, Tasks, Contacts, and Sheets integration each request their own permission — you choose which to grant.

Question 44

Can I delete all my data from Kerna?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna provides a data deletion endpoint that removes your profile, statistics, and analytics data from all collections. You can also contact support@kerna.io to request a complete data purge.

Question 45

What Microsoft permissions does Kerna need?

Accepted Answer

Ten permissions, and each one is used only when you trigger an action. Mail.Read reads the message you are working on; Mail.ReadWrite inserts the drafts you ask for. Calendars.ReadWrite and Tasks.ReadWrite create events and action items from what Kerna extracts, on your confirmation. Contacts.ReadWrite and People.Read support contact lookups. MailboxSettings.ReadWrite reads your mailbox time zone, language and working hours so that extracted dates and calendar conflict checks are correct for your region. Mail.Read.Shared and Mail.ReadWrite.Shared let the same actions work in a shared or delegated mailbox your organisation has already granted you — Kerna cannot open a mailbox you cannot already open yourself. User.Read confirms your identity and reads your name and email when you sign in. On Outlook, Kerna requests no permission to send mail at all. Nothing is read in the background, and email content is never written to our databases, logs or backups — the same as in the Gmail add-on. The full list, with the purpose of each scope, is in Section 8 of our Privacy Policy.

Question 46

Do you train AI models on my emails?

Accepted Answer

No, and neither does OpenAI. Message content is sent only when you trigger an action, processed in memory to produce your result, and not retained afterwards — we hold a zero data retention agreement with OpenAI covering exactly this. Your email content is never used to train any model, ours or theirs.

Question 47

Is Kerna GDPR compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Kerna sp. z o.o. is a Polish company and the service was built to GDPR from the start: account data is stored in Google's Warsaw region, our backend runs in Belgium, and email content is never written to our databases, logs or backups. The Privacy Policy sets out the legal bases, your rights and how to exercise them.

Question 48

Who are your sub-processors?

Accepted Answer

Six: OpenAI for AI inference, Stripe for payments, Google Firebase for authentication, database and hosting, Google Analytics for website statistics, Sentry for error tracking, and Brevo for the emails we send you. Each receives only what it needs — Stripe never sees your email, OpenAI never sees your billing data, Sentry receives hashed identifiers and stack traces but no message content, recipients or subject lines, and Brevo receives your email address and a few account details but nothing from your mailbox. The full table is in our Privacy Policy.

Question 49

Is Kerna verified by Google and Microsoft?

Accepted Answer

Partly, and it is worth being precise about which part. The Gmail add-on has completed Google's OAuth verification and holds a CASA Tier 2 Letter of Validation, an assessment carried out by an independent third party, which is what Google requires of apps that access Gmail data. On the Microsoft side the Outlook add-in holds Publisher Attestation: our own self-assessment, published by Microsoft for customers to read. Microsoft does not independently verify it and it is not Microsoft 365 Certification, so we do not present the two as equivalent.

Question 50

Does Kerna label AI-generated content?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in line with the transparency direction of the EU AI Act. Every reply, email or summary Kerna writes ends with a short sequence of invisible characters that software can recognise as Kerna's AI mark; you can check any text at kerna.io/ai-marker. The mark is lost if that part of the text is deleted, retyped or removed by a mail system, so it is a signal rather than proof. You can also add a visible line, “Created with AI assistance from Kerna.io”, at the end of generated messages: optional on paid plans, always on for Starter. Exported files are marked too: Word and Excel files in their document properties, Google Sheets in an extra tab and Google Docs in a closing line.

Question 51

Can my team leader read my emails?

Accepted Answer

No. Team leaders see usage — how many tokens each member has spent and how many actions they have run — and on Enterprise a log of when those actions took place. None of it includes message content, subject lines or recipients: Kerna does not keep them in its databases.

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