Shortwave
PaidAI-native email client for Gmail — summaries, search, autodrafts and an AI assistant
⚡ Quick Verdict
Gmail power users and teams who want an AI assistant inside their inbox
Outlook/Microsoft 365 users or anyone needing a free email client
Business $24/mo · Premier $36/mo · Max $100/mo (annual)
No — 14-day free trial only
Deep AI assistant, summaries and natural-language search
Gmail-only; no permanent free tier
Bottom line: Shortwave scores 4.0/5 — a strong AI-native email client for Gmail users who want summaries, natural-language search and an inbox assistant. Its biggest constraints are Gmail-only support and the absence of a permanent free tier.
What is Shortwave?
Shortwave is an AI-native email client for Gmail and Google Workspace, built by a team of ex-Google engineers — several of whom worked on Google Inbox — and positioned as a spiritual successor to that discontinued app. Rather than bolting AI onto a traditional mail program, Shortwave was designed around an AI assistant: you can ask it to find emails, draft replies, summarize threads, and schedule meetings using plain English. Your mail stays in Gmail; Shortwave is a faster, AI-first front end on top of it.
The core experience centers on a few signature features. AI summaries appear at the top of long threads so you can grasp a conversation in seconds. Natural-language search lets you query your entire mailbox — "find the contract Sarah sent last quarter" — and can analyze attachments, with how far back you can search depending on your plan. AI autocomplete and autodrafts compose replies that learn your writing voice and pull real facts, links and phrases from your email history. AI-powered filters let you write triage rules in plain English instead of building rigid conditional logic.
Beyond AI, Shortwave keeps the productivity hallmarks of Google Inbox: Split Inbox divides mail into focused bundles (newsletters, notifications, team threads) so you triage in batches, emails can be turned into to-dos, and the assistant can check calendar availability and create events. It integrates with tools like Slack, Notion, Asana and HubSpot, and runs on web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android with multi-account support.
Shortwave only supports Gmail and Google Workspace — there is no Outlook or IMAP/SMTP option — and it no longer offers a permanent free plan; access starts with a 14-day trial and then a paid subscription. The target audience is founders, executives and teams who live in Gmail and want a genuinely AI-first inbox rather than incremental AI features layered on top of standard email.
Shortwave Pricing
Shortwave is paid-only. There is no permanent free tier; new users get a 14-day free trial. Prices below are per user, billed annually (verified June 2026 against shortwave.com/pricing).
- Business — $24/user/mo (annual): Standard AI intelligence, AI autocomplete, summaries and attachment analysis, 5 years of AI search history, up to 50 threads per AI search, and 3 AI-powered filters.
- Premier — $36/user/mo (annual): Advanced AI intelligence, roughly 2× the AI usage of Business, unlimited AI search history, up to 100 threads per AI search, 10 AI-powered filters, 2× context tokens, and premium support.
- Max — $100/user/mo (annual): Expert AI intelligence (Claude Opus with adaptive thinking), around 6× the AI usage, up to 150 threads per AI search, 50 AI-powered filters, 3× context tokens, and live 1:1 training.
- Enterprise — custom pricing: For organizations needing advanced integration, compliance and security; contact sales.
Monthly billing is available at a higher per-month rate than the annual figures above. Shortwave works only with Gmail and Google Workspace accounts.
Key Features
- AI Assistant — A built-in assistant you can ask in plain English to find emails, draft replies, summarize threads, and schedule meetings, acting on your mailbox directly rather than just suggesting text
- Instant AI Summaries — One-line and full summaries at the top of every long email thread, condensing back-and-forth conversations into key points and decisions
- Natural-Language Search — Search your entire mailbox and attachments with conversational queries; AI search history spans 5 years on Business and is unlimited on Premier and Max
- AI Autocomplete & Autodrafts — Composition that learns your writing voice and pulls real links, facts and phrases from your email history, drafting full replies for review
- AI-Powered Filters — Triage rules written in plain English (3 on Business, 10 on Premier, 50 on Max) that automatically label, sort and route incoming mail
- Split Inbox — Automatically groups incoming mail into focused bundles — newsletters, notifications, team threads, VIPs — so you process related messages together
- AI Scheduling — The assistant checks your calendar availability, proposes times, and creates calendar events without leaving the inbox
- Email-to-To-Do & Reminders — Convert messages into tasks and set follow-up reminders so unanswered threads resurface automatically
- Integrations — Connects with Slack, Notion, Asana, HubSpot and Google Calendar to bring context and actions into the inbox
- Cross-Platform — Native apps for web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android with multi-account support for Gmail and Google Workspace
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely AI-native — the assistant acts on your inbox, not just autocomplete bolted on
- Excellent natural-language search across mail and attachments
- Instant thread summaries save real time on long conversations
- Split Inbox and AI filters cut manual triage dramatically
- Built by ex-Google Inbox engineers — familiar, polished Gmail workflow
- Cross-platform: web, macOS, Windows, iOS and Android
Cons
- Gmail and Google Workspace only — no Outlook, Microsoft 365 or IMAP/SMTP
- No permanent free tier — paid after a 14-day trial
- AI usage, search history and filters are gated by plan tier
- Max plan at $100/mo is expensive for an email client
- AI features process email content, which may concern privacy-sensitive teams
- Less useful if your communication lives more in chat than email
Best For
- Gmail power users who process high email volume daily and want AI summaries, search and drafting built into the client they already use
- Founders and executives who want an AI assistant that can find, draft and schedule from the inbox in plain English
- Small teams on Google Workspace that want shared AI triage, filters and search across their mailboxes
- Former Google Inbox fans looking for a modern successor with bundling, Split Inbox and reminders
📋 Good to know
Sign up at shortwave.com and connect your Gmail or Google Workspace account via OAuth. The 14-day trial starts on sign-up; no credit card is required to begin.
Shortwave accesses Gmail through OAuth and processes email content to power AI summaries, search and drafting. Review its privacy policy if your team handles sensitive data.
Move from Business to Premier for unlimited AI search history and more filters; choose Max only if you need expert-tier AI (Claude Opus) and heavy AI usage.
Low to moderate — the Gmail-style layout is familiar, but getting full value means learning to delegate search, drafting and triage to the AI assistant.
🔄 Alternatives by use case
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FAQ
What is Shortwave?
Shortwave is an AI-native email client for Gmail and Google Workspace, built by ex-Google Inbox engineers. It adds an AI assistant, instant thread summaries, natural-language search, autodrafts and AI-powered filters on top of your existing Gmail mailbox, plus Split Inbox bundling and scheduling.
Is Shortwave free?
No. Shortwave no longer offers a permanent free plan. New users get a 14-day free trial, after which a paid subscription is required. Paid plans start at Business $24/user/mo (annual billing).
How much does Shortwave cost?
Shortwave costs $24/user/mo (Business), $36/user/mo (Premier) and $100/user/mo (Max) on annual billing, with custom Enterprise pricing. Higher tiers add more AI usage, unlimited search history, more AI filters and more powerful models. Monthly billing costs more per month than the annual rates.
Shortwave vs Superhuman — which is better?
Both are premium AI email clients. Shortwave is more of an AI assistant inside Gmail, with deep natural-language search and a conversational assistant, but it only supports Gmail/Google Workspace. Superhuman emphasizes raw speed and keyboard-driven workflow and supports both Gmail and Outlook. Choose Shortwave for AI-first search and assistant features; choose Superhuman for the fastest keyboard inbox.
Does Shortwave work with Outlook?
No. Shortwave only connects to Gmail and Google Workspace accounts. There is no Outlook, Microsoft 365 or generic IMAP/SMTP support. If you use Outlook, consider a client-agnostic tool like SaneBox or a different AI email client.
What is Shortwave best for?
Shortwave is best for Gmail and Google Workspace users — especially founders, executives and small teams — who want an AI-first inbox with summaries, natural-language search, autodrafts and an assistant that can triage and schedule, rather than incremental AI features added to standard email.