What is Shortwave?
Shortwave is an email app built around an AI assistant called the Shortwave Agent. It works on top of your existing Gmail inbox and adds AI features for triaging mail, drafting replies, searching your history and handling scheduling. You can give it instructions in plain language, such as asking it to find a thread, summarize a long email, or check your calendar and write a scheduling reply.
In practice you can split your inbox into tabs, bundle newsletters and promotions, turn emails into a todo list, and set delivery schedules so mail arrives when you choose. Custom AI filters can label, archive or star messages based on written rules. The assistant can learn your writing style from sent mail to draft replies, and it can connect to tools like Slack, Calendar, Notion, Asana and HubSpot. Teams can share threads, comment privately on emails and assign next steps.
Key features
- AI inbox organization with splits, bundles and todos
- Custom AI filters written in plain English
- Writing assistant that learns your personal style
- AI-powered search across email and attachments
- Scheduling with calendar integration
- Shared threads, comments and labels for teams
Who is it for
- professionals with heavy email workloads
- small and mid-size teams sharing an inbox
- founders and sales teams tracking replies
Pros and cons
- Works with Gmail-style inbox workflows people already know
- Attachment analysis and natural-language search across email history
- Team collaboration features built in
- Paid plans required for full AI usage after the trial
- AI usage is capped by daily quotas that depend on request complexity
Shortwave pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Business | 30 USD / month | per seat; standard intelligence, 50 threads per AI search, 3 AI filters, 5 years AI search history |
| Premier | 45 USD / month | per seat; advanced intelligence, 2x AI usage, 100 threads per AI search, 10 AI filters, unlimited search history |
| Max | 120 USD / month | per seat; expert intelligence, 6x AI usage, 150 threads per AI search, 50 AI filters |
Prices copied from Shortwave pricing, checked October 12, 2026. Currency as shown by the vendor; taxes may apply.
Is Shortwave free?
There is a free trial. 14-day free trial of the paid plans; the page mentions no credit card is required to get started.
Shortwave alternatives
| Tool | Price from | Free plan | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
 Grammarly | 12 USD/mo | yes | Writing & editing |
 LanguageTool | 49,90 PLN/mo | yes | Writing & editing |
 QuillBot | not listed | ? | Writing & editing |
 HyperWrite | 16 USD/mo | yes | Writing & editing |
 Mutiny | 50 USD/mo | trial | Writing & editing |
 Compose AI | not listed | yes | Writing & editing |
All alternatives to Shortwave →
FAQ
What is Shortwave used for?
AI email client that organizes, writes, searches and schedules email from a prompt, for individuals and teams.
Is Shortwave free?
There is a free trial. 14-day free trial of the paid plans; the page mentions no credit card is required to get started.
How much does Shortwave cost?
The cheapest paid plan is 30 USD/mo (vendor pricing, October 12, 2026).
What are the best Shortwave alternatives?
Closest alternatives: Grammarly, LanguageTool, QuillBot, HyperWrite, Mutiny.
Data checked October 12, 2026 on the vendor website (shortwave.com).