Shortwave is an email client built around a promptable agent and a one-pass inbox method. The homepage says you can organize, schedule, write and search with just a prompt, then keep working with splits, bundles, todos, and team comments. Paid cards on the pricing page are Business, Premier, and Max.
Official website · www.shortwave.com
Shortwave fits a Gmail workflow where the next decision is still the thread: archive it, answer it, star it, or hand it to a teammate. The assistant can draft from mail you have sent, search in natural language or Gmail-style filters, and check availability before a scheduling note. It is a weaker fit if you need a published free-tier limit first. The pricing page asks whether Shortwave can be used for free.
The homepage says the Shortwave Agent can organize, schedule, write and search with just a prompt. Writing uses mail you already sent, so it can write emails that sound just like you. A smart tl;dr sits at the top of every email, and search takes a natural-language question or a Gmail-style filter. The same assistant checks availability, creates calendar events, and writes scheduling emails. Instant replies are one-click suggestions or a custom request. Attachment analysis reads PDF, text, code, and other file types. AI memory stores facts you ask it to remember. You can connect Slack, Calendar, Notion, Asana, Hubspot, and more so you automate workflows without ever leaving your inbox. The pricing page adds MCP, web browsing, and a sister product, Tasklet, for triggers that draft replies, add team comments, and connect to 3,000+ apps.
Official documentationThe method guide is the process of triaging everything in your inbox first before other work. Each item is non-actionable, under two minutes, or longer. Clear the first group with done, delete, or snooze. Done archives it. Snooze returns it on a chosen date. Decide once, from the top downward, before deeper work. Answer short notes during that pass with an inline draft. Star longer threads so they sit at the top. Todos group several threads under one AI-assisted name. Splits are tabs for important mail, senders, labels, or custom queries. Bundles collapse newsletters, and delivery schedules hold mail until you want it. Scripts you write in plain English can label, star, archive, and more.
Official documentationShared threads update live and carry a unique URL, so another tool can link the history, attachments, and later messages. Comments stay on the email, with @-mentions, instead of a Slack screenshot. Assignees and a team done status name an owner. Shared labels form an AI-searchable archive. Snippets are shared templates the pricing page says AI can fill. Read statuses, recent opens, and link tracking show opens and clicks. Follow-up reminders fire when nobody replies. Auto-BCC logs mail to a CRM, and the pricing page names Salesforce. A row offers removal of the Sent with Shortwave tagline without showing which plan includes it. Multi-account support is switching Gmail accounts. Outbound mail uses Gmail's servers, so SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on the domain apply.
Official documentationShortwave processes your emails to provide features like search, threading, labeling, and the AI assistant. That content is not used to train third-party models and is not shared beyond Google Cloud, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Pinecone. The page also says your data will never be used to train third-party LLMs. Most workloads use open source models that run on hardware Shortwave controls. Staff access needs permission, an audit log, and a hardware security key. Data sits in Google Cloud, with AES256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit. Shortwave cites an annual CASA Tier 2 review and compliance with Google's API Services User Data Policy. Organizations that need SOC 2 Type II or GDPR compliance are told to contact support@shortwave.com. No certificate is. Shortwave syncs with Gmail but does not overwrite your emails, and archive, label, and delete are reflected there.
Official documentationA suggested morning sequence follows the method guide. Start at the top. Mark newsletters done, or clear a bundle in one click. Snooze anything that matters only later. Send a sub-two-minute reply during the pass, using an inline suggestion only when the thread already has the facts. Park longer work as a star or a todo, then leave the inbox. This is a suggested order of documented controls, not a timed backlog test.
When a thread is waiting on a time, a suggested use of the assistant is to check availability, create the event, and write the scheduling email. Keep dates the thread already agreed. Autocomplete can insert a link or fact from mail history. Read the draft before it sends. Follow-up reminders and read statuses are the later controls if the invite sits unanswered. The sequence is suggested.
A suggested handoff stays on the original thread. Share the live thread, leave a private comment with an @-mention, and set an assignee plus a done status. A shared label files it in the team's searchable archive. A snippet covers repeated wording, with AI filling blanks that change. Link tracking shows a click, not agreement. Stars and todos only hold work during the triage pass the method guide describes.
The homepage says get started for free, with no credit card, on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. The pricing page opens with a 14-day free trial on the paid cards.
Mark non-actionable mail done, deleted, or snoozed. Answer sub-two-minute notes immediately. Star or convert longer threads into todos before deeper work.
Ask the assistant to organize, write, search, or schedule, or save that command. Filters can label, star, archive, or delete from the rule you describe.
Read Business, Premier, and Max for intelligence level, daily usage, threads per search, context tokens, and AI filter count.
Public prices are Business at $30 per seat / month, Premier at $45 per seat / month, and Max at $120 per seat / month, each with a trial control under a 14-day header. A separate Individual amount was not verified here. The homepage says get started for free with no credit card.
Everyday AI productivity on the published Standard tier.
$30.
Per seat / month.
Advanced intelligence for complex workflows.
$45.
Per seat / month.
The most powerful models and features on the card.
$120.
Per seat / month.
Quota usage varies with request complexity and intelligence level. Premier and Max are labeled 2x and 6x more usage, not as a second daily range. A annual price was not verified here.
Choose Superhuman when you are comparing another email client, including the move Shortwave's docs title Migrating from Superhuman.
The Shortwave docs name that migration guide and do not describe Superhuman's limits. This profile only covers Shortwave's Gmail sync, plain-English filters, shared threads, and the three public per-seat prices.
Choose Grammarly when the job is editing writing outside a mailbox rather than triaging Gmail.
Shortwave ties writing help to emails you send, inline replies, and autocomplete from mail history. Grammarly is a separate writing product here. The public Shortwave pages do not say they edit documents in that other product.
Choose Taskade when the task list should live in a shared workspace instead of on email threads.
Shortwave keeps longer work as stars and todos in the inbox so triage does not jump to another app. Taskade is a different productivity product for a list that should not be email threads with notes.
The homepage says get started for free with no credit card. The pricing page opens with a 14-day free trial and a trial control on Business, Premier, and Max. It asks whether Shortwave can be used for free.
SourceBusiness is $30 per seat / month on Standard intelligence: about 150-300 Standard requests a day, 5 years of AI search history, 50 threads, and 3 filters. Premier is $45 per seat / month with 2x usage, 100 threads, and 10 filters. Max is $120 per seat / month with 6x usage, 150 threads, and 50 filters. Model names include Expert (Claude Opus 4.6 with adaptive thinking). The priced columns shown are Standard, Advanced, and Expert.
SourceShortwave syncs with Gmail but does not overwrite your emails. Archive, label, and delete are reflected in Gmail, original content is not modified, and stopping leaves Gmail as you left it. Mail goes through Gmail's servers, so existing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records apply without extra DNS records for Shortwave.
SourceYour data will never be used to train third-party LLMs, and email content is not used to train third-party AI models. Named sub-processors are Google Cloud, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Pinecone. Most workloads use open source models that run on hardware Shortwave controls.
SourceOrganizations that require SOC 2 Type II or GDPR compliance are told to contact support@shortwave.com. It does say data uses AES256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit, with an annual CASA Tier 2 review.
SourceAttachment analysis can read PDF, text, code, and other file types. Was not verified here. AI search is capped at 50 threads on Business, 100 on Premier, and 150 on Max.
SourceThey say Shortwave is compliant with Google's API Services User Data Policy, and that AI integrations can use built-in connections or MCP. They do not publish request paths, authentication steps, or a developer reference for sending mail. Using MCP with Shortwave is a docs title, and that how-to body was not public.
SourceOct 6, 2026 · NavHunt editorial
NavHunt did not run Shortwave, did not connect a Gmail account, and did not send, archive, or search live mail. Plan names, quotas, and security statements come from Shortwave pages reviewed on 2026-10-06. Homepage testimonials are vendor quotes, not NavHunt results. This description is based on Shortwave's official materials reviewed on 2026-10-06.
Triage with done, snooze, stars, and todos, then compare the published AI limits.