Shortwave Review, Pricing & Alternatives (2026)
AI-assisted email for Gmail and Google Workspace teams
Last updated: October 26, 2026
What is Shortwave?
Shortwave is an AI-assisted email application for Gmail and Google Workspace. It combines search, drafting, summaries, attachment analysis, filters and an AI executive assistant. Business costs $30/month, Premier $45/seat/month and Max $120/seat/month. A Free tier is available, and the pricing page advertises a 14-day trial; current official materials do not publish annual prices or complete Free-tier limits.
Shortwave is a Gmail-focused productivity application started by former Google and Firebase employees. Official launch material described it as a new Gmail experience inspired by Google Inbox, while TechCrunch reported a $9 million Series A led by Union Square Ventures and Lightspeed. Current paid plans are Business at $30/month, Premier at $45/seat/month and Max at $120/seat/month. A Free tier and a 14-day trial are available. Shortwave says it stores data in Google Cloud and does not use customer data to train third-party models.
Shortwave is a Gmail and Google Workspace email application with organization tools and an AI executive assistant. Features include search, autocomplete, summaries, attachment analysis, AI-powered filters, web browsing and integrations. Paid tiers are Business at $30/month, Premier at $45/seat/month and Max at $120/seat/month; a Free tier is also available, with complete limits not specified here. After connecting Gmail, users can search messages, ask the assistant to find information across threads, request summaries, analyze attachments, draft or revise replies and apply filters for recurring organization.
Shortwave is a Gmail and Google Workspace productivity app that combines email management with search, drafting, summaries, attachment analysis, web browsing, AI-powered filters and an executive assistant. Its paid plans are Business at $30/month, Premier at $45/seat/month and Max at $120/seat/month. A Free tier and a 14-day trial are available, while current official materials do not publish annual prices or complete Free-tier limits. Current intelligence mapping lists Claude Haiku 4.5 for Basic, Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Standard, adaptive Sonnet 4.6 for Advanced and adaptive Claude Opus 4.6 for Expert.
Shortwave’s current paid pricing is $30/month for Business, $45/seat/month for Premier and $120/seat/month for Max. Current official materials do not publish annual prices. A Free tier includes most productivity features and the AI executive assistant, but complete limits are not specified. Business includes five years of AI search history, searches covering up to 50 threads and three AI-powered filters. Premier allows 100 threads per search and includes ten filters, while Max allows 150 threads and includes 50 filters. No seat minimum is documented.
Shortwave is a Gmail and Google Workspace email app with AI search, summaries, attachment analysis, drafting, filters, web browsing and an executive assistant. Business costs $30/month, Premier $45/seat/month and Max $120/seat/month. A Free tier and a 14-day trial are available; current annual prices and complete Free-tier limits are not specified. Its documented intelligence options range from Claude Haiku 4.5 to Claude Opus 4.6 with adaptive thinking. Shortwave says AI-enabled features may involve external processing, while customer data is not used to train third-party models. Public API and self-hosting availability are not documented.
Who is Shortwave best for?
- Gmail and Google Workspace users
- AI-assisted email search
- Business communication teams
- Email-centered workflows
Shortwave Pricing (2026)
Pricing model: Freemium. All prices in USD.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Includes most productivity features and the AI executive assistant. Complete current quotas are not published. |
| Business | $30/month | Billed monthly. Includes standard intelligence, approximately 150-300 AI requests per day depending on complexity and selected intelligence level, five years of AI search history, up to 50 threads per search and three AI-powered filters. |
| Premier | $45/seat/month | Billed monthly. Includes advanced intelligence, 2x AI usage, unlimited AI-search history, 100 threads per search, ten AI filters and 2x context tokens. |
| Max | $120/seat/month | Billed monthly. Includes expert intelligence, 6x AI usage, 150 threads per search, 50 AI filters and 3x context tokens. |
Pros and Cons
Pros
- It combines Gmail workflows with AI search and an executive assistant.
- Higher tiers increase search depth, filters and context tokens.
- Shortwave publishes model mappings across intelligence levels.
- The company says customer data is not used to train third-party models.
Cons
- The product is centered on Gmail and Google Workspace.
- The company does not publish current annual prices.
- Public API and self-hosting details are not documented.
Who should look elsewhere?
- Outlook or iCloud users
- Self-hosted email deployments
- Teams needing a documented public API
Technical Details
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Shortwave cost?
Shortwave has a Free tier. Business costs $30/month, Premier costs $45/seat/month and Max costs $120/seat/month. Current official materials do not publish annual prices. The pricing page advertises a 14-day trial, and official billing information says the Free tier includes most productivity features and the AI executive assistant. Complete Free-tier quotas are not specified.
Does Shortwave have a free plan?
Yes. Shortwave documents a Free tier that includes most productivity features and the AI executive assistant. Current official billing information does not provide a complete quota list, so search history, AI usage and other limits should not be assumed. The pricing page also advertises a 14-day trial, but that trial should not be confused with the separate Free tier.
How does Shortwave compare with Superhuman?
Shortwave centers on Gmail and Google Workspace and offers search, summaries, filters and an AI assistant. Zapier’s comparison rated it higher for AI, ease and price, while noting Superhuman’s Outlook support and native desktop advantages. Shortwave may suit Gmail-centered AI workflows, whereas Superhuman may be preferable for users who need Outlook support or native desktop features. This comparison reflects editorial judgment, not a benchmark.
Does Shortwave train AI models on customer data?
Shortwave says customer data is never used to train third-party large language models. Its security documentation lists Google Cloud, OpenAI, Anthropic and Pinecone as subprocessors and says most AI workloads use open-source models on hardware Shortwave controls. Selected AI features can involve external processing, so the no-training statement does not mean that email content never leaves Shortwave-controlled systems.
Can businesses use Shortwave commercially, and who owns generated content?
Shortwave offers Business, Premier and Max subscriptions for organizational use. The published materials do not establish ownership or broad commercial rights for AI-generated text, summaries or other outputs. Those rights should therefore not be inferred from ordinary business access. Customers remain responsible for their email content, prompts and use of generated material under applicable Shortwave terms.
Best Shortwave Alternatives in 2026
These tools do the same job as Shortwave, with different pricing, limits and trade-offs.
