Canary Mail vs Shortwave

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Entry price: Canary Mail from $36/yr, Shortwave from $18/mo — different billing units, so no direct winner
Free plan: Both have one
Higher Trust score: Shortwave — 96 vs 79 for Canary Mail
Best fit: Canary Mail: People who want PGP without configuring it themselves · Shortwave: People who search and question years of Gmail history
Status: Both up at our last check (Oct 15, 2026)

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

Canary MailCross-platform email client with PGP, read receipts and an AI copilot for drafts and summaries.

ShortwaveAI-first email client for Gmail with deep assistant search

Side by side

Fact	Canary Mail	Shortwave
Category	Email Management	Email Management
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starts at	$36/yr	$18/mo
Trust score	79 / 100	96 / 100
Platforms	macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Web	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Company	Cartasec Pte. Ltd.	Shortwave Communications, Inc.
Last verified	Oct 15, 2026	Oct 15, 2026

What our research says

Canary Mail

One of the few mail clients that ships real encryption rather than just an AI compose box - PGP, HIPAA-oriented SecureSend and misdirected-recipient checks sit behind the same $100-a-year licence that covers every platform. The free tier is genuinely usable on two devices. Device caps rather than seats are the thing to watch, and there is no API or team administration.

Pros

Native clients for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android under one per-user licence
PGP plus SecureSend encryption aimed at HIPAA workflows
Phishing, impersonation and misdirected-recipient detection built in
AI copilot drafts replies, summarises threads and categorises mail
Free tier on two devices and lifetime purchase options as an alternative to subscriptions

Cons

Paid plans cap you at 5 devices, which is tight for a multi-device user
Lifetime licence prices are advertised but not published
No API, shared inbox or team administration
Published entity is a Singapore company with no address given on the site

Shortwave

Still the most capable AI layer we have seen on top of Gmail, and it is now cheaper to try: a free plan and an $18 individual Pro tier sit below the $30-plus business seats. The value is in asking questions of years of old mail, so people who only triage today's inbox will not get much from the paid tiers.

Pros

Free plan and an $18 individual tier make it possible to test the assistant without a business seat
AI search answers questions across the mail archive, not just keyword hits
Model tier, AI quota and filter count scale clearly from plan to plan
Native apps on all major desktop and mobile platforms

Cons

Business seats at $30 to $120 a month are expensive next to Gmail's built-in AI
Free plan limits search history to 90 days and adds a Shortwave signature to sent mail
No annual discount is offered; billing is monthly only

Which one fits

Choose Canary Mail if you need

People who want PGP without configuring it themselves
Professionals handling regulated correspondence on their own account
Users on several platforms who want one licence covering all of them

Choose Shortwave if you need

People who search and question years of Gmail history
Small teams that share threads and assign emails inside the inbox
Users who want AI filters to sort incoming mail without hand-written rules