Shortwave vs Superhuman Mail

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: Shortwave from $30/mo, Superhuman Mail from $25/seat/mo — different billing units, so no direct winner
Free plan: Neither — Shortwave has paid plans only, Superhuman Mail has paid plans only
Best fit: Shortwave: People whose job is finding things buried in years of email: recruiters, founders, account managers · Superhuman Mail: Executives, founders and sales teams handling hundreds of messages a day
Trust score: About even — Shortwave 93, Superhuman Mail 96
Status: Both up at our last check (Sep 6, 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

ShortwaveAI-first email client for Gmail with deep assistant search

Superhuman MailKeyboard-driven email client for Gmail and Outlook with AI drafting and triage, now one product of the renamed Grammarly company

Side by side

Fact	Shortwave	Superhuman Mail
Category	Email Management	Email Management
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starts at	$30/mo	$25/seat/mo
Trust score	93 / 100	96 / 100
Platforms	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Company	Shortwave Communications, Inc.	Superhuman
Last verified	Sep 6, 2026	Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Shortwave

The strongest AI layer on Gmail right now, priced accordingly: $30 a seat is Superhuman money for a product whose real value is search and the assistant, not keyboard shortcuts. Worth it only if you interrogate old mail rather than just triage new mail.

Pros

AI search across multi-year history is the feature rivals handle worst
Real desktop apps for macOS and Windows plus iOS and Android, not a web wrapper
Collaboration is built in rather than bolted on
Model class is an explicit priced choice instead of a black box

Cons

No free plan and no cheap individual tier any more
Gmail-only, which rules out a large share of business mail
The $120 Max seat is hard to justify outside very heavy use
No public API to build on

Superhuman Mail

Superhuman Mail remains the fastest way to work a heavy Gmail or Outlook inbox by keyboard, and the AI layer — follow-up tracking, drafts in your voice, summaries — is a real time saver for people who live in email. The price is the argument against it: $25 to $33 a seat on annual billing for an email client, and the AI features that justify the premium sit on the $33 tier. It is a tool for executives, founders and sales teams, not for anyone whose inbox is a side activity.

Pros

Keyboard-driven triage with split inboxes, snoozing and scheduled send
Assistant drafts replies, tracks follow-ups and summarises long threads
Works on Gmail and Outlook accounts, so no migration of mail
Backed since 2025 by a company that also owns Grammarly and Coda, with a suite bundle

Cons

$25 per member per month even on annual billing, and no free plan
Ask AI and Auto Drafts require the $33 Business tier
Only Gmail and Outlook accounts are supported
The company rename and suite bundling make it harder to buy Mail alone without upsell

Which one fits

Choose Shortwave if you need

People whose job is finding things buried in years of email: recruiters, founders, account managers
Small teams wanting shared threads and assignment without adopting a helpdesk
Gmail users who liked Google Inbox and want a modern equivalent

Choose Superhuman Mail if you need

Executives, founders and sales teams handling hundreds of messages a day
Teams on Gmail or Outlook that want shared follow-ups and AI drafts across members
Keyboard-centric users who will learn the shortcuts and command palette