Shortwave Pricing 2026

Shortwave pricing starts with a Free plan ($0/month with basic features) and scales through Business ($24/user/month annual or $30 monthly), Premier ($36/user/month annual or $45 monthly), and Max ($100/user/month annual). Enterprise pricing is custom for teams of 50+. The Business plan is the most popular starting point for professionals, offering 5-year AI search history and standard AI intelligence. Annual billing saves 20-25% compared to monthly.

Yes, Shortwave offers a Free plan that includes core email productivity features, Smart Bundles for automatic email categorization, basic AI summaries, predictive autocomplete, and calendar integration. However, the free plan has notable limitations: 90-day AI search history, basic (non-personalized) AI, only 1 email account, and a mandatory 'Sent with Shortwave' signature on all outgoing emails. New users also get a 14-day free trial of paid features. For business use, the Business plan ($24/month annual) removes these limitations.

Shortwave is an AI-powered email client designed to transform how professionals manage their inbox. Built by former Firebase and Google engineers, Shortwave uses AI to summarize email threads, write personalized replies, search email history intelligently, organize inbox with smart bundles, and automate follow-up reminders. It works as a replacement email client for Gmail, offering features like AI-powered search, instant replies, thread sharing, team comments, and link tracking. Shortwave is backed by Union Square Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Shortwave and Superhuman are both premium AI email clients. Shortwave Business costs $24/user/month (annual) vs Superhuman Starter at $25/user/month (annual) - nearly identical pricing. Key differences: Shortwave offers a free tier while Superhuman does not. Shortwave emphasizes AI-powered search and writing with tiered intelligence levels. Superhuman focuses on keyboard-first speed, CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot on Business tier), and mandatory onboarding training. Choose Shortwave for AI email intelligence and a free starting point; choose Superhuman for email speed, keyboard shortcuts, and sales team CRM workflows.

Business ($24/month annual) offers standard AI intelligence, 5-year search history, ~150-300 daily AI requests, 50 threads per search, and 3 AI filters. Premier ($36/month annual) upgrades to advanced AI intelligence, unlimited search history, 2x daily AI usage, 100 threads per search, 10 AI filters, 2x context tokens, activity feeds, and priority support with live training. Premier costs 50% more but doubles AI capabilities and removes search history limits. Choose Business for everyday AI productivity; upgrade to Premier if you regularly hit AI usage limits or need unlimited search.

Shortwave currently works primarily with Gmail accounts. The platform was built specifically for Gmail and Google Workspace users. If your organization uses Microsoft Outlook or Office 365, Shortwave may not be compatible with your email setup. Check Shortwave's current platform support on their website before subscribing, especially if you use custom domains through Microsoft email services.

Shortwave offers both monthly and annual billing. Annual billing saves 20-25% compared to monthly (e.g., Business: $24/month annual vs $30 monthly). All team members must be on the same plan. Billing starts at the beginning of your billing cycle with upfront payment. Adding seats mid-cycle incurs prorated charges for the remaining billing period. Shortwave uses Stripe for secure payment processing. New users receive a 14-day free trial of paid features that converts to the Free plan if not upgraded.

Shortwave Max ($100/user/month annual) is the highest individual tier offering expert-level AI intelligence, 6x more daily AI usage than Business, 150 threads per AI search, 50 AI-powered filters, 3x context tokens for the deepest AI analysis, unlimited search history, priority support, and live 1:1 training. Max is designed for executives and heavy email users who need the most powerful AI models and maximum daily throughput. It costs 317% more than Business but provides dramatically more AI capacity and the highest quality AI responses.

The Free plan restricts email search to the last 90 days of history. Full email history search and advanced AI features require upgrading to a paid plan starting at $24/year (Business tier, billed annually) or $30/month.

User opinions vary. Some find it valuable for AI-powered inbox management, email search across complete history, and productivity features like split inboxes. However, multiple users note the pricing is high for an email client, particularly if you're already paying for other productivity tools. The free tier may be sufficient if you don't need full history search or AI features.