Superhuman vs Shortwave: which AI email app is better?
Both are email apps that sit on top of your own inbox and use AI to sort, summarize and draft. Superhuman works with Gmail and Outlook; Shortwave is built around Gmail and lets you sort and search by asking in plain English.
Side by side
| Superhuman Mail | Shortwave | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A fast email app for Gmail and Outlook with AI that sorts mail, drafts replies in your voice and answers questions about your inbox. | An AI email app for Gmail with an assistant that writes, searches, sorts and schedules for you from a plain-English request. |
| Price | Mail Starter: $25 per member per month, billed annually; Mail Business: $33 per member per month, billed annually; Mail Enterprise: Custom | Business: $30 per seat per month; Premier: $45 per seat per month; Max: $120 per seat per month |
| Free to try | No free Mail plan or trial shown on the Mail plans page; the Superhuman suite has a free plan with limited AI | 14-day free trial (its billing guide also describes a free plan; the pricing page does not list one) |
| Does the task itself | partly sorts, labels and drafts mail; the Mail page says it can send for you if you choose | partly writes, sorts, labels and schedules inside your email and calendar |
| Its own email address | no it works in your own Gmail or Outlook inbox | no it works in your own Gmail inbox |
| You can text it | no | no |
| Its own computer and browser | no | no |
| Remembers you | Learns your writing style from your past emails; Ask AI searches your whole inbox | Searches your email history (5 years on Business, unlimited on higher plans) and learns your writing voice |
| Where it lives | an email app for your Gmail or Outlook account (Email Assistant also works inside Gmail and Outlook) | web app, iOS, Android, Mac and Windows apps, on your Gmail account |
What they do in your inbox
Superhuman Mail is built for speed: split inbox, snooze, send later, follow-up reminders and snippets. Its AI labels and archives low-priority mail, writes drafts in your style, sums up each conversation in one line, and answers questions across your inbox, calendar and the web (Ask AI).
Shortwave writes and improves emails in your voice, searches your mail by meaning, puts a summary at the top of each email, turns emails into to-dos and helps schedule with your calendar. Its AI filters let you write sorting rules in plain English ("archive anything from the school's PTA unless it mentions my son's class").
What it costs
Superhuman Mail Starter is $25 per member a month and Business $33, both billed yearly; its Mail plans page shows no monthly price and no free trial. Auto Drafts, Ask AI and custom labels are on Business only.
Shortwave Business is $30 a seat a month, Premier $45 and Max $120, with a 14-day free trial. AI use has a daily quota, roughly 150 to 300 standard requests a day on Business.
Limits to know
Superhuman works only with Gmail and Outlook, and its plans and product names are spread across several pages (Mail, Go, the wider suite), which makes it hard to tell what you're buying.
Shortwave is built around Gmail. For automation beyond email filters it points to a separate product, Tasklet, sold separately.
Neither goes out and does tasks on other websites. If you want something that sends, chases and books on its own, see the best AI email assistants.
Pick Superhuman Mail if
- You use Outlook (or both Gmail and Outlook)
- You want the fastest keyboard-driven inbox
- You want answers across inbox, calendar and the web
- Your team already uses Grammarly or Coda
Pick Shortwave if
- You use Gmail
- You want to try it free for 14 days
- You want sorting rules written in plain English
- You want apps on Windows and Android as well as Mac and iOS
Questions people ask
- Does Shortwave work with Outlook?
- Its pages we checked don't confirm it; Shortwave is built around Gmail. Superhuman works with both Gmail and Outlook.
- Is there a free trial?
- Shortwave offers a 14-day free trial. Superhuman's Mail plans page doesn't mention one.
- Will either send emails without me?
- Both mainly sort and draft for you to send. Superhuman's Mail page says its AI can send for you if you choose.
Updated 2026-11-08. Product facts from each maker's own pages: see Superhuman Mail and Shortwave for sources.
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