Email clients are having their AI moment, and these are the two names that come up first. Superhuman is the premium client that made 'inbox zero in minutes' a status symbol: keyboard-driven, blisteringly fast, and unapologetically expensive. Shortwave is the AI-native challenger built by ex-Googlers: it replaces the Gmail interface entirely and leans hard into AI search, summaries, and drafting.
2026 changed the math on both. Grammarly acquired Superhuman in July 2025 for over $800 million, and the product is now sold as a suite: the standalone Mail Starter plan ($30/month) still exists, but the headline Business tier ($33/user/month billed annually) bundles Grammarly writing assistance, Coda docs, and the Superhuman Go agent. Shortwave, meanwhile, added Tasklet in January 2026 — AI agent workflows that execute multi-step email automations on their own.
The practical divide is simple. Superhuman supports Gmail and Outlook, feels like a command center, and charges a premium for speed. Shortwave is Gmail and Google Workspace only — no Outlook, no IMAP — but starts at a fraction of the price with a genuinely usable free tier. This page compares them on the dimensions that matter, using current documented pricing.
Scores on this site are research-based: compiled from official documentation, changelogs, and public user feedback. No paid placements; rankings can't be bought.
Standing warning: email-tool pricing reprices constantly. Treat every price here as an October 2026 snapshot — the official pricing pages are the only numbers that matter at checkout.
| Superhuman | Shortwave | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $30/mo (Mail Starter, monthly) | Free tier, then Pro ~$14/mo |
| Business tier | $40/mo monthly, $33/mo billed annually (suite bundle) | $30/mo per user monthly, $24/mo billed annually |
| Free tier | None — trial only | Yes: limited AI, 90-day search history, personal Gmail |
| Email providers | Gmail and Outlook | Gmail and Google Workspace only — no Outlook |
| Flagship AI features | Ask AI, Auto Drafts, Auto Summarize, writing in your voice | AI search across full history, thread summaries, personalized drafting, Tasklet agent workflows |
| Speed philosophy | Keyboard-first command center, 100+ shortcuts | Clean three-panel client, bundles and AI triage |
| Standout extras | CRM integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce), read statuses, live 1:1 onboarding | 5-year AI search history, no native desktop app needed (web-first) |
| Best for | Executives and sales teams living in email 4+ hours a day | Gmail power users wanting AI superpowers at a sane price |
The fastest email client on earth — keyboard-first inbox for people drowning in mail.
Starter from $25/user/mo (annual) or $30 monthly; Business from $33/us
Try Superhuman →Gmail-native AI email client with search, summaries, and AI drafting.
Free tier (limited history); Personal ~$7/mo; Pro/Business ~$24/mo — c
Try Shortwave →Pick Superhuman if email volume is your bottleneck and you can put a dollar value on hours saved: nothing else feels as fast, and the Outlook support plus CRM integrations matter for sales-led teams. Just know what you're buying in 2026 — the Business tier is now a suite bundle with Grammarly and Coda, so standalone Mail Starter ($30/mo) is the cheaper route if email is all you want. Pick Shortwave if you're on Gmail and want 80% of the AI magic at a fraction of the price: the free tier is genuinely usable, Pro starts around $14/month, and Tasklet's agent workflows are the most interesting automation story in the category. The hard filter is your provider — on Outlook, Shortwave isn't an option at all.
Mostly yes, with a catch. Grammarly acquired Superhuman in July 2025 and now sells a suite: the Business tier ($33/user/month annually) bundles Mail with Grammarly, Coda docs, and Superhuman Go. But superhuman.com/mail/pricing still sells Mail standalone — Starter at $30/month ($25 annually) — which is cheaper if you only want email.
No. Shortwave supports Gmail and Google Workspace accounts only — no Outlook, no Microsoft 365, no IMAP. This is a hard architectural decision, not a pending feature. If anyone on your team uses Outlook, Shortwave is out.
Shortwave by a wide margin. It has a free tier and Pro starts around $14/month, while Superhuman starts at $30/month with no free tier. At business tiers the gap narrows: Shortwave Business $24/user/month annually vs Superhuman Business $33/user/month annually — but Superhuman's includes the Grammarly/Coda suite.
Tasklet, launched January 2026, adds AI agent workflows to Shortwave: you define a trigger-based workflow (e.g. 'when an invoice PDF arrives, extract the total and log it to a spreadsheet'), and it executes without manual triggering. It moves Shortwave from AI-assisted client toward autonomous email handling.
Shortwave has a free tier you can use indefinitely with limits, plus a 14-day trial of Business features. Superhuman has no free tier — only a trial period before the paid subscription kicks in.