Head to head · Productivity · updated Oct 25, 2026
Shortwave vs Superhuman
Shortwave scores 22 to Superhuman's 19 on public evidence for email writing & inbox management, and they rank #3 and #4 there. Only Shortwave has a free tier. Numbers below are the same public signals the ranking uses, recomputed nightly — nothing here is sponsored.
Shortwave
An AI-first Gmail client whose assistant searches, summarizes, drafts and organizes your email in natural language.
+ Ask questions across your entire mailbox and have the assistant draft replies grounded in past threads.
− Gmail-only, and the bundled-threads inbox model takes getting used to.
Superhuman
A keyboard-driven email client for Gmail and Outlook with AI drafting in your voice, inbox triage and auto-summaries.
+ Write with AI learns your sent mail and produces replies that sound like you, and Auto Summarize puts a one-line gist atop every thread.
− Expensive for an email client, and it only works on Gmail and Microsoft 365 accounts.
Side by side
public evidence| Shortwave | Superhuman | |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence score / 100 | 22 | 19 |
| GitHub stars | closed source | closed source |
| Hacker News stories, 30d | 2 | 4 |
| Release-feed mentions, 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Last activity | – | – |
| Pricing | Free tier | Paid · Starter from $25/mo |
| Platforms | web, mac, ios, android | web, mac, windows, ios, android |
| Maker | Shortwave | Superhuman (Grammarly) |
Which one?
Pick Shortwave if
- you want the stronger public evidence (22 vs 19)
- you want a free tier to start on
Best for chatting with your Gmail inbox.
Pick Superhuman if
- you need it on windows
Best for high-volume inboxes.