Shortwave Alternatives in 2026: For Outlook, Shared Inboxes and Plain Gmail

Shortwave is an AI email client built on top of Gmail. The good alternatives depend on what pushed you to search: an account Shortwave can't hold (Microsoft 365 and Exchange aren't supported), a team that shares one address, a per-seat bill you'd rather not pay, or a wish for help that reaches past the inbox. Each of those points somewhere different, so the options below are sorted by reason.

What Shortwave does well

Shortwave's strength is AI inside the inbox itself. Its homepage leads with "Automate your email with AI," and the AI Assistant guide backs that up: it can organize groups of threads (archive, label, clear junk, create todos), draft and polish replies, answer plain-language questions about your mail, summarize long threads, pull out dates and receipts, translate, create calendar invites and check your availability.

A few other things stand out:

• AI filters written in plain English, plus Splits (focused inbox tabs), bundles that group related threads, and delivery schedules that hold non-urgent mail until set times, all described in Shortwave's settings guide.
• Integrations with HubSpot, Notion, Slack, Asana, Linear and Zapier, custom MCP servers, and a web-browsing integration (AI Assistant guide).
• Team tools: private team comments on a thread, shared labels, and channels that work as internal mailing lists (team guide).
• Apps everywhere: macOS and Windows desktop apps, iOS and Android (download page), and Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge in the browser.

If you live in Gmail, handle your own mail and want the AI to sit right where you read, Shortwave is built for exactly that, and none of the options below copies its whole feature set.

Reasons to switch from Shortwave

Your account isn't a Gmail account

Shortwave requires a Gmail or Google Workspace account to sign in, and other mail has to be forwarded into it. Its provider support page says Microsoft 365 and Exchange accounts "are not supported at this time." Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and ProtonMail work through forwarding only, which means you can't send from those addresses. Yahoo, iCloud, Fastmail and Zoho get full support with an app password. If your job moved you onto Microsoft 365, Shortwave can't follow.

The price, per person

Shortwave's pricing page lists Business at $30, Premier at $45 and Max at $120, each per seat per month, with a 14-day free trial. The plans differ mostly in AI depth: threads read per AI search, the number of AI filters, and how far back AI search reaches. The billing guide says one seat covers all of a person's email accounts, and that everyone on a team must be on the same plan. That guide also still describes a free plan, so check what's on offer when you sign up. AI usage runs on a quota that resets every 24 hours, with no way to buy more mid-day.

A team that shares one address

Shortwave's team guide covers comments, shared labels and channels. If your team answers a support@ or sales@ address together and needs assignment, statuses and SMS or WhatsApp in the same place, a dedicated shared-inbox tool is the closer match.

Wanting help beyond the inbox

Some people leave because the work they want help with isn't triage. It's remembering who they owe a reply, getting ready for tomorrow's meetings, or running errands that start in an email. That's a different kind of tool, and Merlin is one of them.

The alternatives, by reason for leaving

Gemini in Gmail: drop the extra client, keep the AI

Since Shortwave runs on top of Gmail anyway, the simplest move is to go back to Gmail and use Google's own assistant. Google's help page describes Gemini in Gmail summarizing long threads, drafting or refining emails, finding details like flight times, proposing meeting times from your Google Calendar, and organizing mail (archive, delete, label, mark read, star) after you confirm. It opens from the top right of Gmail.

It needs an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan; Google's Workspace pricing page lists Gemini in Gmail on Starter, Standard, Plus and Enterprise. You give up Shortwave's Splits, bundles, delivery schedules and plain-English AI filters, so rebuild what you can with Gmail labels and filters (our guide to Gmail labels covers the setup).

Fits: a Gmail or Workspace user who mainly used Shortwave for summaries, drafts and search, and already pays for Workspace.

Missive: Microsoft 365, IMAP and shared team inboxes

Missive calls itself "inbox collaboration for teams that run on email" (homepage). On its own comparison page, Missive says it supports Gmail, Microsoft 365 and any IMAP provider, and adds SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, Messenger and Instagram to the same workspace. Teams get shared inboxes, internal comments on emails before they go out, emails turned into tasks with a view of who's on what, and automation rules. Its AI assistant drafts replies and can pull context from tools such as Stripe or a CRM through MCP.

On Missive's pricing page, the yearly-billing prices for each user are $14 a month for Starter (up to 5 users), $24 for Productive (up to 50) and $36 for Business (no cap), with yearly billing marked 20% off. There's no free plan, but there is a 30-day trial with no credit card. Apps cover macOS, Windows, web, iOS and iPadOS, and Android (download page).

Fits: anyone on Microsoft 365 or Exchange, and teams who answer shared addresses together.

SaneBox: sorting that works in whatever app you already use

SaneBox isn't an email client. It sorts incoming mail into SaneBox folders, so the result shows up in whatever app you read mail in. SaneBox's FAQ says it works with "any email client, service or device" and names Gmail, Exchange, Outlook and Yahoo Mail. It reads header data rather than message bodies, says it never stores your emails, and supports up to four accounts depending on the plan. POP accounts can't use its folders.

The same FAQ says SaneBox doesn't send or receive your email, so it replaces the sorting side of Shortwave, not the writing side. Plans and prices are on SaneBox's pricing page; the FAQ offers a one-week free trial.

Fits: someone whose favorite part of Shortwave was a quieter inbox, who'd rather keep Apple Mail, Outlook or the Gmail app.

Merlin: an assistant for the people and work behind your mail

Merlin runs on the Mac and works from a chat window, connected to your Google mail, calendar and contacts. You can ask it to find a thread or write a reply; before anything goes out, you get the message on screen to check, change and approve. It can label, archive and move mail to Trash, but it can't permanently delete mail.

Where Merlin differs from Shortwave is what it does without being asked. Inbox Watcher puts urgent mail and sign-in codes in your chat as they arrive, a Daily Digest covers important mail and the day's calendar each morning, and a Meeting Brief lands about ten minutes before a meeting. The People panel lists the contacts you owe a response and the ones who have gone quiet. The same app also runs browser errands, records meetings and builds files, which matters if the email was only the start of the work.

The limits are real. Merlin isn't an email client: there's no Gmail inbox view (you ask about mail in chat or read it in Gmail), and nothing like Splits or bundles. It works only with Google accounts (two on the free plan, five on paid plans), so it won't help with Microsoft 365. It's Mac-only: no Windows or phone app. It can't create Gmail filters; a routine triggered by new mail does that job instead, and a routine works unattended, so one you've allowed to email or post to Slack goes ahead without showing you the message first. Merlin's free tier gives 5,000 credits each month (each task uses some); Pro is $29 a month, or 20% less billed yearly. An email address for Merlin itself (separate from yours) and meeting transcription need a paid plan.

Fits: a Gmail user on a Mac who wants follow-ups, meeting prep and errands handled, and is happy reading mail in Gmail itself.

Shortwave alternatives side by side

How to choose

• Your company runs on Microsoft 365: Missive. SaneBox if you only want sorting and will keep Outlook.
• You're on Google Workspace and the AI is what you'd miss: Gemini in Gmail, since Workspace plans already list it.
• Your team answers a shared address: Missive, which is built around that.
• You want a calmer inbox, not a new app: SaneBox.
• Email keeps turning into follow-ups, meetings and errands on your Mac: Merlin.
• You're on Gmail, working solo, and happy with the AI: staying on Shortwave may be the right call.

Leaving Shortwave without losing anything

Because Shortwave sits on top of Gmail, your mail stays in Gmail when you go. Shortwave's security page says it syncs with Gmail rather than overwriting it, and archives or deletions show up in Gmail. Its account page says deleting your Shortwave account "will not affect any messages stored in your Gmail account."

1. Write down your AI filters, Splits and delivery schedules. They're Shortwave settings, so plan to rebuild the ones you rely on as Gmail filters or as rules in the new tool.
2. If you forwarded Yahoo, iCloud or another account into Gmail for Shortwave, decide whether that forwarding should stay.
3. Set up the replacement and run it alongside Shortwave for a few days.
4. Cancel or downgrade. Shortwave's billing guide says it refunds in full if you contact billing@shortwave.com within 14 days of a payment.
5. Delete the account under Settings → Support → Delete account if you don't plan to come back.