Superhuman or Shortwave: which should you choose?
- Choose Superhuman if you want to be dramatically faster at processing email — keyboard shortcuts, split inbox, and instant AI drafts — and you use Gmail or Outlook.
- Choose Shortwave if you're a Gmail user who wants AI organization (smart bundles, conversation summaries) at a lower price point.
- Superhuman is $30/month for Gmail and Outlook. Shortwave is free to $9/month for Gmail only — a significant price and platform difference.
- alfred_ at $24.99/month goes beyond both: autonomous triage, task extraction from email, calendar management, and daily briefings without you processing every message.
Superhuman makes you a more efficient email processor. Shortwave makes your email better organized. alfred_ removes the need to process most email yourself. Depending on where the real friction is, these represent genuinely different solutions.
Superhuman vs Shortwave: Quick Comparison
| Feature | Superhuman | Shortwave | alfred_ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best For | Speed-focused power users wanting fastest email processing | Gmail users wanting AI organization at lower cost | Individual pros wanting autonomous inbox management |
| Pricing | $30/mo ($25/mo annual) | Free / $9/mo / $29/mo (Teams) | $24.99/mo or $249.99/yr |
| Email Provider | Gmail + Outlook | Gmail only | Gmail + Outlook |
| AI Features | AI reply drafting, auto-labels | Summaries, bundles, AI search | Autonomous triage + draft replies + task extraction |
| Keyboard Shortcuts | Partial | ||
| Task Extraction | |||
| Calendar Management | |||
| Free Plan |
What Is Superhuman?
Superhuman launched in 2014 with a waiting list that became legendary in productivity circles, promising the world's fastest email experience. It delivers on that promise. Superhuman connects to your Gmail or Outlook account and replaces the native interface with one built around speed: every action has a keyboard shortcut, the split inbox separates important messages from everything else, and the interface is visually stripped of anything that creates friction.
Superhuman costs $30/month ($25/month billed annually). There is no free plan. The price reflects its positioning as a premium tool for professionals who process high volumes of email and see the time investment as clearly worth it. Superhuman AI — included in the subscription — drafts replies in your voice, suggests responses, and auto-labels incoming messages based on patterns it learns from your behavior.
- •Keyboard-first interface: Every action — archive, reply, snooze, search, label — has a keyboard shortcut, eliminating mouse usage almost entirely
- •Split inbox: Separates important email from everything else automatically, so your primary view only shows what matters
- •Read status: See when recipients read your emails (and at what location), a feature beloved by salespeople and negotiators
- •Superhuman AI: AI reply drafting in your voice, smart auto-labels, and conversation summaries built into the client
What Is Shortwave?
Shortwave is backed by Google and built by the team that previously built Inbox by Google (a beloved Gmail client that Google discontinued in 2019). It connects exclusively to Gmail and reimagines the inbox around AI organization rather than speed. Shortwave groups email into smart bundles (like Inbox did), surfaces AI-generated conversation summaries at the top of threads, and provides powerful natural language search across your entire email history.
Shortwave has a generous free plan. Personal Pro is $9/month ($7/month annual) and adds unlimited AI summaries, priority support, and early features. Teams plans start at $29/month and add shared inboxes, team channels, and collaboration features. For Gmail users who want AI email organization without Superhuman's price, Shortwave is a compelling option.
- •Smart message bundles: Groups related emails (newsletters, notifications, conversations) automatically so your inbox feels less chaotic
- •AI conversation summaries: Generates a one-paragraph summary at the top of long email threads so you can catch up instantly
- •AI search: Natural language search across your inbox: "emails from Alex about the Q3 project last month"
- •Shared inboxes: Teams plan supports collaborative inbox management for customer support and team email addresses
Superhuman vs Shortwave: Key Differences
The core philosophical difference produces completely different products. Superhuman makes every interaction with your inbox faster — you're still reading, prioritizing, and responding to every message, but you're doing it more efficiently. Shortwave makes your inbox less overwhelming — you see bundles instead of individual messages, summaries instead of full threads, and AI-powered organization instead of manual label systems.
On price, the gap is significant: Superhuman at $30/month is more than three times the cost of Shortwave at $9/month. Superhuman also works with both Gmail and Outlook, which is a meaningful advantage for professionals using Microsoft 365. Shortwave is Gmail-only — if you're on Outlook, the decision is made for you.
The shared limitation of both tools is that they make you better at processing email, but they don't remove the requirement to process it. You still read every message. You still decide what needs a response. You still manually create tasks from action items buried in threads. You still deal with the calendar conflicts that show up as email requests. Both tools improve the email experience significantly — but neither automates the judgment layer.
- No autonomous triage: Both tools help you process email faster, but you still read and decide on every message
- No task extraction: Neither pulls action items from email threads into a task list automatically
- No follow-up tracking: If someone owes you a reply, both tools require manual reminders or snooze management
- No calendar management: Meeting requests and schedule conflicts are surfaced but not handled autonomously
- No daily briefing: Neither synthesizes your email, tasks, and calendar into a morning briefing of what matters most
When to Choose Superhuman
- •You use Gmail or Outlook and want the fastest possible email processing experience — keyboard shortcuts are non-negotiable for your workflow
- •You send a high volume of outbound email (salespeople, executives, founders) and want to know when your messages are read
- •You are willing to pay a premium ($30/month) because the time savings from faster email clearly justify the cost
- •You want AI reply drafting that learns your voice and style, integrated directly into your email client without switching contexts
- •Speed and efficiency are the primary pain points — your inbox is manageable in volume but overwhelming in the time it takes to process
When to Choose Shortwave
- •You use Gmail exclusively — if you're on Outlook or Microsoft 365, Shortwave is not an option
- •Organization and AI summaries matter more than raw processing speed — you want to understand your inbox at a glance, not just move through it faster
- •Budget is a consideration: Shortwave at $9/month (or free) delivers significant AI value at a fraction of Superhuman's price
- •You loved Inbox by Google and have been waiting for a modern replacement with the same bundling philosophy
- •You want team email collaboration features (shared inboxes, channels) that Superhuman doesn't offer at any price point
The Third Option: alfred_
If the real problem isn't email speed or email organization but the volume of judgment email demands — alfred_ ($24.99/month) takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than giving you a faster or better-organized inbox to process yourself, alfred_ processes it for you. It triages every incoming message, identifies what genuinely requires your attention, drafts replies in your voice for emails that need a response, extracts action items from threads and adds them to your task list, and delivers a morning briefing of what matters most that day.
alfred_ works with both Gmail and Outlook, costs $24.99/month (less than Superhuman), and also handles calendar management: detecting conflicts, preparing meeting context, and managing scheduling requests. For individual professionals who spend meaningful time on email every day and want that time back, alfred_ goes beyond what either Superhuman or Shortwave offers. 30-day free trial.
Our Verdict
Superhuman for email speed; Shortwave for AI organization; alfred_ for autonomous inbox management.
Superhuman and Shortwave are both excellent AI email clients, but they serve different users and solve different problems. Superhuman is the premium choice for professionals who want to be dramatically faster at processing their inbox and are willing to pay $30/month for that experience — especially valuable for Gmail and Outlook users who live in their inbox. Shortwave is the smart choice for Gmail users who want AI organization, conversation summaries, and powerful search at a much lower price point. Both tools make you better at email. alfred_ at $24.99/month takes the next step: removing most of the processing burden by handling triage, draft replies, task extraction, and calendar management autonomously — so you spend time on decisions, not administration.
Best for
- Superhuman: Speed-focused professionals on Gmail or Outlook who process high email volume and want the fastest possible client
- Shortwave: Gmail users wanting AI organization, conversation summaries, and team collaboration at a lower price
- alfred_: Individual professionals who want their email, tasks, and calendar managed autonomously
Not for
- Superhuman: Budget-conscious users or those satisfied with Gmail/Outlook's default speed at one-third the price
- Shortwave: Outlook users — Shortwave is Gmail-only with no Microsoft integration
- alfred_: Not for team email management or collaborative inbox workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Superhuman better than Shortwave?
Superhuman is better if you prioritize email speed, use Gmail or Outlook, and are willing to pay $30/month. Shortwave is better if you're a Gmail user who wants AI organization and summaries at a much lower price ($9/month or free). Superhuman's keyboard-first design makes it the fastest email client available. Shortwave's smart bundles and summaries make it the most organized. The right choice depends on whether your pain is speed or organization — and how much you're willing to pay.
What's the main difference between Superhuman and Shortwave?
Superhuman is built around speed: every action has a keyboard shortcut, the interface is minimal, and AI drafts replies instantly. It's for people who want to process email faster. Shortwave is built around AI organization: smart message bundling, conversation summaries, and natural language search. It's for people who want their inbox to feel less overwhelming. Both use AI but for completely different purposes.
Which is cheaper, Superhuman or Shortwave?
Shortwave is much cheaper. Shortwave has a free plan and a $9/month Pro plan ($7/month annual). Superhuman is $30/month ($25/month annual) with no free plan. For budget-conscious users, Shortwave delivers significant AI email value at a fraction of Superhuman's price — especially compelling for Gmail users who don't need Outlook support or Superhuman's speed-focused feature set.
Can Superhuman and Shortwave be used together?
No — both are email clients that replace Gmail or Outlook's native interface. You use one email client at a time. However, some professionals use Superhuman as their primary interface and access Shortwave when they want AI-powered search across their email archive. In practice, most users choose one client and stick with it.
What's a better alternative to both Superhuman and Shortwave?
alfred_ ($24.99/month) is a stronger alternative if your goal is to spend less time on email overall, not just process it faster. Where Superhuman and Shortwave both require you to read and act on every message, alfred_ handles triage autonomously — surfacing what needs your attention, drafting replies, extracting tasks from threads, and managing your calendar. It works with both Gmail and Outlook and costs less than Superhuman. For professionals who want email to feel less like a second job, alfred_ is the more comprehensive solution.
Does Superhuman work with Outlook?
Yes — Superhuman supports both Gmail and Outlook (Microsoft 365), which is a meaningful advantage over Shortwave, which is Gmail-only. If you use Outlook or Microsoft 365 as your primary email provider, Superhuman is one of the few premium email clients that supports it. alfred_ also supports both Gmail and Outlook, making it a viable alternative for Microsoft 365 users who want AI-powered email management beyond what Superhuman provides.
Try alfred_
Neither Superhuman nor Shortwave Manages Your Inbox Autonomously
alfred_ at $24.99/month handles email triage, automatic task extraction, calendar management, and daily briefings — the full individual workflow in one AI assistant. Works with Gmail and Outlook. You decide; alfred_ handles the rest. 30-day free trial.
Try alfred_ Free