Price checkPer seat
Business$30/user/moPremier$45/user/moMax$120/user/mo
See all 3 plans

All Shortwave Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
View all features by plan (compare side-by-side)

Business

  • Standard AI intelligence level
  • Full standard search history
  • 5 years AI search history
  • Max 50 threads per AI search
  • 3 AI-powered filters
  • AI integrations & web browsing
  • AI autocomplete, summaries & attachment analysis
  • Read statuses, link tracking, snippets & more
  • 14-day free trial included

Premier

  • Everything in Business, plus...
  • Advanced AI intelligence level
  • 2x more AI usage
  • Unlimited AI search history
  • Max 100 threads per AI search
  • 10 AI-powered filters
  • Smarter AI answers with 2x context tokens

Max

  • Everything in Premier, plus...
  • Expert AI intelligence level
  • 6x more AI usage
  • Max 150 threads per AI search
  • 50 AI-powered filters
  • Smarter AI answers with 3x context tokens
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What does Shortwave actually cost you?

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Tier
Billing
Your projected cost$750per month · $30/seat × 25seats
Year 1 license$9.0K12 months at this rate
At a glance

List price by tier (annualized, per seat)

Per-seat list price across Shortwave's plans, annualized. Custom-priced tiers show a hatched bar.

Business$360/yr
Premier$540/yr
Max$1.4K/yr
Real-world benchmark

Buyers actually pay a median of $325/yr for Shortwave contracts (Vendr deal flow, n=10). That's a contract total — the more seats, the more leverage to negotiate down.

Quick Answer
Last verified:
High confidence

Shortwave pricing: free plan, Business $30, Premier $45, Max $120/user/mo. Plans: Business at $30/user/month, Premier at $45/user/month, and Max at $120/user/month. The median contract is $325/year based on 10 community cost mentions.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: No free tier available

Shortwave offers 3 pricing tiers: Business, Premier, Max. Paid plans include Business at $30/user/month, Premier at $45/user/month, Max at $120/user/month. The Premier plan is power users and professionals needing advanced ai intelligence, unlimited search history, and priority support.

Compared to other ai productivity software, Shortwave is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

  • Median contract: $325/yr from 10 purchases Thin data
  • 2 documented hidden costs beyond list price
Last verified: | Sources: 5 pricing pages and reviews

How much does Shortwave cost?

Shortwave has a free plan; its 3 paid plans cost $30–$120/user/mo. Plans include Business at $30/user/month, Premier at $45/user/month, Max at $120/user/month.

Shortwave Pricing Overview

Shortwave has 3 pricing plans ranging from $30 to $120/user/month. The Business plan costs $30/user/month, best for business professionals and teams needing everyday ai productivity for email management with full search history. The Premier plan costs $45/user/month, best for power users and professionals needing advanced ai intelligence, unlimited search history, and priority support. The Max plan costs $120/user/month, best for heavy email users and executives needing the most powerful ai models and maximum daily ai usage.

Shortwave with a monthly commitment for new subscriptions minimum commitment, requiring at any time through specific platform settings notice to cancel.

The median Shortwave customer pays $325/year based on 10 community cost mentions.

There are at least 2 documented hidden costs beyond Shortwave's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in October 30, 2026 from 5 independent sources.

Try Shortwave Free

Shortwave is an AI-powered email client built by former Firebase and Google engineers that transforms how professionals manage their inbox. Backed by Union Square Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, Shortwave uses artificial intelligence to summarize threads, write personalized replies, search email history intelligently, and organize your inbox with smart bundles and automated workflows.

How Shortwave Pricing Compares

Compare Shortwave pricing against top alternatives in AI Productivity.

Superhuman $10-33/month Compare → Reclaim AI $0-22/month Compare → Motion $19-49/month Compare →

Compare Shortwave vs Alternatives

Before committing to Shortwave, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSSuperhuman
From $10/month

Professionals who prioritize keyboard-first email speed and need CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot)

Full comparison
VSReclaim AI
Free

Users who need AI calendar and task management rather than AI email

Full comparison
VSMotion
From $19/month

Teams wanting an all-in-one AI workspace for tasks, calendar, docs, and project management

Full comparison

All Shortwave alternatives & migration guides

What Companies Actually Pay for Shortwave

The median Shortwave buyer pays $325/year based on 10 community cost mentions.

What companies actually pay $325/yr Median across 10 community cost mentions Thin data
Review scores
Third-party review aggregates, as of Oct 2026
Source: Community cost mentions (Reddit, Hacker News) — aggregated from 10 distinct user reports. Indicative only — not contract-grade data.

Shortwave Cost by Company Size

Example costs for teams of different sizes. Each figure is labelled with the period it covers.

Individual Gmail User $0 per month

$0/month - Free plan with basic AI summaries, Smart Bundles, and 90-day search (mandatory 'Sent with Shortwave' signature)

Personal email user wanting to try AI-powered inbox management

How Shortwave Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
Shortwave $30/user/month $120/user/month
Clockwise Free $7.75/user/month
Grammarly Business Free $12/user/month
Hugging Face $9/user/month $50/user/month
Motion $29/user/month $49/user/month
Notion AI Custom Custom

Detailed pricing comparisons:

Browse all AI Productivity pricing →

2 Shortwave Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, Shortwave has at least 2 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 2 hidden costs
  • Mandatory 'Sent with Shortwave' signature on free plan - The free tier appends a mandatory 'Sent with Shortwave' branding signature to every outgoing email that cannot be removed. This is unprofessional for business use and effectively forces business users to upgrade to a paid plan
  • AI intelligence tiers create feature stratification - Shortwave's AI quality differs by plan: Standard intelligence on Business, Advanced on Premier, Expert on Max. Users on lower tiers may find AI responses less accurate or capable, creating pressure to upgrade for better AI output quality rather than just more usage
Tip

Ask your Shortwave sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 1 independent sources
grounded summary
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 3 source citations total.

Shortwave Contract Terms

Shortwave contracts do not auto-renew. Changes require at any time through specific platform settings. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.

Contract Terms
Cancellation Notice at any time through specific platform settings
Minimum Commitment monthly commitment for new subscriptions
Based on 2 verified sources

Shortwave Price History

Pricing changes CostBench has tracked for Shortwave, verified across 4 snapshots going back to 2026Q1.

  1. Shortwave price increase

    Highest tier increased from $45 to $120/month

    +166.67%

Price stable over 0.6 years

View Shortwave's full price history →

Shortwave Pricing FAQ

01 What is Shortwave?

Shortwave is an AI-powered email client designed to transform how professionals manage their inbox. Built by former Firebase and Google engineers, Shortwave uses AI to summarize email threads, write personalized replies, search email history intelligently, organize inbox with smart bundles, and automate follow-up reminders. It works as a replacement email client for Gmail, offering features like AI-powered search, instant replies, thread sharing, team comments, and link tracking. Shortwave is backed by Union Square Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

02 Does Shortwave work with Outlook?

Shortwave currently works primarily with Gmail accounts. The platform was built specifically for Gmail and Google Workspace users. If your organization uses Microsoft Outlook or Office 365, Shortwave may not be compatible with your email setup. Check Shortwave's current platform support on their website before subscribing, especially if you use custom domains through Microsoft email services.

03 What is Shortwave's Max plan?

Shortwave Max ($120/user/month annual) is the highest individual tier offering expert-level AI intelligence, 6x more daily AI usage than Business, 150 threads per AI search, 50 AI-powered filters, 3x context tokens for the deepest AI analysis, unlimited search history, priority support, and live 1:1 training. Max is designed for executives and heavy email users who need the most powerful AI models and maximum daily throughput. It costs 317% more than Business but provides dramatically more AI capacity and the highest quality AI responses.

04 Is Shortwave worth paying for compared to Gmail?

User opinions vary. Some find it valuable for AI-powered inbox management, email search across complete history, and productivity features like split inboxes. However, multiple users note the pricing is high for an email client, particularly if you're already paying for other productivity tools. The free tier may be sufficient if you don't need full history search or AI features.

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