What Is Shortwave and What Does It Do?

Updated

Shortwave is an AI email assistant that automates inbox work through prompts. It is built for individuals and teams who want to spend less time organizing, writing, searching, and scheduling email. According to the site, it is available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows, and you can get started for free with no credit card required.

What Shortwave actually does

Shortwave's core promise is that you can "organize, schedule, write and search with just a prompt." The product page groups its capabilities into a few concrete areas:

  • Organize your inbox — identify important emails and todos with a single click, then sweep away the rest.
  • Filter emails with AI — create custom AI filters that automatically label, star, archive, and more, using scripts written in plain English.
  • Write & enhance emails — the AI learns your voice and style from emails you send, so drafts sound like you.
  • Search and find answers — AI-powered search finds emails fast, and can analyze an entire team's emails and attachments for answers.
  • Autocomplete — personalized suggestions while you type, including real links, facts, and phrases from your email history.
  • Schedule with ease — ask the AI to check availability, create calendar events, and write scheduling emails.

Beyond the AI assistant: inbox productivity features

Shortwave also ships a set of non-AI inbox tools aimed at the same goal of saving time:

Feature What it does
Split your inbox Divides your inbox into tabs for important emails, specific senders, labels, and custom queries
Bulk triage with bundles Controls promotions, newsletters, and updates to help you reach inbox zero faster
Emails as todos Turns your inbox into a list of action items you can group, rename, prioritize, and annotate
Delivery schedules Makes emails arrive on your schedule to avoid interruptions
Read receipts Shows when people read your emails, useful for follow-ups
Keyboard-first controls Markdown support and keyboard shortcuts for nearly everything

Integrations and automation

Shortwave connects the AI to tools like Slack, Calendar, Notion, Asana, and Hubspot, so workflows can be automated without leaving the inbox. For 24/7 workflow automation, the site points to a sister product, Tasklet, which can automatically draft replies, add team comments, and connect to 3,000+ apps.

Who it is for

Shortwave is positioned for "ambitious teams at thousands of companies big and small," and the page also emphasizes real-time team collaboration. In practice, that means two audiences:

  • Individuals who want AI help triaging, writing, and scheduling email.
  • Teams that want shared email analysis, collaboration, and cross-tool workflow automation.

What to check before committing

The page states you can start for free with no credit card required, and links to a pricing page for details — so confirm current plan limits and paid tiers there before relying on a specific feature at scale. If your workflow depends on a particular integration (for example, Hubspot or Asana), verify it is supported for your setup, and note that the 3,000+ app connections described on the page belong to Tasklet rather than Shortwave itself.