SaneBox vs Shortwave

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 23 September 2026.

Compared on	SaneBox Free trial · from $5.42/mo Visit Remove	Shortwave Free plan · from $18/seat/mo Visit Remove
What it is	Email filtering service that sorts less important mail into separate folders	AI email client for Gmail and Google Workspace accounts
Free plan	No	Basic AI with a limited usage quota; 90 days of standard and AI search history; up to 15 threads per AI search; basic inbox settings; adds a 'Sent with Shortwave' email signature.
Cheapest paid plan	$5.42/mo billed annually (Snack)SaneBox pricing	$18/seat/mo (Pro)Shortwave pricing
What it covers	1 email account and 2 SaneBox features; $4.54 per month when paid every two years. Educational, non-profit and government agencies can get 25% off.	Listed as $18 per seat/month on the Individual tab; the pricing page shows no annual billing option.
Free trial	7-day free trial with all features for up to 4 email accounts	14-day free trial of paid plans
Platforms	iOS, Android	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	Not stated
Open source	No	No
Good for	Cutting inbox clutter without switching email apps Keeping newsletters out of the main inbox Cleaning up a long-neglected inbox	Finding old emails and attachments by asking questions in plain English Sorting a busy Gmail inbox automatically with AI filters Sharing and assigning customer email threads within a small team
Watch out for	No free plan; only a 7-day trial Snack covers 1 email account with 2 features; all features require Dinner Relies on folders, which POP email accounts do not support	Sign-in requires Gmail or Google Workspace; Microsoft 365 and Exchange are not supported, and other providers work only through forwarding Free plan limits search history to 90 days and adds a 'Sent with Shortwave' signature Each plan has a daily AI usage quota; higher tiers give more usage
Made by	SaneBox, Inc.	Shortwave Communications, Inc.

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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