Inboxer vs Shortwave
Both put AI at the centre of email. Inboxer optimises for control and meetings; Shortwave optimises for a chat-like interface to your inbox.
The honest version
Shortwave reinvents the inbox UI around AI: ask questions of your mail, get chat-like answers, group threads into conversations, write replies with AI assistance. It started Gmail-only and has since added support for Outlook, Exchange, Fastmail and other providers — though Gmail remains the most polished experience.
Inboxer keeps your existing Gmail or Outlook UI and adds an AI layer on top: triage runs in the background classifying every incoming message, drafts attach themselves to threads that need replies, pre-meeting briefs auto-generate, post-meeting summaries land in your inbox, and a task queue extracts itself from emails and transcripts.
Shortwave is the better choice if you want a new inbox client built around conversational AI. Inboxer is the better choice if you want to keep your inbox where it is and add a chief of staff that runs in the background, with every AI action explicitly approved by you before anything ships.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | Inboxer | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|
| AI triage (auto-categorisation) | 8 categories, ~80% auto-archive | AI labels + summaries |
| Conversational inbox search | /ask + Cmd+K | core feature |
| Voice-matched AI drafts | learned from sent history | |
| Pre-meeting briefs | via summaries | |
| Meeting transcript & summary | ||
| Task extraction from email | ||
| Keeps existing Gmail/Outlook UI | AI layer on top | new client |
| Approval-gated AI actions | nothing sends without you | |
| Works with Outlook | supported; Gmail remains the lead experience | |
| Starting price | $19/mo, 7-day free trial | $24/seat/mo (annual), 14-day trial |
Which one is right for you?
Pick Inboxer if…
- You don't want to migrate inbox clients — you just want AI to run alongside Gmail or Outlook.
- You're primarily on Outlook and want a tool that treats it as a first-class citizen, not a second add-on.
- Meetings are a big part of your day and pre-meeting briefs would change your prep workflow.
- Task extraction from email + transcripts matters more than chat-style search.
Pick Shortwave if…
- You're happy to switch email clients and want a chat-like interface as the primary mode of inbox interaction.
- Your primary email pain point is search and recall, not triage or meeting prep.
- You're a Gmail user and want the most polished version of Shortwave (their lead surface).
- Higher per-seat pricing ($24-$100/seat/mo) is acceptable for the conversational UX.
Try Inboxer on your real inbox
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