Compare SaneBox vs Shortwave

Both tools in AI Email

SaneBox

AI email filtering service that trains on your behavior to triage your inbox, route low-priority mail, block senders permanently, and reclaim hours per week.

0 upvotesbeginner

Shortwave

AI-native Gmail client built by former Google Inbox engineers, with thread bundles, natural-language search, AI summaries, and team shared inboxes.

0 upvotesbeginner
Pricing

Pricing Comparison

SaneBoxSaneBox
Snack$7/mo

1 email account, 2 features of your choice, basic filtering

Lunch$12/mo

2 email accounts, 6 features, email snoozing included

Dinner$36/mo

4 email accounts, all features, priority support

Annual billing saves ~30% on all plans—
ShortwaveShortwave
Business$24/mo

Billed annually ($30 monthly), full AI features, team inboxes, 5-year AI search history

Premier$36/mo

Billed annually, advanced AI intelligence, unlimited search history, 10 AI filters

Max$120/mo

Billed annually, highest AI usage, custom enterprise features

Features

Feature Comparison

SaneBoxSaneBox
AI Priority FilteringSaneLater Auto-routingSaneBlackHole Sender BlockSaneNews Newsletter FolderEmail SnoozingFollow-up RemindersDaily DigestDo Not Disturb ModeAttachment MoverSaneNoReplies TrackingDeep Clean History FilterSubject Line FilteringMulti-account SupportWorks Any Email ClientIMAP CompatibleCustom Smart FoldersReferral Credits14-day Free Trial
ShortwaveShortwave
AI Natural-language SearchThread BundlesPriority InboxAI Thread SummariesAI Reply DraftingShared Team InboxesTeam CommentsTeam Read StatusesKeyboard ShortcutsEmail PinningEmail SnoozingScheduled SendMarkdown SupportPresence IndicatorsTasklet IntegrationAI Email FiltersFull History SearchCustom Bundling Rules
Fit

Best For & Not For

SaneBoxSaneBox
✅ Best For
✅High-volume professionals processing 100+ emails a day who want AI triage without switching their email client
✅Executives and consultants managing two to four email accounts who want one tool to handle all of them
✅Gmail and Outlook power users who love their current app but want AI filtering layered on top without any interface change
✅Anyone who has declared email bankruptcy more than once and wants a sustainable system that runs automatically
❌ Not For
❌Users expecting AI to draft, send, or autonomously handle replies, since SaneBox only sorts and routes mail
❌People wanting a free permanent option, because there is no free plan and the minimum is $7 per month after the 14-day trial
❌Teams needing collaboration, shared inboxes, or multi-user dashboards, as SaneBox is priced and designed per individual
❌Those managing only a handful of emails a day, where the AI filtering benefit does not justify the subscription cost
ShortwaveShortwave
✅ Best For
✅Gmail-first professionals drowning in threads who want AI search that answers questions instead of returning links
✅Small teams managing a shared support@ or hello@ inbox who do not want to pay for a full helpdesk platform
✅Google Workspace companies that want a modern, Inbox-by-Gmail experience with AI baked in from day one
✅Founders and operators who process high email volume and need AI summaries to read long threads in seconds
❌ Not For
❌Outlook and Microsoft 365 users, since Shortwave is Gmail-only with no cross-platform support
❌Teams that need autonomous AI handling of email rather than a faster client to process it themselves
❌Individuals wanting a free long-term plan, since the free tier was removed and every plan now starts with a 14-day trial
❌Solo users on tight budgets where the Business plan at $24 per month per seat is hard to justify for just inbox speed
Availability

Platform & Accessibility

SaneBoxSaneBox
web-basedmobiledesktop
ShortwaveShortwave
web-basedmobiledesktop
Use & Audience

Tasks & Who It's For

Integrations

Integrations

SaneBoxSaneBox
Communication
GmailOutlookApple MailYahoo MailFastmail
ShortwaveShortwave
Communication
Gmail
Other
Google CalendarGoogle Workspace
Automation
TaskletZapier
Use Cases

Real-world Use Cases

SaneBoxSaneBox
1
Aditya, a partner at a consulting firm, connects his three email accounts to SaneBox and immediately stops seeing 40 percent of his daily mail in his main inbox, reclaiming an hour each morning.
2
A nonprofit director uses the Dinner plan to manage her personal, work, and two volunteer role inboxes in one SaneBox subscription and reports her first inbox zero in three years.
3
Priya, a freelance designer, drags a demanding low-budget client's domain to SaneBlackHole after a project ends and never sees their mass-forward emails again without unsubscribing from anything.
ShortwaveShortwave
1
Kavya, a startup COO, types 'what did the investor ask about our runway in the last two months?' into AI Search and gets a summary of three threads in seconds instead of scrolling for 10 minutes.
2
A 5-person SaaS team sets up a shared hello@ inbox in Shortwave, assigns threads with one click, and resolves customer inquiries 40 percent faster without buying a helpdesk tool.
3
Rajan, a consultant with 200 emails a day, uses thread summaries to scan 15 long client conversations in under 5 minutes each morning, cutting his inbox session from 2 hours to 45 minutes.
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