5 Best Shortwave Alternatives in 2025: Best for AI Email Assistance
Shortwave is popular, but it’s not the only AI email tool worth trying. From smarter triaging to auto-drafting replies, we explore the top AI-powered email assistants that could streamline your inbox even better—depending on what you’re looking for.
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Shortwave is a popular AI email application that has been growing over the last couple of years as a solution to helping you manage your calendar, your email, and extract summaries from your inbox. But it isn’t the only AI email tool on the market.
There are actually loads of them, and many people are considering getting one and replacing their system.
How we picked these?
So we’ve pulled together some of the best AI email tools and assistants that can help you to manage your inbox more effectively, and compared them to Shortwave to help make sure you’re picking the right option.
We chose these tools as they have a credible back history, so we based this on reliability and our own vetting of the tools, as we’ve checked them out individually and separately here on Tool Finder.
1. Superhuman
Best AI-Powered Alternative
The first option on the list is Superhuman. Superhuman is a well-known AI-powered platform and is similar to Shortwave in a lot of ways.
The application can help you to manage your inbox using auto labels. It also helps to craft your inbox and write replies using their new auto draft feature. But something that it doesn’t do as well is calendar interaction and creation. That’s something that you can do inside of Shortwave that allows you to create calendar events that are suitable and relevant. Whilst this is and can be done manually as part of the email, the AI side is not done as well. But Superhuman is probably a more premium, more powerful, comparable tool to Shortwave.
2. FYXER AI
Best Up & Coming
FYXER AI is another AI tool that you may have been seeing in Facebook ads or on YouTube. It’s a growing, very fast, London-based company that wants to be able to change the way you’re using your inbox. It uses Gmail and Outlook, and it connects with these platforms to help auto label your inbox, create replies based on your type of voice that you use.
It also is well known for having an AI note taker that can join your meetings for you. Now, unlike some of the other email tools on this list, there aren’t many that do that. And that can be an incredibly effective option if you’re looking for something like that. So FYXER AI, a very interesting, fast-growing one, that seems to be adding more features quite rapidly to their platform.
3. SaneBox
Best for Existing Clients
SaneBox is something that works more in the background. And for many people, it’s more approachable than some of the other options. For example, if you like your email client, like Outlook or Gmail, then this works in the background to sort your folders for you. And it’s almost like a portal-based experience that helps you to manage what’s important in the email inbox. This is used by popular individuals like Tony Robbins as a tool to help them email manage and effectively clear their inbox.
It does it in the background, so it uses AI to reorganize where things should go, all the way from saving your Gmail file storage, all the way over to organizing newsletters so they don’t appear in the right place. Another consideration if you’re looking for something similar to Shortwave, but works more in the background to your existing email client.
4. Spike
Best for Teams
Spike is one that is very AI-powered, adding more recent features to help make generative AI and email summaries a lot better. It can be used as an individual, but probably better used with teams. It’s almost like a chat-like experience that also has video conferencing, documents, and email management all baked into one.
The application sort of reminds you of Slack, but is primarily an email client that can help you and your team collaborate and communicate together in real time. So sort of combining the Slack concept with email. But as a Shortwave alternative, it’s great for teams, allowing you to save time handling your emails and inbox using artificial intelligence.
5. Missive
Best for AI Customization for Teams
If you're open to customizing your AI set-up, then Missive is a great consideration for teams.
Think of Missive as a powerful email client that helps teams do support tickets, manage their emails and handle smaller tasks. The new Missive upgrades now allow you to handle your inbox more effectively and run errands for you int the background. A huge consideration if you're looking to get an email AI assistant embedded within your team.
Which Shortwave Alternatives is Right For You?
So out of all the tools in this inbox, which one should you go for?
There’s loads of different options here, and if you’re looking to use AI, then there’s a few different solutions.
Best for getting started with AI email
SaneBox is a remarkable one if you want to have something work in the background for you. If you’re not ready to jump in with generative AI or any other AI elements like that, it’s probably a good solution, as it works in the background with your existing email accounts and platforms.
Best AI-powered email for individuals
If you’re looking for something robust, easy to use, and are not worried about the price, then Superhuman is a fast, effective email client that is probably one of the best in class on the market. It’s well worth considering if you’re somebody that’s seeking those types of tools.
New and upcoming tools include Zero and FYXER AI that are worth checking out if you’re looking to rethink your email strategy and willing to take a little bit of a bet on the technology.
More Considerations
Ones that we have considered for you too with notable mention:
