What is the best free alternative to Shortwave?
Zero is the closest free alternative to Shortwave: same Email, Scheduling & Tasks sub-category, and it is free. Fully open-source (MIT license), self-hostable AI email client
Best free Shortwave alternatives
Looking for a free alternative to Shortwave? Here are 9 email, scheduling & tasks worth trying — 4 with a free tier. Shortwave itself is free tier + paid.
| Tool | Shortwave (you searched) | Zero | Reclaim.ai | Taskade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | freemium | free | freemium | freemium |
| Best for | AI email assistant for Gmail | Fully open-source (MIT license), self-hostable AI email client | Auto-schedules tasks, habits and breaks | AI agents that run projects and tasks |
| Visit | Open ↗ | Open ↗ | Open ↗ | Open ↗ |
Shortwave alternatives — straight answers
Are there free Shortwave alternatives?
Yes — 4 of the 9 alternatives listed here are free or freemium: Zero, Reclaim.ai, Taskade, Inbox Zero. The other 5 are trial or paid.
Is Shortwave free?
Shortwave is free tier + paid. There is a free tier you can work in, with paid plans above it.
How were these Shortwave alternatives chosen?
They are the other tools in Email, Scheduling & Tasks, then the rest of Productivity & Workflow, ordered free tiers first and capped at 9. There is no sponsorship and no paid placement in that ordering — only the pricing tier decides.
All Shortwave alternatives
Browse Email, Scheduling & Tasks →Zero
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — Fully open-source (MIT license), self-hostable AI email client.
- Fully open-source (MIT license), self-hostable AI email client
- AI agents/LLMs built into the mail workflow, not bolted on
- 10.7k+ GitHub stars, active 2025-2026 development
Reclaim.ai
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — Auto-schedules tasks, habits and breaks.
- Auto-schedules tasks, habits and breaks
- Defends focus time on your calendar
- Smart meeting and 1:1 scheduling
- Free plan
Taskade
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — AI agents that run projects and tasks.
- AI agents that run projects and tasks
- Notes, mind-maps and workflows in one
- Team collaboration and automations
- Free plan
Inbox Zero
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — Open-source codebase (9k GitHub stars), self-hostable for free.
- Open-source codebase (9k GitHub stars), self-hostable for free
- Plain-English custom rules engine for inbox automation
- Cold-email blocking and bulk unsubscribe built in
Superhuman
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — The fastest AI email experience.
- The fastest AI email experience
- AI drafting, triage and summaries
- Split inbox and follow-up reminders
- Free trial
Motion
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — AI planner that auto-builds your day.
- AI planner that auto-builds your day
- Combines tasks, calendar and projects
- Reprioritizes as things change
- Free trial
Fyxer
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — Drafts email replies matching your personal writing style.
- Drafts email replies matching your personal writing style
- Combines inbox triage + AI meeting notetaker + scheduling in one tool
- Fyxer Chat searches across inbox and meeting notes together
Missive
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — Shared team inbox with real-time internal chat alongside email.
- Shared team inbox with real-time internal chat alongside email
- Multi-provider AI (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini) via credits or bring-your-own-key
- AI-powered automations/rules plus built-in translation and summarization
Sunsama
Email, Scheduling & Tasks
✦ WhyA Shortwave alternative — Daily-planning ritual UI blending tasks, calendar, and email into one view.
- Daily-planning ritual UI blending tasks, calendar, and email into one view
- AI + MCP + Zapier support built into the Pro plan
- Unifies tasks pulled from Asana/ClickUp/Jira/Trello/Gmail into one day