Shortwave vs Zero

Shortwave is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it. Zero is free, with no paid plan attached. Both are listed under Email, Scheduling & Tasks, so this is a like-for-like comparison. Neither is ranked above the other — Flocci carries no sponsored placement.

Shortwave vs Zero — straight answers

Shortwave vs Zero: what is the difference?

Shortwave is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it and is listed for AI email assistant for Gmail. Zero is free, with no paid plan attached and is listed for fully open-source (MIT license), self-hostable AI email client. Both sit in Email, Scheduling & Tasks.

Is Shortwave or Zero cheaper to start with?

Zero is the cheaper starting point: it is free, with no paid plan attached, while Shortwave is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it. Pricing tiers here come from the catalog, not from a promotional page.

Which should I choose, Shortwave or Zero?

Choose Shortwave if you need AI email assistant for Gmail; choose Zero if you need fully open-source (MIT license), self-hostable AI email client. Flocci AI Tools does not rank one above the other — it shows both feature sets side by side and lets the requirement decide.

Shortwave compared with Zero: pricing tier, category, listed capabilities and links.
 ShortwaveZero
Pricing tierFree tier + paid plansFree
Free to startYesYes
CategoryProductivity & WorkflowProductivity & Workflow
TypeEmail, Scheduling & TasksEmail, Scheduling & Tasks
Listed capabilities
  • AI email assistant for Gmail
  • Auto-summaries, drafting and search
  • AI agents and scheduling
  • Free tier
  • 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
Tagsemail, shortwave, assistant, gmail, ai, freezero email, open source email ai, mail0, self hosted email client, ai inbox
Websiteshortwave.com0.email
Full pageShortwave details →Zero details →
AlternativesShortwave alternatives →Zero alternatives →

Inbox Zero

Email, Scheduling & Tasks
freemium
  • 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

Reclaim.ai

Email, Scheduling & Tasks
freemium
  • Auto-schedules tasks, habits and breaks
  • Defends focus time on your calendar
  • Smart meeting and 1:1 scheduling
  • Free plan

Taskade

Email, Scheduling & Tasks
freemium
  • AI agents that run projects and tasks
  • Notes, mind-maps and workflows in one
  • Team collaboration and automations
  • Free plan

Amie

Email, Scheduling & Tasks
trial
  • AI chat with full context of your calendar, email, and meetings
  • Bot-free meeting recording with 17-language transcription
  • AI chat actions can draft emails and create meetings directly

Fyxer

Email, Scheduling & Tasks
trial
  • 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
trial
  • 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