Ve vs Shortwave
A smart assistant that responds when you prompt it.
An intent brain that already knows the context and acts first.
Shortwave rebuilt Gmail around an AI assistant: ask it to find, summarize, draft, schedule, and its natural-language filters label mail the way you describe. It's one of the most capable AI email clients out there. But it lives in Google mail only (Microsoft support has no timeline), its recurring automations belong to Tasklet, a separate product, and it answers when asked rather than planning your day or chasing your pipeline on its own.
Shortwave answers when you ask.
Ve knows before you do.
What Shortwave leaves you to assemble.
Credit first: a very smart Gmail client
Shortwave rebuilt Gmail around an AI assistant, and it shows. Ask it to find, summarize, draft, or schedule and it does. Its natural-language filters are excellent: describe a category in plain English and mail gets labeled the way you said.
The comparison below is about scope rather than intelligence: what ships in the box, and what waits for you to ask.
A smart assistant that responds when you prompt it.
An intent brain that already knows the context and acts first.
The Microsoft wall
Shortwave’s own documentation says it plainly: Microsoft 365 and Exchange accounts are not supported, and there is no timeline for Microsoft support. Its “other providers” support is Gmail-relay forwarding: you can read forwarded Outlook mail, but you can’t send as your Microsoft address. If your company runs Outlook, or one important client does, the product ends there.
Ve works Gmail and Outlook end to end, mail and calendar both.
Gmail-native only; Outlook via forwarding
Both, end to end
Routines shouldn’t cost a second product
Shortwave’s recurring automations are real, but they live in Tasklet, a separate product. Inside Shortwave itself, filters fire when mail arrives; nothing runs on a schedule you set.
Ve’s Routines are built in. Describe one in plain language and it compiles into a plan you approve once; after that it runs on its own schedule. A curated news digest at 7:30 from the journalists you trust. A follow-up draft for any awaiting-reply thread that stays silent too long. A monthly review of where your attention went.
Live in Tasklet, a separate product
Describe once in plain language; runs on schedule
A briefing that arrives on its own
Shortwave can produce a daily briefing when you ask for one, or you can build yourself a scheduled version through Tasklet. Nothing arrives unprompted.
Ve’s Morning Brief is sent, every morning, in your timezone: your tasks, today’s calendar, the threads waiting on a reply, the work you’ve delegated, and yesterday’s meeting action items, reasoned over like an analyst would. On a day when nothing needs you, Ve skips the send.
On-demand, or self-built in Tasklet; nothing arrives on its own
Intent of the day, every morning, read or listened to
Memory you teach it, or memory it builds
Shortwave’s AI Memories are facts you write down for it yourself, and its MCP integrations query tools like HubSpot, Notion, and Slack live when asked. Useful, but the knowing is on you.
Ve ingests your connected tools into one searchable memory, ten connectors across mail, calendars, CRM, notes, tasks, meeting notes, and team chat, and builds a map of your people, companies, and goals from it on its own.
MCP queries tools on demand; nothing ingested
Ten connectors feeding one searchable memory
Who writes the chase
When a thread goes quiet, Shortwave’s reminders bounce it back to the top of your inbox. Writing the follow-up is still your job, unless you’ve built a Tasklet automation to do it.
Ve drafts the chase itself when a thread stays silent past the window you set, in your voice, ready to send.
Reminders built in; drafts need a Tasklet automation
Drafts the chase past the window you set
Work that starts without you
Two things never happen in Shortwave unless you make them happen: outreach and off-app answers. It drafts no new mail to prospects, and it answers only inside its own web and mobile apps.
Ve’s Opportunities routine finds prospects matching the ideal customer you described and queues drafted first emails for your approval. And Ve answers you on email, WhatsApp, and Telegram, wherever you actually are. iMessage is coming soon.
Answers in its own apps, when you ask
Starts outreach, and answers on WhatsApp and Telegram
Works with the stack you already use.
Ve Intent Mail sits on top of the tools you already work in. Connect an app once and its content joins one searchable memory that Ve’s agents read when they plan your day or draft a reply. Your Granola and Attention meeting notes, your HubSpot and Zoho records, your Notion docs, your ClickUp tasks, and your Slack and Teams messages all feed the same memory. Calendars stay live: the calendar agent works directly on your Google and Outlook calendars rather than an imported copy.
Comparison reflects publicly available Shortwave product information, current as of July 2026. Both products are capable at drafting and natural-language labels; this page highlights where the approaches differ.