Comparison

Shortwave vs eM Client

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Shortwave

This AI-powered email client streamlines your inbox with intelligent organization, writing assistance, and team collaboration tools. It helps you manage emails, schedule meetings, and turn messages into actionable tasks, all while learning your unique style.

Highlights
  • AI-powered email writing and drafting
  • Intelligent inbox organization and clutter removal
  • Real-time team collaboration and email assignment
  • AI-assisted meeting scheduling
  • Email to-do list conversion
  • Customizable AI prompts and automations
  • Management of multiple Gmail accounts
Read full description

AI-NATIVE EMAIL FOR BUSINESS "The AI revolution is coming for your email" – Business Insider "This app is like ChatGPT for your email, and it changed my life" – Digital Trends "The Google Inbox successor I’ve been waiting for" – The Verge YOUR AI EMAIL ASSISTANT Supercharge your productivity with advanced AI & real-time team collaboration. Write emails, improve drafts, schedule meetings, analyze threads, translate text, and more using Shortwave’s powerful AI Assistant. ORGANIZE YOUR INBOX WITH AI With 1-tap, Shortwave’s AI Assistant can identify urgent emails, group threads into todos, and sweep away the remaining clutter so you can get to inbox zero with zero effort. SHARE & DISCUSS EMAILS WITH YOUR TEAM Get the right people involved and bring everyone up to speed fast with private team comments and live thread sharing. Assign emails to teammates to delegate next steps. WRITE EMAILS WITH AI Write personalized emails with AI in seconds, or use instant AI replies to get full drafts in just one tap. Shortwave learns your unique writing style and even facts about you from the emails you send. IMPROVE AND PROOFREAD DRAFTS Complete your drafts, adjust length and tone, translate into other languages, and more with a built-in AI editor. SEARCH AND FIND ANSWERS Use AI-powered search to find emails fast, or to analyze your entire team's emails & attachments for the answers you need SCHEDULE MEETINGS WITH AI Spend less time juggling calendars with AI-powered scheduling features. Create events, send AI-generated scheduling emails, accept calendar events with one click, and more. GET ORGANIZED WITH SPLITS AND BUNDLES Focus your time & attention by dividing your inbox into tabs for important emails, specific senders, labels & even custom queries. Use bundles for fast triage of promotions, newsletters, updates, and other automated emails. TURN EMAILS INTO TODOS Transform your overflowing inbox into an organized list of action items. Group, rename, prioritize, and add notes, right in your inbox. SET DELIVERY SCHEDULES Avoid interruptions by deferring when emails arrive in your inbox, so you only receive emails when you want them. VIEW READ STATUSES See when people read your emails to get the context you need to prioritize your time and write effective follow-ups. Close more deals and collaborate better with your team. SCREEN UNWANTED SENDERS Guard your inbox from noise with one-click block and unsubscribe. FINE-TUNE PUSH NOTIFICATIONS Granular push controls let you minimize distractions with personalized alerts for specific senders and types of emails. CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING Customize AI prompts and automate your team’s work with AI Snippets & AI Automations. Adjust tons of details in settings, and make Shortwave yours with custom colors and beautiful light & dark modes. MANAGE MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS Organize all of your Gmail accounts from one app and seamlessly switch between them in a single swipe. SYNCS WITH GMAIL Migrate seamlessly to Shortwave from your existing Gmail or Google Workspace account with all of your labels, filters, and other settings imported. If you have questions or want to learn more about Shortwave and best practices, you can find resources here: https://www.shortwave.com/docs/

About

eM Client

Manage emails, calendars, tasks, contacts, and notes efficiently in one application. Features AI assistance for drafting and replying, robust security with PGP and S/MIME encryption, and instant message translation. Offers advanced privacy options and seamless integration with cloud storage and online meetings.

Highlights
  • Unified inbox for emails, calendars, tasks, contacts, and notes
  • AI-powered email drafting and reply assistance
  • PGP and S/MIME encryption for secure communication
  • Instant message translation
  • Advanced privacy and mail-tracking pixel detection
  • Integration with cloud storage and online meetings
Read full description

These features include: • Super easy setup including quick import from the desktop app via QR code • AI Support for replies and email drafting • Emails, calendars, tasks, contacts and notes all in one place • Favorite, Global, and search folders to easily manage multiple accounts • Instant message translation • PGP and S/MIME encryption • Tags and Gmail labels support to sort and color-code your messages • Signatures you can choose from and assign to your accounts • QuickText: snippets of text you can quickly insert into your emails • Templates • Messages grouped into conversations • Advanced privacy options • Mail-Tracking pixel detection • Snooze • Watch for reply • Undo Send • Password protection • Online meetings integration • Cloud storage providers integration • Mobile device management (MDM) support and more

Screenshots

eM Client4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Shortwave at 4.7 against eM Client's 3.7. Shortwave also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 48%) and ratings volume (751 vs 49). eM Client's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shortwave holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shortwave has 751 ratings behind it against 49, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Shortwave's written reviews are positive against 48% of eM Client's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shortwave ships an update every 3 weeks, eM Client every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Shortwave versus eM Client: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShortwaveeM Client
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (751 ratings) — better3.7 (49 ratings)
Positive reviews65.4% of reviews — better48.0% of reviews
Number of ratings751 — better49
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB179 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShortwave Communications, Inc.eM Client

Customer experience

Shortwave

All ratings659 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews211 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral10.9%
Negative23.7%

eM Client

All ratings49 ratings
Positive61.2%
Neutral12.2%
Negative26.5%
Written reviews358 reviews
Positive48.0%
Neutral17.9%
Negative34.1%

User reviews

Shortwave

From 751 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent email management
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Efficient email processing
  • 💡 Innovative AI features
  • 👍 Helpful email bundling and scheduling

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent mobile app experience
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns around data collection
  • 🔍 Limited search and filtering options
  • 💻 Lack of support for non-Gmail accounts
  • 🔧 Missing key features like delete and landscape mode

eM Client

From 49 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Reliable and customizable
  • 🔒 Great privacy and security features
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Smooth and fast performance
  • 👍 Seamless sync between desktop and mobile

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Slow email sync and loading issues
  • 🐛 Unreliable push notifications and badge counts
  • 🐛 Inconsistent behavior compared to other email apps
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches, especially in the initial release
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

Bugs and requests

Shortwave

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unreliable email bundling and threading
  • Inconsistent performance and stability issues
  • Bugs with email forwarding and attachment handling

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for more email providers
  • Improve iPad and tablet optimization
  • Enhance customization options for labels and actions
  • Integrate with more productivity apps and services
  • Provide better transparency around data usage and privacy

eM Client

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Emails not sending immediately
  • Drafts not visible or editable
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between folders
  • Trouble signing in to multiple Google accounts

Requested features

6 requests
  • Calendar integration
  • Improved background refresh and sync
  • Custom notification sounds
  • Ability to sort emails by sender
  • More customization options
Show 1 more
  • Actions from notifications (archive, mark as read, etc.)

In-app purchases

None

Shortwave

No in-app purchases

None

eM Client

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shortwave free?
Shortwave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is eM Client free?
eM Client is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shortwave or eM Client?
Shortwave is rated higher. Shortwave averages 4.7 out of 5 from 751 ratings, while eM Client averages 3.7 from 49 ratings.
Do Shortwave or eM Client have ads?
Neither Shortwave nor eM Client shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shortwave or eM Client?
Shortwave ships an update every 3 weeks, and eM Client every 10 days. Most recently, Shortwave was updated on October 30, 2026 and eM Client on October 30, 2026.

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