Comparison

Fastmail vs Waves

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

Head to head
About

Fastmail

Manage your email, contacts, and calendar with a privacy-focused service. Offers powerful search, inbox decluttering tools, and customizable gestures for efficient communication. Seamlessly syncs across devices and supports open standards.

Highlights
  • Offline access to email
  • Powerful search with refinement
  • Inbox decluttering tools
  • Customizable swipe gestures
  • Seamless calendar syncing
  • Shared address books
  • Privacy-first, no ads or tracking
Features
Read full description

Email, contacts and calendars made better Fastmail gives you full control of your communication, with speed, privacy, and tools that work the way you do. The New York Times says: ”If you want something easy to use that isn’t tied to one of the big tech giants, Fastmail is a great option.” Do more with email • Stay connected anywhere – Read, draft, and search offline. • Powerful search – Find anything fast, even inside attachments. Plus, use the Search Refinement Toolbar to quickly add, remove, or adjust filters. • Declutter your inbox – Snooze emails, mute threads, block spam, and unsubscribe easily, and set up rules to automate your flow. • Stay organised your way – Use folders or labels to keep things tidy, and categorize messages without opening them. • Work smarter – Schedule or undo send, add private memos, set VIP-only notifications, and resize images in the compose window. • Custom swipes – Quickly archive, delete, or take other actions with up to four swipe gestures. Your preferences stay consistent across devices. • Easy navigation – One-tap access to mail, calendar, contacts, and settings. Customize the toolbar in Display Options, or hide it altogether. • Faster inbox actions – Select messages by tapping avatars, or using a two-finger swipe for faster multi-select. Smarter calendars • Plan together – Share calendars with family or teams. • Sync seamlessly – Works with Google, iCloud, and more. • Always in sync – Updates instantly across devices, with full time-zone support. Connected contacts • Shared or private address books – Keep context from recent conversations and meetings. Why Fastmail? • Privacy first – No ads, no tracking, no selling your data. It’s your data, not ours. • Secure and trusted – Robust encryption of your data both in transit and at rest. Passkeys and 2FA keep your email private and safe. • No lock-in – Over 20 years delivering better email. People stay because it’s better, not because it’s hard to leave. • Real support – 24/7 online help from real people, no chatbots. • Migrate in minutes – Move mail, contacts, and calendars from your old provider in minutes. Better for everyone – Fastmail supports open standards, keeping email private and usable for all.

About

Waves

Features
Read full description

Waves shows you how heavy of a workload your calendar actually is.. Your calendar tells you when things happen. Your task list tells you what's outstanding. Neither tells you whether Thursday is possible. Waves reads both and draws your real daily load as a chart, so an overloaded day is visible days before you live it. - Every task and event as an hours-tall block - Days over your sustainable hours shade red - Drag a task to a lighter day, or into the bin when it's done - Split a three-hour job into a one and a two, on different days - All-day events go on a shelf until you decide what they really cost - Priority bands keep the important work at the foot of the day - Projects with colors, statistics, CSV and calendar export Waves reads your calendars and reminders. It never changes them, and nothing you enter leaves your device. No account, no server, no subscription.

Screenshots

Fastmail4 screens
Waves4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Waves at none against Fastmail's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Fastmail sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $6.49 per month. Waves asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fastmail ships an update every 3 weeks, Waves every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Fastmail versus Waves: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFastmailWaves
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (585 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews48.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings585 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.415.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFastmail Pty LtdPhilip Hawkins

Bugs and requests

Fastmail

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Blank screen on app launch
  • Notification badges not updating correctly
  • Delayed email delivery
  • Unreliable swiping gestures
  • Disappearing toolbar buttons

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline email access
  • Customizable notification sounds
  • Integration with native iOS apps
  • Dark mode support
  • Multiple account management

Waves

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Fastmail

Subscriptions1
  • Fastmail Monthly Plan$6.491 Month
None

Waves

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fastmail free?
Fastmail is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Waves free?
Waves is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Fastmail or Waves have ads?
Neither Fastmail nor Waves shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fastmail or Waves?
Fastmail ships an update every 3 weeks, and Waves every 2 weeks. Most recently, Fastmail was updated on October 29, 2026 and Waves on October 25, 2026.

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