Shortwave is the most AI-native way to read Gmail, and it asks you to move in. Pidgy stays out of the way, reads Outlook and Gmail as one list, and follows up on the threads that stalled.
Pidgy vs Shortwave is really a question about your email address. Shortwave is a Gmail-only client with the best AI search in the category, and using it means replacing your current app. Pidgy is an agent that layers onto Outlook and Gmail without replacing anything, ranks the few messages that need you, chases follow-ups that went quiet, and groups mail into projects with one Inbox Health score. Gmail-only and happy to switch apps? Shortwave. Any Outlook in your life, or a wish for the work to be tracked after triage? Pidgy.
Answer these three honestly and the choice usually makes itself.
Shortwave connects to Gmail and nothing else. There is no Outlook support and no IMAP option, so a Microsoft 365 account is a hard no rather than a workaround.
Pidgy reads Outlook and Gmail as a single inbox. A mixed setup, with firm mail in Outlook and a side business in Gmail, is exactly what it was built for.
Shortwave replaces your client. Its thread bundles and AI categories are a different way of reading mail, and even people who love it say it takes a few days to settle in.
Pidgy leaves Gmail and Outlook exactly as they are and adds a ranked layer on top. There is nothing to relearn and nothing to migrate back from if you stop.
If you spend your day hunting for the email where someone agreed to something, Shortwave's AI search is the best there is and will pay for itself.
If your problem is the proposal nobody answered and the client project scattered across thirty threads, Pidgy is the one that chases the silence, groups the threads, and shows you an Inbox Health score.
If your answers are Gmail-only, happy to switch and search-first, buy Shortwave. If there is any Outlook at all, or you would rather keep your client and have follow-ups handled, buy Pidgy.
Both draft replies and both leave the sending to you, so drafting alone will not decide it.
The same eleven moments in a working day, handled by each tool.
| The moment | Pidgy | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|
| Open your mail at eight | One ranked list across Outlook and Gmail, 147 cut to 5 |
AI bundles and categories, Gmail only |
| Need to answer a long thread | Draft in your voice, four named tones |
Ghostwriter draft |
| Need the email where the fee was agreed | Search within your email |
AI search, best in the category |
| Notice a client has not replied in six days | Flagged as stalled, chase queued in the tone you pick |
Nothing happens |
| Juggle one client, thirty threads, four documents | Grouped into a project with tasks |
Bundled by thread only |
| Want to know if you are keeping up | One Inbox Health score, tracked daily |
No score |
| Have a question for your inbox | Ask Pidgy, voice coming soon |
Built-in AI assistant |
| Hit send | Only you can; nothing goes out on its own |
You send; it only drafts |
| Ask where the data lives | EU-hosted, never used for training |
US-hosted |
| Ask what it costs | 7-day free trial |
Free tier, then roughly $14 to $24 a month |
| Discover the firm runs Microsoft 365 | Native Outlook support |
No Outlook, no IMAP |
Moving from Shortwave to Pidgy means giving up a search engine and gaining a follow-up engine. Nothing has to be migrated, because Pidgy reads the Gmail account you already have.
Keep your inbox. Add the agent that chases what it forgets.
Try Pidgy for freeShortwave wins for a Gmail-only professional who wants the most polished AI client available and is happy to live inside it.
Recruiters, journalists, researchers and anyone whose day is "find the thread where they said yes" get more from Shortwave's AI search than from any ranking feature. If Gmail is your only inbox, it is a genuine pleasure to use.
Shortwave has a free tier and paid plans in the region of $14 to $24 a month, available now. Pidgy has a 7-day free trial with no credit card needed, so you can try both before paying for either.
One Microsoft 365 mailbox ends the conversation. Shortwave cannot read it, and no amount of AI search helps with mail it cannot see.
Shortwave is superb at finding and writing, then stops. Pidgy keeps going. It watches for the reply that never came, turns the thread into a project, and scores how on top of things you are, which is the part of email most people are actually behind on.
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Pidgy reads Outlook and Gmail together, hands you the handful that need a reply, and follows up on the ones that went quiet. Start your free trial below.