Shortwave vs Spike

by Gralio Feb 24, 2025

Shortwave excels in AI-powered email management, offering a streamlined inbox experience for teams prioritizing email productivity. Spike provides a more versatile communication hub, integrating various tools into a single workspace, making it a better fit for teams seeking broader collaboration features beyond email.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 377 reviews and 60 websites, saving 2 hours, 35 minutes of reading.

Shortwave

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Spike

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About

Shortwave is an AI-powered email client for teams designed to streamline communication and improve productivity. It offers features like real-time inbox collaboration, AI-assisted email writing and search, automated email organization, and team-wide task management. Shortwave aims to provide a more efficient and intelligent alternative to traditional email clients by leveraging AI to reduce clutter, automate tasks, and provide valuable insights from email data.

Spike is a communication and collaboration platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It consolidates team chat, email, video conferencing, file sharing, and project management into a single, unified workspace. This streamlines communication and eliminates the need to switch between multiple apps. Spike offers a free plan as well as paid plans with advanced features, and users can connect their existing email domain or obtain a new one directly from Spike.

Summary

Main difference

Shortwave is a dedicated email client with AI-powered features for enhanced productivity, ideal for teams heavily reliant on email communication. Spike offers a broader communication and collaboration platform that integrates email with chat, video conferencing, and project management, better suited for teams seeking a unified workspace.

Relative strengths of Shortwave (compared to Spike)

Superior AI-powered email features like automated organization and AI-assisted writing.
Strong focus on email productivity and efficiency.
Real-time inbox collaboration for enhanced teamwork.

Relative weaknesses of Shortwave (compared to Spike)

Limited integrations with third-party software compared to Spike.
Higher price point than Spike.
Lacks the comprehensive communication and collaboration features offered by Spike, such as chat and video conferencing.

Who should use Shortwave VS. Spike

Shortwave is an AI-powered email client for teams. It offers features like real-time inbox collaboration, AI-assisted email writing, automated organization, and team-wide task management. Users praise its intuitive interface and efficient email handling but note the high price and limited integrations. Shortwave helps teams improve productivity and collaboration.

Spike is a unified communication platform ideal for teams seeking to streamline their workflows. It combines email, chat, video conferencing, and file sharing into a single workspace. Users praise Spike's intuitive chat-like interface for email and excellent customer support. However, some users have reported occasional bugs and syncing issues. Consider Spike if your team struggles with managing multiple communication tools and values a centralized platform.

Best for small to medium-sized teams needing streamlined communication.
Ideal for software/IT, marketing, and professional services.

Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses seeking streamlined communication.
A good fit for various industries, including Healthcare, Finance, and E-commerce.

Shortwave and Spike features

Supported

Partially supported

Not supported

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

Shared Inboxes

Supported

Shared inboxes are supported via shared threads and labels.

Supported

Spike offers shared inboxes for collaborative email and project management.
Business Tool Integrations

Partially supported

Shortwave integrates seamlessly with CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, but other integrations are not extensively documented.

Supported

Spike integrates with Gmail and other tools, potentially via Zapier.
AI-powered task automation and insights

Supported

Shortwave offers AI-powered task automation, insights, and workflow streamlining within email management.

Partially supported

Spike uses AI to enhance productivity but does not explicitly offer task automation and insights.
Shared inbox

Not supported

Shared inboxes are not supported, but shared threads and comments are available.

Supported

Spike offers a shared team inbox.
Send, receive and manage emails.

Supported

Shortwave supports sending, receiving, and managing emails, especially with Gmail.

Supported

Spike supports sending, receiving, and managing emails through a conversational interface.
Multi-Mailbox Management

Not supported

Multiple mailboxes are not supported.

Supported

Spike supports managing multiple email accounts within the software.

Qualities

Value and Pricing Transparency

No data

No data
Customer Service

No data

No data
Ease of Use

No data

No data
Reliability and Performance

No data

No data
Ease of Implementation

No data

No data
Scalability

No data

No data

Shortwave and Spike Pricing

No data

See full Pricing page

Spike offers two product options: Teamspace and Email App. Teamspace is designed for team collaboration and offers features such as team chat, shared inbox, and custom email domain. Email App focuses on enhancing individual email experience with features like unified inbox, advanced search, and unlimited notes and tasks. Both options offer a free plan with limited features and paid plans with additional benefits.

Plans

See full Pricing page

Shortwave and Spike review insights

Users love

Excellent customer support.
User-friendly interface, praised for its simplicity.
Effective email organization and prioritization features.
Useful "Pinning" feature for quick access to important emails.

Unified inbox integrating email, chat, and collaborative tools.
Chat-like interface for email conversations, improving speed and intuitiveness.
Priority Inbox for focusing on important messages.
Excellent customer support, praised for responsiveness and helpfulness.
Useful features like read receipts, snooze, groups, and file sharing.

Users dislike

High price point, a common concern among users.
Limited third-party software integrations.
Lack of a stable Android app version; beta version is underwhelming.
Implementation can be complex at times.

No refund policy can be frustrating for users.
Some users report account suspension or blocking issues.
Occasional bugs and glitches are reported, including freezing, message delivery errors, and login problems.
Limited customization, such as lack of HTML signatures and themes.
Syncing issues between devices and with external calendars.

Shortwave and Spike Ratings

G2

4.5/5

(64)

G2

4.6/5

(229)
Capterra

4.7/5

(44)
TrustPilot

4.1/5

(40)
Glassdoor

4.5/5

(2)

Company health

Employee growth

7% decrease in the last year

6% decrease in the last year

Web traffic

40% decrease in the last quarter

22% decrease in the last quarter

Financing

No data

March 2021 - $30M

How do Shortwave's AI-powered features compare to Spike's conversational email?

Both Shortwave and Spike leverage AI to enhance email communication, but they differ in their approach. Shortwave uses AI for features like automated organization, assisted writing, and advanced search within a traditional email client format. Spike, on the other hand, transforms email into a conversational format, using AI to facilitate this conversion and offer features like Priority Inbox for highlighting important messages. Essentially, Shortwave enhances traditional email with AI, while Spike reimagines email as conversational messaging with AI assistance.

Which product better integrates email with project management tools?

Spike better integrates email with project management tools. It offers a unified platform that combines email, chat, video conferencing, and project management features, allowing users to manage projects and communicate about them without switching between different applications. While Shortwave focuses on improving email management with AI features, it lacks the integrated project management capabilities offered by Spike.

What are the advantages of Shortwave?

Shortwave's advantages include its AI-powered features for email writing, organization, and search, enabling streamlined communication and increased productivity. It offers real-time inbox collaboration and dedicated task management within the email client. Shortwave prioritizes enhanced privacy and security with data encryption and secure data handling.

What are the disadvantages of Shortwave?

Shortwave's disadvantages include a high price point, limited third-party integrations, a subpar Android app, and occasional complex implementation. Users also mention it lacks a stable Android app.

Alternatives to Shortwave and Spike

Ryver

Ryver is a communication and collaboration platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It combines chat, task management, and video conferencing into one app. This means teams can communicate, manage projects, and hold virtual meetings without needing multiple tools. Ryver offers different pricing plans based on the number of users and includes features like file sharing, task boards, and integrations with other business apps. It aims to simplify teamwork and improve efficiency by providing a central hub for all communication and project needs.

Huntress Security Awareness Training

Huntress Security Awareness Training is a platform designed to help employees at any company size learn about cybersecurity threats. It offers story-based training videos, simulated phishing attacks, and progress reporting to measure how well your employees retain the information. The goal is to build a "human firewall" that is more resilient against real-world cyberattacks. It integrates with popular identity providers like Google and Okta and offers flexible billing options. Huntress also has an option for fully managed training and phishing simulations run by their security experts.

Lark

Lark is an all-in-one platform designed to simplify work for teams. It combines chat, video conferencing, document creation, project management, and more into a single application. This allows teams to streamline their workflows, improve communication, and increase productivity. Lark aims to be a central hub for all work-related activities, accessible from anywhere.

Flodesk

Flodesk is an email marketing platform designed for ease of use, allowing businesses to create visually appealing emails and sales pages. It offers customizable templates, automation features, and analytics to track performance. Flodesk aims to provide a comprehensive platform for businesses to grow their audience, nurture leads, and generate sales, all within a single, user-friendly interface.

waalaxy

Waalaxy is a software tool that helps you find new customers and expand your professional network using LinkedIn. It offers automated features to send connection requests, messages, and emails, allowing you to reach a large number of potential clients automatically. Waalaxy integrates with other sales tools and provides customer support to guide you through the process.

Canary Mail

Canary Mail is an AI-powered email app designed to simplify your email experience. It offers features like AI email writing assistance, email summarization, and smart prioritization to help you manage your inbox efficiently. Canary Mail also includes security features such as PGP encryption and SecureSend for sending confidential information. With a focus on privacy, Canary Mail offers a clean and user-friendly interface without ads or data mining.

Page co-authored by

Michal Kaczor

CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

Tymon Terlikiewicz

CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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