ElevenLabs vs Shortwave: 2026 comparison
AI voice platform with Conversational Agents — production-grade voice cloning, TTS, and voice agents.
AI email client — natural-language search, summary, scheduled send, and AI-drafted replies grounded in your inbox.
ElevenLabs vs Shortwave — specs
| Spec | ElevenLabs | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Rank | 80 / 100 (A) | 72 / 100 (A) |
| Autonomy | Autonomous | Assistant |
| Pricing | Freemium · from $5 | Freemium · from $9 |
| Open source | No | No |
| Capabilities | Voice, Tool use, Memory | RAG, Memory, Tool use |
| Integrations | 4 apps | 3 apps |
| Verified | Verified | Verified |
| Released | Feb 2025 | Feb 2025 |
Agent Rank breakdown
- Autonomy fit
- 9
- Capabilities
- 6
- Integrations
- 6
- Pricing value
- 8
- Polish & maturity
- 9
- Verifiability
- 10
Auto-computed from autonomy, capabilities, integrations, pricing, maturity and editorial verification. Updated every deploy. How is this computed?
- Autonomy fit
- 7
- Capabilities
- 6
- Integrations
- 6
- Pricing value
- 8
- Polish & maturity
- 6
- Verifiability
- 10
Auto-computed from autonomy, capabilities, integrations, pricing, maturity and editorial verification. Updated every deploy. How is this computed?
Pros & cons
- +Best voice quality and most natural TTS in any consumer-grade product
- +Conversational AI agents now match Parloa and Sierra on quality at lower price
- +Custom voice cloning works with 30 seconds of source audio
- −Conversational Agents product is newer than the TTS product — less polish
- −Pricing tiers can be confusing across TTS + Voice Agents + Dubbing
- −Voice cloning controls require careful consent handling
- +Best AI-native email client in 2026 — search, summarize, draft all natural-language
- +Built specifically for Gmail; faster + smarter than Gmail itself
- +Cheap relative to Superhuman with better AI features
- −Gmail-only — no Outlook support
- −AI assistant is helpful but not yet revolutionary
- −Smaller user base means fewer integrations than Gmail/Outlook ecosystems
Pricing
- +10K characters/mo
- +Watermarked
- +30K characters/mo
- +Voice cloning
- +100K characters/mo
- +Higher quality models
- +Conversational AI 1K min
- +500K characters/mo
- +Studio tier voice clones
- +2M characters/mo
- +Multi-seat workspace
- +Basic AI summary
- +90-day search
- +Unlimited search
- +AI assistant
- +Scheduled send
- +Shared inboxes
- +Send delegation
- +Admin controls
Which one should you pick?
Pick ElevenLabs if cost is the main constraint or if you want the highest autonomy and the verification loop is in place.
Try ElevenLabs →Pick Shortwave if its specific capabilities (RAG, Memory) match what you need.
Try Shortwave →Affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Frequently asked
Should I pick ElevenLabs or Shortwave in 2026?+
Pick ElevenLabs if cost is the main constraint or if you want the highest autonomy and the verification loop is in place. Pick Shortwave if its specific capabilities (RAG, Memory) match what you need. Most working teams running both can use ElevenLabs for primary work and Shortwave for the workflows where its specific strengths matter.
What's the price difference between ElevenLabs and Shortwave?+
ElevenLabs starts at Freemium · from $5; Shortwave starts at Freemium · from $9. ElevenLabs is the cheaper entry option. For team deployments the TCO can differ — use the AI Agent Rank TCO calculator for your specific volume.
Which is more autonomous, ElevenLabs or Shortwave?+
ElevenLabs is the more autonomous of the two (Autonomous vs Assistant). Higher autonomy ships throughput faster but requires verification loops in place — see our autonomous-vs-copilot framing for when each tier wins.