Enterprise "Agent OS" with trust, memory, and multi-agent coordination — built by ex-Atlassian CTO.
Tool-NutzungMemoryRAGMulti-Agent
Dust vs Shortwavewhich AI ops agent should you pick in 2026?
"Multiplayer AI" — shared, governed company-wide agents across your stack.
Tool useMemoryRAGMulti-agent
AI email client — natural-language search, summary, scheduled send, and AI-drafted replies grounded in your inbox.
RAGMemoryTool use
Dust vs Shortwave — specs
| Spec | Dust | Shortwave |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Rank | 77 / 100 (A) | 73 / 100 (A) |
| Autonomy | Semi-autonomous | Assistant |
| Pricing | Subscription · from $29 | Freemium · from $9 |
| Open source | No | No |
| Capabilities | Tool use, Memory, RAG, Multi-agent | RAG, Memory, Tool use |
| Integrations | 5 apps | 3 apps |
| Verified | — | Verified |
| Released | Mar 2025 | Feb 2025 |
Agent Rank breakdown
Dust
Agent Rank
77/ 100
- Autonomie
- 8
- Fähigkeiten
- 8
- Integrationen
- 10
- Preise
- 7
- Reife
- 7
- Verifizierbarkeit
- 6
Automatisch berechnet aus Autonomie, Fähigkeiten, Integrationen, Preisen, Reife und redaktioneller Verifizierung. Bei jedem Deploy aktualisiert. Wie wird das berechnet?
Shortwave
Agent Rank
73/ 100
- Autonomie
- 7
- Fähigkeiten
- 6
- Integrationen
- 6
- Preise
- 8
- Reife
- 7
- Verifizierbarkeit
- 10
Automatisch berechnet aus Autonomie, Fähigkeiten, Integrationen, Preisen, Reife und redaktioneller Verifizierung. Bei jedem Deploy aktualisiert. Wie wird das berechnet?
Pros & cons
Dust
Pros
- +"Multiplayer AI" — shared, governed workspaces designed for company-wide use
- +$40M Series B (Sequoia, Snowflake, Datadog) signals strong enterprise validation
- +Deepest connector library among agent platforms (Slack/Notion/GitHub/Salesforce/GDrive)
Cons
- −French roots — strongest support in EU/UK time zones
- −Higher per-seat pricing than Glean for read-only retrieval use cases
- −Custom agent authoring requires technical user (less low-code than Gumloop)
Shortwave
Pros
- +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
Cons
- −Gmail-only — no Outlook support
- −AI assistant is helpful but not yet revolutionary
- −Smaller user base means fewer integrations than Gmail/Outlook ecosystems
Pricing
Dust
Free
Kostenlos
Individuals
- +1 workspace
- +3 agents
- +GPT-4o + Claude 3.5
Empfohlen
Pro
$29/Sitz/Mo.
Teams
- +Unlimited agents
- +All integrations
- +Custom data sources
Enterprise
Individuell
Large orgs
- +SSO + audit
- +Custom retention
- +Dedicated tenants
Shortwave
Free
Kostenlos
Personal
- +Basic AI summary
- +90-day search
Empfohlen
Plus
$9/Mo.
Individuals
- +Unlimited search
- +AI assistant
- +Scheduled send
Business
$14/Sitz/Mo.
Teams
- +Shared inboxes
- +Send delegation
- +Admin controls
Which one should you pick?
Shortwave
Pick Shortwave if cost is the main constraint or if you want a vendor we've verified for accessibility and pricing accuracy.
Try Shortwave →Affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Frequently asked
Should I pick Dust or Shortwave in 2026?+
Pick Dust if you want the highest autonomy and the verification loop is in place. Pick Shortwave if cost is the main constraint or if you want a vendor we've verified for accessibility and pricing accuracy. Most working teams running both can use Dust for primary work and Shortwave for the workflows where its specific strengths matter.
What's the price difference between Dust and Shortwave?+
Dust starts at Subscription · from $29; Shortwave starts at Freemium · from $9. Shortwave 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, Dust or Shortwave?+
Dust is the more autonomous of the two (Semi-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.
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Adjacent agents in the same category with overlapping capabilities — worth a side-by-side glance before you commit.
GDPR-native multi-model AI workspace with built-in agent builder — Europe's Glean alternative.
Tool-NutzungMemoryRAGMulti-Agent
Demo · hover to playVisuelle Workflow-Automatisierung mit KI-Agenten – Drag-and-Drop-Szenarien für 2.000+ Apps.
Tool-NutzungMemoryMulti-AgentDemo · hover to play
See more alternatives: alternatives to Dust · alternatives to Shortwave
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