Is Spike or Shortwave cheaper?

Spike has the lower entry price — Spike starts at $0/mo and Shortwave at $0/mo.

Does Spike or Shortwave support HIPAA?

HIPAA support — Spike: —; Shortwave: —. Confirm current scope with the vendor.

Spike vs Shortwave

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for email client. Spike has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it.

Spike has the lower entry price — Spike starts at $0/mo, Shortwave at $0/mo. Free tier: Spike Yes, Shortwave Yes. HIPAA: Spike —, Shortwave —.

As of 2026-06-18 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Spike

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Teamspace Free)

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)—

SOC 2—

GDPR—

Best forteams wanting chat-style email

Shortwave

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Free)

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)—

SOC 2—

GDPR—

Best forGmail power users

Sources — Spike: spikenow.com (verified 2026-06-18) · Shortwave: shortwave.com (verified 2026-06-18)

Key features

Spike: Conversational email threading (chat-like UI); Built-in video calls and team collaboration; Dual product tracks: Teamspace and individual Email App; WhatsApp shared inbox on team plans

Shortwave: AI-native inbox with executive assistant; Multi-tiered AI search over full email history; AI-powered filters and thread summarization; Contextual AI autocomplete

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