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Quilt and Shortwave

Shortwave is an email client with an AI assistant. Quilt is a personal agent that also covers messages, calendar and meeting notes. They overlap most in email.

What we say about Shortwave comes from its own public pages, linked at the bottom, gathered on 2026-10-11. Products change. If something here is out of date, write to hello@joinquilt.app and we will fix it.

TopicQuiltShortwave
What it isA personal AI agent for your mail, messages, calendar and meeting notes. You talk to it as Q. Invite-only.An email client with an AI assistant that can search, write, organize and schedule.12
Where it runsA Windows desktop app and an iPhone app. Q is on all three of its screens: Q, Inbox and Calendar. How it worksiPhone, Android, Mac and Windows apps, plus a browser version.18
What it connects toGmail and Outlook email and calendars, plus Slack and WhatsApp chats, kept together in one Inbox and one Calendar.It works only with Gmail and Google Workspace accounts, and its help page says it requires one to sign in. Google Calendar is built in, and other tools connect through integrations such as HubSpot, Notion, Slack, Asana, Linear and Zapier, and through custom MCP servers. Its help pages list Microsoft 365 and Exchange as not supported, and say Outlook.com and Hotmail addresses work by forwarding only, without sending from that address.23
Where your data is processed and storedYour calendar, meeting notes and Q's memory are stored on your devices, with an index of your mail. When Hey Q uses a cloud model, the request goes from your device straight to Anthropic, using your own Claude key. Email text never goes to Quilt's own AI. Privacy Max turns off all cloud help, including Hey Q. Exactly what goes whereIts security page says data is stored in Google Cloud and names Google Cloud, OpenAI, Anthropic and Pinecone as sub-processors. It also says most AI work runs on open-source models on hardware Shortwave controls.4
Training on your dataQuilt never trains on your data. During the alpha, Q uses your own Claude key, so Anthropic's terms for API keys apply to requests made with it. Quilt's servers are not in that path. DetailsIts security page says your data is never used to train third-party language models. It does not say whether Shortwave trains its own models on it.4
Acting for youA cloud model only suggests steps. Q can draft and propose, and cannot send, pay, post or delete. You press send. Inbox changes show a preview, apply when you tap, and can be undone.The assistant can organize the inbox, write and search, manage calendar events and send invites. Its changelog says that since February 2025 it waits for confirmation when organizing the inbox. The pages we read do not say whether sending an email needs confirmation.25
Meeting notesYes, on Windows. Q listens on your computer and nothing joins the call. It asks before each meeting, and gives you summary, decisions and to-dos afterward. How it worksWe did not find a meeting notes feature in the pages we reviewed.25
AvailabilityInvite-only for now, on Windows and iPhone. Free during the alpha.Its billing help page says it is free to get started, with the AI assistant included. Its pricing page shows paid plans, lists AI integrations under the Business plan, and does not show a free plan. Paid plans add advanced AI features and full email history import.67

Where Shortwave fits well

  • You use Gmail or Google Workspace and want an email client with a built-in assistant that also manages your Google Calendar.
  • Your team shares and discusses email threads.
  • You want to start free and upgrade later.
  • You use a Mac or an Android phone. Quilt does not run on them yet.

Where Quilt fits well

  • You use more than Gmail, such as Outlook, chat apps or other calendars.
  • You want your calendar, meeting notes and Q's memory kept on your own devices.
  • You want meeting notes and email in the same agent.

What Quilt cannot do yet. It is new, invite-only and runs on Windows and iPhone only, with no Mac, Android or web app. It has no team or shared-inbox features and it connects to fewer outside services than most products on these pages. During the alpha, bring your own Claude key.

Sources

Every claim about Shortwave above links to one of these pages.

  1. Shortwave home page. https://www.shortwave.com/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  2. Shortwave docs: AI assistant guide. https://www.shortwave.com/docs/guides/ai-assistant/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  3. Shortwave docs: Microsoft, Exchange and other sign-in support. https://www.shortwave.com/docs/how-tos/microsoft-outlook-exchange-other-sign-in-support/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  4. Shortwave docs: security. https://www.shortwave.com/docs/guides/security/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  5. Shortwave changelog. https://www.shortwave.com/changelog/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  6. Shortwave pricing page. https://www.shortwave.com/pricing/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  7. Shortwave help: Billing. https://www.shortwave.com/docs/guides/billing/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)
  8. Shortwave help: documentation index. https://www.shortwave.com/docs/ (read and confirmed 2026-10-11)

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