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Email Marketing · head to head

Keila vs Shortwave

Keila logo

Keila

Email Marketing

AGPL newsletter tool from Germany, self-hostable or hosted in the EU with no free plan

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Shortwave logo

Shortwave

Email Marketing

AI-powered email assistant for intelligent inbox management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Keila there is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.; Shortwave per-seat pricing increases team costs compared to flat-rate email solutions
  • They diverge on capability: Keila covers Priced by emails sent, Shortwave covers AI Email Filtering.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Keila and Shortwave actually diverge.

Attributes where Keila and Shortwave differ
AttributeKeilaShortwave
Pricing modelPer month by emails sentUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hostediOS, Android, macOS, Windows

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Keila

  • Priced by emails sent
  • Bring your own sender
  • Self-hosting
  • EU hosting
  • Sign-up forms
  • Segmentation
  • Markdown and block editor
  • Multiple projects

Only in Shortwave

  • AI Email Filtering
  • Intelligent Autocomplete
  • Voice-Style Composition
  • Meeting Scheduling
  • Email-to-Todo Conversion
  • AI-Powered Search
  • Team Collaboration
  • Email Summaries

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Keila

  • A membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times morenot Shortwave
  • A European publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the EU under a GDPR-friendly arrangementnot Shortwave
  • A technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing AWS SES accountnot Shortwave
  • An agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional listnot Shortwave

Shortwave

  • Reducing inbox overload through AI-powered organizationnot Keila
  • Drafting professional emails using natural languagenot Keila
  • Scheduling meetings without back-and-forth coordinationnot Keila
  • Searching email archives using conversational queriesnot Keila
  • Converting emails to tasks for team task trackingnot Keila

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Keila

  • There is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.
  • Marketing automation is minimal, with none of the behavioural triggers, journey builders or e-commerce revenue attribution that Klaviyo, Brevo and Mailchimp treat as table stakes.
  • The self-hosted route puts deliverability entirely on you: reputation, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, warm-up and bounce handling are your problem, and a badly configured instance will land in spam folders.
  • It is a small project from a small company, so the integration ecosystem is thin and there is no partner network, template marketplace or large body of community expertise to draw on.
  • Email volume tiers step in fixed blocks, so an organisation whose sending is uneven across the year either overbuys at the annual peak or has to change plan repeatedly.

Shortwave

  • Per-seat pricing increases team costs compared to flat-rate email solutions
  • AI features may require higher tier plans, limiting value for smaller teams
  • Dependency on third-party integrations for full feature depth
  • Learning curve for effective use of AI-powered features
  • Limited customization for AI filter behavior compared to manual rules

Pricing, plan by plan

Keila

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • AGPL-3.0-or-later licence with no fee
    • Official Docker image and sample compose file
    • You supply hosting and a sending backend
  • Keila XS$8/month
    • Two thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Send with Keila or bring your own email server
  • Keila M$32/month
    • Fifteen thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Sign-up forms and segmentation
  • Keila XXL$256/month
    • Two hundred and fifty thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Intermediate tiers at 16, 64 and 128 EUR for 5,000, 50,000 and 100,000 emails

Shortwave

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Email search and organization
    • Basic inbox tools
    • Limited AI features
  • Business$30/month
    • Full standard search history
    • 5 years AI search history
    • Max 50 threads per AI search
  • Premier$45/month
    • Everything in Business
    • 2x more AI usage
    • Unlimited AI search history
  • Max$120/month
    • Everything in Premier
    • 6x more AI usage
    • Max 150 threads per AI search

Which should you pick?

Choose Keila if

  • You need priced by emails sent.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want bring your own sender.
Keila review

Choose Shortwave if

  • You need ai email filtering.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want intelligent autocomplete.
Shortwave review

Questions people ask

Is Keila or Shortwave better?
Neither clearly leads. Keila starts at Free and Shortwave at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Keila or Shortwave?
Keila starts at Free and Shortwave at Free.
Does Keila or Shortwave run on more platforms?
Keila runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted. Shortwave runs on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Keila for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Keila best used for?
Keila is most often used for a membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times more, a european publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the eu under a gdpr-friendly arrangement, a technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing aws ses account, an agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional list. Of those, a membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times more and a european publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the eu under a gdpr-friendly arrangement are not what Shortwave is typically brought in for.
What can Keila do that Shortwave cannot?
Keila covers Priced by emails sent, Bring your own sender, Self-hosting, EU hosting. Shortwave covers AI Email Filtering, Intelligent Autocomplete, Voice-Style Composition, Meeting Scheduling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Keila: Is Keila free?

The software is, under AGPL-3.0-or-later, if you self-host. The hosted service has no free plan by deliberate policy and starts at 8 EUR a month.

Shortwave: Is there a free trial for Shortwave?

Yes, Shortwave offers a 14-day free trial for all paid plans with no credit card required.

Source
Keila: How is the hosted service priced?

By emails sent, from 8 EUR for two thousand up to 256 EUR for two hundred and fifty thousand a month. Contacts and projects are unlimited on every tier.

Shortwave: What platforms does Shortwave support?

Shortwave is available on iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows for full cross-platform email management.

Source
Keila: Can I use my own email provider?

Yes. AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Postmark, generic SMTP or a personal inbox are all supported as sending backends.

Shortwave: How much AI usage do I get per plan?

Business plan includes 3 AI-powered filters and standard AI usage. Premier (2x more AI) and Max (6x more AI) plans provide increasing levels of AI feature access.

Source
Keila: Are there discounts?

Pentacent offers reduced rates to nonprofits and open source projects on request.

Shortwave: What integrations does Shortwave support?

Shortwave integrates with Slack, Calendar, Notion, Asana, HubSpot, and 3,000+ apps via Tasklet.

Source
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