Comparison of email clients explained

The following tables compare general and technical features of notable email client programs.

General

Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, O/S, license, and interface.

ClientAuthor/DeveloperOperating systemSoftware licenseUser Interface
AlpineUniversity of WashingtonCross-platformTUI
Apple MailApplemacOS, iOS, watchOSGUI (Cocoa)
BalsaStuart ParmenterLinuxGUI (GTK3)
Becky! Internet MailRimartsWindowsGUI
BlitzMailDartmouth CollegeGUI
Canary MailCartasec Pte. Ltd.Cross-platformGUI
Citadelcitadel.orgUnix-likeWebmail
Claws Mailthe Claws Mail teamCross-platformGUI (GTK2)
Courier (formerly Calypso)Micro Computer Systems, Inc., continued by Rose City SoftwareWindowsGUI
ElmDave Taylor, Sydney Weinstein, Bill Pemberton, Michael Elkins, Kari HurttaUnix-like[1] TUI
eM ClienteM Client Inc.Windows, macOS, Android, iOSGUI
EmailTrayInternet Promotion Agency S.A.Windows, AndroidGUI
Eudora OSEQualcommWindows, macOSGUI
EvolutionThe GNOME ProjectUnix-likeGUI (GTK)
FirstClassOpen TextGUI
Forté AgentMark SidellWindowsGUI
GearyThe GNOME Project (formerly Yorba Foundation)Unix-likeGUI (GTK)
GNUMailLudovic Marcotte and othersUnix-like, macOSGUI
GnusGnus teamCross-platformTUI and GUI
GroupWiseMicro Focus (formerly Novell)Cross-platformGUI
HiriHiriCross-platformGUI
i.Scribe, InScribeMemecodeWindows, macOS, LinuxGUI
HCL Notes (formerly IBM Notes and IBM Lotus Notes)HCL Technologies (formerly IBM and Lotus Software), HCL TechnologiesWindows, macOS, LinuxGUI (Notes), Web (Verse, iNotes) and Mobile (Traveler)
IMPHorde LLCCross-platformWebmail
K-9 MailK-9 Dog Walkers: cketti, et al.AndroidGUI
KMailKDECross-platformGUI (Qt)
Mail (Windows)MicrosoftWindowsGUI
MailbirdMailbirdWindowsGUI
MailpileMailpileWindows, macOS, LinuxWebmail
mailxUnix-likeTUI
Microsoft EntourageMicrosoftmacOSGUI
Microsoft OutlookMicrosoftWindows, macOSGUI
Mozilla Mail & NewsgroupsMozilla FoundationGUI (XUL)
Mozilla ThunderbirdMozilla FoundationCross-platformGUI (XUL)
MulberryCyrus Daboo (formerly Cyrusoft International, Inc./ISAMET)Cross-platformGUI
MuttMichael ElkinsCross-platformTUI (ncurses)
Netscape MessengerNetscape CommunicationsGUI
Netscape Messenger 9Netscape CommunicationsGUI
Nylas MailNylasWindows, macOS, LinuxGUI
nmh / MHRAND CorporationUnix-likeCLI
Opera MailOpera SoftwareCross-platformGUI
Outlook ExpressMicrosoftWindowsGUI
Pegasus MailDavid HarrisWindowsGUI
PineUniversity of WashingtonCross-platform[2] TUI
PocomailPoco SystemsWindowsGUI
RoundCubeThe RoundCube TeamCross-platformWebmail
Samsung EmailSamsung ElectronicsSamsung, Android 8+ProprietaryGUI
SeaMonkey Mail & NewsgroupsSeaMonkey CouncilCross-platformGUI (XUL)
SparkReaddlemacOSGUI
SquirrelMailThe SquirrelMail Project TeamCross-platformWebmail
SuperhumanRahul VohraCross-platformWebmail
SylpheedHiroyuki YamamotoCross-platformGUI (GTK2)
The Bat!RitLabsWindowsGUI
TrojitáKDECross-platformGUI (Qt)
TurnpikeThus PLC (Demon Internet)WindowsGUI
VivaldiVivaldi Technologies ASCross-platformGUI (Chrome)
Windows Live MailMicrosoftWindowsGUI
Windows Mail (Vista)MicrosoftWindowsGUI
YAMYAM Open Source Team and contributing authorsAmigaOSGUI
Zimbra DesktopZimbraCross-platformGUI
ClientAuthor/DeveloperOperating systemSoftware licenseUser interface

Release history

A brief digest of the release histories.

ClientFirst public DateFirst public VersionFirst stable DateFirst stable Versiondata-sort-type="text" Latest stable release
Alpine2006-110.82007 December 1.00
Apple Mail2001-03-24???
Becky! Internet Mail19961
Canary Mail15 June 20171.015 June 20171.04.01 (5th June, 2023)
Citadel198719881.00
Claws Mail2001-050.4.672005-011.0.0
Courier2004-063.5discontinueddiscontinued
Elm19861987-032
eM Client2007-111.02007-111.0
EmailTray2010-102.02011-033.11
Eudora1988[3] 1988
Evolution2000-05-110.02001-12-031.0
Forté Agent
Geary20120.120120.1
Gnus1987[4] 1988-02-012.02015-04-06
GroupWise19861.0
Hiri2014-020.42016-061.0
i.Scribe / InScribe19991.00
HCL Notes (formerly IBM Lotus Notes)19891.019891.0
IMP19981.0
K-9 Mail
KMail1998-10Alpha1999-021.0.17
Mailbird2013-04-01Public Beta
Mailpile2011-11[5] [6] [7]
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office Outlook199797199797
Mozilla Thunderbird2003-07-280.12004-12-071.0
Mulberry1996-09-201.01996-09-201.0
Mutt1995
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 92007-11-159.0a1discontinueddiscontinued2007-11-15
nmh / MH1979
Opera Mail1996-092.1b11996-122.1
Outlook Express19963.0
Pegasus Mail19901990
Pine1992-01-152.001992-01-152.00
Pocomail1999
RoundCube20060.1-rc12014-04-071.0.0
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups2005-09-151.0a2006-01-301.0
SquirrelMail1999-120.12001-011.0
Sylpheed2000-010.1.02004-121.0.0
The Bat!1997-031.0 Beta1998-031.00 Build 1310
Trojitá2009-080.12012-120.3.90
Turnpike1996 (circa)1.01996 (circa)1.0
Vivaldi2015-11-03Beta 12022-06-091.0
Windows Live Mail2007-11-06122007-11-0612
Windows Mail2007-01-01
YAM19951.019951.0
Zimbra2005-11Beta2006-033.5

Operating system support

The operating systems on which the clients can run natively (without emulation).

ClientMicrosoft WindowsmacOSLinuxBSDUnixDOSOther
Alpine
Apple Mail
Balsa
Becky! Internet Mail
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Eudora
Evolution
Forté Agent
Geary
Gnus
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
IBM Lotus Notes
IMP
KMail
Mailbird
Mailpile
mailx
Microsoft Entourage (2008)
Microsoft Office Outlook
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mulberry
Mutt[8]
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express (up to XP)
Pegasus Mail
Pine (3.96)[9]
Pocomail
RoundCube
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá
Turnpike
Vivaldi
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail (Vista)
YAM
Zimbra
ClientMicrosoft WindowsmacOSLinuxBSDUnixDOSOther

Protocol support

Communication and access protocol support

What email and related protocols and standards are supported by each client.

ClientPOP3
fetch all messages
(RFC 1939)
POP3
selected by filter
(RFC 1939)
POP3
selected by user
(RFC 1939)
IMAP4
(RFC 3501)
SMTP
(RFC 5321)
NNTP
(RFC 3977)
LDAP v2
(RFC 4511)
LDAP v3
(RFC 4511)
EWSIPv6
(RFC 2460)
MAPI
Alpine
Apple Mail
Becky! Internet Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Evolution
Gnus[10] [11]
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
HCL Notes
KMail
Mailbird
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition
Microsoft Office Outlook
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird[12] extensible[13]
Mulberry
MuttNo (possible with POP3 browser)No (possible with POP3 browser) (slrn looks alike) (resolve real names through NSS)
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus Mail
Pine
Pocomail
RoundCube
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá
Turnpike
Vivaldi
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbra
ClientPOP3
fetch all messages
(RFC 1939)
POP3
selected by filter
(RFC 1939)
POP3
selected by user
(RFC 1939)
IMAP4
(RFC 3501)
SMTP
(RFC 5321)
NNTP
(RFC 3977)
LDAP v2
(RFC 4511)
LDAP v3
(RFC 4511)
EWSIPv6
(RFC 2460)
MAPI

Integration protocol support

ClientIMSP
(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/id/draft-myers-imap-imsp-00.txt)
ACAP
(RFC 2244)
RSS 0.91 FeedsRSS 1.0 FeedsRSS 2.0 FeedsATOM FeedsiCalendar
(RFC 5545)
MAPI/RPCCalDAV
(RFC 4791)
CardDAV
(RFC 6352)
Alpine
Apple Mail
Becky! Internet Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Eudora
Evolution
Gnus[14] [15]
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
IBM Lotus Notes
KMail
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office Outlook
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mulberry
Mutt
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus Mail
Pine
Pocomail
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá
Turnpike
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbra
ClientIMSP
(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/id/draft-myers-imap-imsp-00.txt)
ACAP
(RFC 2244)
RSS 0.91 FeedsRSS 1.0 FeedsRSS 2.0 FeedsATOM FeedsiCalendar
(RFC 5545)
MAPI/RPCCalDAV
(RFC 4791)
CardDAV
(RFC 6352)

Authentication support

ClientRegularMSN (NTLM)browser loginCompuserve(RPA)MD5 APOP CRAM-HMAC DIGEST-MD5SCRAMwith hardware tokenPKCS#11BiometricSMTP Auth X.509 Client certificateOAuth
LOGINPLAINMD5SHA1RIPEMD
Alpine
Apple Mail
Becky! Internet Mail
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Eudora
Evolution
Gnus
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
IBM Lotus Notes
KMail
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office Outlook
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird[16]
Mulberry
Mutt
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus Mail
Pine
Pocomail
RoundCube
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá
Turnpike
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbra
ClientRegularMSN (NTLM)browser loginCompuserve(RPA)MD5 APOP CRAM-HMAC DIGEST-MD5SCRAMwith hardware tokenPKCS#11BiometricSMTP Auth SSL/TLS Client CertificateOAUTH
LOGINPLAINMD5SHA1RIPEMD

SSL and TLS support

ClientSecure POP3Secure IMAP4Secure SMTPSecure NNTPSecure LDAPSNIOCSP CRL 
SSLTLS SSLTLS SSLTLS SSLTLSSSLTLS
Alpine
Apple Mail
Becky! Internet Mail
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Eudora
Evolution
Gnus
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
IBM Lotus Notes
KMail
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office Outlook
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mulberry
Mutt
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus Mail
Pine
Pocomail
RoundCube
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá (system) (system)
Turnpike
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbra
ClientSecure POP3Secure IMAP4Secure SMTPSecure NNTPSecure LDAPSNIOCSP CRL 
SSLTLS SSLTLS SSLTLS SSLTLSSSLTLS

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

General features

For all of these clients, the concept of "HTML support" does not mean that they can process the full range of HTML that a web browser can handle. Almost all email readers limit HTML features, either for security reasons, or because of the nature of the interface. CSS and JavaScript can be especially problematic.

Client emailUTF-8 supportImage blockingJunk filteringPhishing filteringThread viewConversation viewPGP supportS/MIME support
localserver- sideinlinePGP/MIME or OpenPGPprotocolOCSPCRLcertificates on tokens, smartcards support
Alpine
Apple Mail
Becky! Internet Mail
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Eudora
Evolution
Gnus
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
HCL Notes
(4.1.2+)
[17]
KMail
(with GPG)

(1.5+, with GPGME)
Mailbird
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office Outlook (2010+)[18]
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mulberry
MuttYes
(no support for images)
(with GPGME)
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus MailYes
(sending is broken)
Pine
(with Pine Privacy Guard)
Pocomail
RoundCube (depends on antivirus)
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail (depends on antivirus)
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá
Turnpike
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbra (depends on antivirus)
ClientHTML emailUTF-8 supportImage blockingJunk filteringPhishing filteringThread viewConversation viewPGP supportS/MIME support
localserver- sideinlinePGP/MIME or OpenPGPprotocolOCSPCRLcertificates on tokens, smartcards support

Messages features

ClientLabel messagesReformat received messagesBi-directional text supportComposing messagesNative images previewPostpone / scheduled message sendingNative documents preview
with colorswith flagantideleteadd noteedit headers (e.g., Subject)forced recode Spell checkingSignaturesBottom-posts repliesjpeggifbmppngotherstxtpdfdocxlsodtodsothers
Alpine
Becky! Internet Mail
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws Mail
Courier
Elm
eM Client
EmailTray
Eudora
Evolution
Gnus
GroupWise
Hiri
i.Scribe / InScribe
HCL Notes
KMail[19]
Mailbird
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office OutlookPowerPoint
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbird[20]
Mulberry
Mutt
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus Mail
Pine
Pocomail
RoundCube
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!
Trojitá
Turnpike
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbra
ClientLabel messagesReformat received messagesBi-directional text supportComposing messagesNative images previewPostpone/?scheduled message sendingNative documents preview
with colorswith flagantideleteadd noteedit headers (e.g., Subject)forced recode Spell checkingSignaturesBottom-posts repliesjpeggifbmppngotherstxtpdfdocxlsodtodsothers

Database, folders and customization

ClientMessage file formatEncrypted databaseVirtual foldersScheduled backupNew mail notificationCustomizable interfaceCustomizable keybindingsFragmented messages Database search with regular expressions supportIndexed searchSearch folders IMAP
tickertray icontooltipsoundSearchIDLE
Alpinembox, mbx, MIX, maildir (with patches), MMDF, tenex, mtx, MH, mx, news, phile
Becky! Internet Mailmbox
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws MailMH, mbox (plugin)
CourierProprietary (weak) (layout)
Elm
eM ClientProprietary (sqlite)
EmailTrayProprietary
Eudoramodified mbox
Evolutionmaildir, mbox, MH
Gnusbabyl, maildir, mbox, MMDF, news, rnews, SOUP, outlook, oe-dbx
GroupWiseProprietary
HiriProprietary
IBM NotesProprietary[21]
KMailmbox, maildir
MailbirdProprietary
Mailpile
Microsoft EntourageProprietary (Personal Storage Table)
Microsoft Office OutlookProprietary (Personal Storage Table)
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroupsmbox
Mozilla Thunderbirdmbox, maildir (as of 3.0)
Mulberry
Muttmbox, MMDF, MH, maildir (with compressed folders patch[22]) (has limit command)
Netscape Messengermbox
Netscape Messenger 9mbox
nmh / MHMH
Opera Mailmbox, MH, Proprietary
(all folders are virtual)
Outlook ExpressProprietary
Pegasus MailProprietary (mbox-like)[23]
Pinembox, mbx, MIX, maildir (with patches), MMDF, tenex, mtx, MH, mx, news, phile
Pocomailmbox
RoundCube[IMAP Server]
i.Scribe / InScribeProprietary (sqlite)
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroupsmbox
SquirrelMail[IMAP Server]
SylpheedMH
The Bat!ProprietaryYes (AES 128 bit)(with Pro and Voyager version) (PCRE 6.2)
TrojitáIMAP
TurnpikeProprietary
Windows Live MailFile System (.eml)
Windows Mail
YAMmbox, maildir, oe-dbx
ZimbraFile system
ClientMessage file formatEncrypted databaseVirtual foldersScheduled backupNew mail notificationCustomizable interfaceCustomizable keybindingsFragmented messages Database search with regular expressions supportIndexed searchSearch folders IMAP
tickertray icontooltipsoundSearchIDLE

Templates, scripts and programming languages

ClientMessage templatesMessage templates individual forSupport in message templates scripts, programming languages
newreplyforwardread confirmationsaveprintJavaScriptVBScriptPHP ScriptsPythonRegular expressionsJavaOther (specify)
Alpineany
Becky! Internet Mailany
account
folder
Canary Mail
Citadel
Claws Mailaccount
folder
Courier
Elm
eM Clientaccount
Eudoraany
Evolution
Gnus
GroupWise
Hiriany
i.Scribe / InScribeany
IBM Notes[24]
KMailnone
Mailpile
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Office Outlook
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups
Mozilla Thunderbirdprofile
Mulberry
Muttany
Netscape Messenger
Netscape Messenger 9
nmh / MH
Opera Mail
Outlook Express
Pegasus Mail
Pineany
Pocomail
RoundCube
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups
SquirrelMail
Sylpheed
The Bat!account
folder
address book group
contact
Turnpike
Windows Live Mail
Windows Mail
YAM
Zimbraany
ClientMessage templatesMessage templates individual forSupport in message templates scripts, programming languages
newreplyforwardread confirmationsaveprintJavaScriptVBScriptPHP ScriptsPythonRegular expressionsJavaOther (specify)

Internationalization

The Bat! supports Email Address Internationalization (EAI).[25]

As of October 2016, email clients supporting SMTPUTF8 included Outlook 2016,[26] mail for iOS, and mail for Android.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.elmme-mailer.org/NOTICE Elm Mail System GPL
  2. Web site: Pine License . 2006-02-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180602121205/http://www.washington.edu/pine/overview/legal.html . 2018-06-02 . dead .
  3. Web site: The Birth of Eudora . 2007-04-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20021108211012/http://www.eudora.com/presskit/backgrounder.html . 2002-11-08 . dead .
  4. Web site: GNUS: a NNTP based news reader for GNU Emacs (1 of 2). 2008-08-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190300/http://gnus.org/2.0/gnus.1. 2016-03-03.
  5. https://github.com/mailpile/Mailpile/wiki/Release-Notes-201401-Alpha Alpha
  6. https://www.mailpile.is/blog/2017-01-30_A_Plan_for_2017.html tbd 2017
  7. https://www.mailpile.is/blog/2017-08-13_SHA2017.html 1.00 RC
  8. Web site: Other Programming Projects and Downloads. 2007-04-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20070404233358/http://caddit.net/programming.php. 2007-04-04. dead.
  9. Web site: [ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/pine/pcpine/old/PC-PINE-3.96/README PC-PINE-3.96 README]. 2007-04-06.
  10. (setq gnus-select-method '(pop3 "pop.example.com"))
    (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nntp "news.gnus.org")))
    After configuring Gnus for POP3, you can use the gnus-group-get-new-news command to retrieve new messages from your POP3 server.
  11. Web site: w32-send-mapi.el .
  12. Write to LDAP still missing after 10 years, Mozilla bug 86405
  13. Add-ons include MesQuilla ExQuilla Exchange Web Services (alpha) (see also ExQuilla for Microsoft Exchange) and Provider for Microsoft Exchange
  14. Web site: GNU emacs - rss .
  15. via org-mode
  16. Web site: 335924 - No authentication with DIGEST-MD5.
  17. Web site: HCL Product Documentation.
  18. Web site: Sort Your Emails by Conversation in Outlook 2010 - How-To Geek . 2011-04-12 . 2011-06-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110625114031/http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/17937/sort-your-emails-by-conversation-in-outlook-2010 . dead .
  19. Web site: Configure KMail: Appearance Page . KDE . Documentation page . https://web.archive.org/web/20180530222937/https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/pim/kmail2/configure-appearance.html . May 30, 2018 . live . May 30, 2018.
  20. Web site: Header Tools Lite. 8 September 2022 .
  21. Web site: Find product documentation and support. IBM.
  22. Web site: Compressed folders patch for Mutt.
  23. Web site: Pegasus Mail & Mercury - Re: IDLE . 2014-03-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140311181717/http://community.pmail.com/forums/post/17967.aspx . 2014-03-11 .
  24. Web site: IBM Docs.
  25. Web site: Starting with the version 6.0 The Bat! supports IDN (Internationalized Domain Names)).
  26. Web site: International email addresses - Outlook. support.office.com. 2016-10-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20161028083946/https://support.office.com/en-US/article/International-email-addresses-303595ea-4893-4b26-9b14-2202c32fea36. 2016-10-28. dead.