Comparison of email clients
The following tables compare general and technical features of notable non-web-based email client programs.
General
Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, O/S, license, and interface.| Client | Author/Developer | Operating system | Software license | User Interface |
| Alpine | University of Washington | Cross-platform | TUI | |
| Apple Mail | Apple | macOS, iOS, watchOS | GUI | |
| Balsa | Stuart Parmenter | Linux | GUI | |
| Becky! Internet Mail | Rimarts | Windows | GUI | |
| BlitzMail | Dartmouth College | GUI | ||
| Canary Mail | Cartasec Pte. Ltd. | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Citadel | citadel.org | Unix-like | Webmail | |
| Claws Mail | the Claws Mail team | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Courier | Micro Computer Systems, Inc., continued by Rose City Software | Windows | GUI | |
| Elm | Dave Taylor, Sydney Weinstein, Bill Pemberton, Michael Elkins, Kari Hurtta | Unix-like | TUI | |
| eM Client | eM Client Inc. | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS | GUI | |
| EmailTray | Internet Promotion Agency S.A. | Windows, Android | GUI | |
| Eudora OSE | Qualcomm | Windows, macOS | GUI | |
| Evolution | The GNOME Project | Unix-like | GUI | |
| FirstClass | Open Text | GUI | ||
| Forté Agent | Mark Sidell | Windows | GUI | |
| Geary | The GNOME Project | Unix-like | GUI | |
| GNUMail | Ludovic Marcotte and others | Unix-like, macOS | GUI | |
| Gnus | Gnus team | Cross-platform | TUI and GUI | |
| GroupWise | Micro Focus | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Hiri | Hiri | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| i.Scribe, InScribe | Memecode | Windows, macOS, Linux | GUI | |
| HCL Notes | HCL Technologies, HCL Technologies | Windows, macOS, Linux | GUI, Web and Mobile | |
| IMP | Horde LLC | Cross-platform | Webmail | |
| K-9 Mail | K-9 Dog Walkers: cketti, et al. | Android | GUI | |
| KMail | KDE | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Mail (Windows) | Microsoft | Windows | GUI | |
| Mailbird | Mailbird | Windows | GUI | |
| Mailpile | Mailpile | Windows, macOS, Linux | Webmail | |
| mailx | Unix-like | TUI | ||
| Microsoft Entourage | Microsoft | macOS | GUI | |
| Microsoft Outlook | Microsoft | Windows, macOS | GUI | |
| Mozilla [Mail & Newsgroups] | Mozilla Foundation | GUI | ||
| Mozilla Thunderbird | Mozilla Foundation | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Mulberry | Cyrus Daboo | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Mutt | Michael Elkins | Cross-platform | TUI | |
| Netscape Messenger | Netscape Communications | GUI | ||
| Netscape Messenger 9 | Netscape Communications | GUI | ||
| Nylas Mail | Nylas | Windows, macOS, Linux | GUI | |
| nmh / MH | RAND Corporation | Unix-like | CLI | |
| Opera Mail | Opera Software | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Outlook Express | Microsoft | Windows | GUI | |
| Pegasus Mail | David Harris | Windows | GUI | |
| Pine | University of Washington | Cross-platform | TUI | |
| Pocomail | Poco Systems | Windows | GUI | |
| RoundCube | The RoundCube Team | Cross-platform | Webmail | |
| Samsung Email | Samsung Electronics | Samsung, Android 8+ | GUI | |
| SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups | SeaMonkey Council | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Spark | Readdle | macOS | GUI | |
| SquirrelMail | The SquirrelMail Project Team | Cross-platform | Webmail | |
| Superhuman | Rahul Vohra | Cross-platform | Webmail | |
| Sylpheed | Hiroyuki Yamamoto | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| The Bat! | RitLabs | Windows | GUI | |
| Trojitá | KDE | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Turnpike | Thus PLC (Demon Internet) | Windows | GUI | |
| Vivaldi | Vivaldi Technologies AS | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Windows Live Mail | Microsoft | Windows | GUI | |
| Windows Mail (Vista) | Microsoft | Windows | GUI | |
| YAM | YAM Open Source Team and contributing authors | AmigaOS | GUI | |
| Zimbra Desktop | Zimbra | Cross-platform | GUI | |
| Client | Author/Developer | [|Operating system] | Software license | User interface |
Release history
A brief digest of the release histories.| Client | First public Date | First public Version | First stable Date | First stable Version | Latest stable release |
| Alpine | 2006-11 | 0.8 | 2007 December | 1.00 | |
| Apple Mail | 2001-03-24 | ? | ? | ? | |
| Becky! Internet Mail | 1996 | 1 | |||
| Canary Mail | 2017-06-15 | 1.0 | 2017-06-15 | 1.0 | 4.01 |
| Citadel | 1987 | 1988 | 1.00 | ||
| Claws Mail | 2001-05 | 0.4.67 | 2005-01 | 1.0.0 | |
| Courier | 2004-06 | 3.5 | discontinued | discontinued | |
| Elm | 1986 | 1987-03 | 2 | ||
| eM Client | 2007-11 | 1.0 | 2007-11 | 1.0 | |
| EmailTray | 2010-10 | 2.0 | 2011-03 | 3.11 | |
| Eudora | 1988 | 1988 | |||
| Evolution | 2000-05-11 | 0.0 | 2001-12-03 | 1.0 | |
| Forté Agent | |||||
| Geary | 2012 | 0.1 | 2012 | 0.1 | |
| Gnus | 1987 | 1988-02-01 | 2.0 | 2015-04-06 | |
| GroupWise | 1986 | 1.0 | |||
| Hiri | 2014-02 | 0.4 | 2016-06 | 1.0 | |
| i.Scribe / InScribe | 1999 | 1.00 | |||
| HCL Notes | 1989 | 1.0 | 1989 | 1.0 | |
| IMP | 1998 | 1.0 | |||
| K-9 Mail | |||||
| KMail | 1998-10 | Alpha | 1999-02 | 1.0.17 | |
| Mailbird | 2013-04-01 | Public Beta | |||
| Mailpile | 2011-11 | ||||
| Microsoft Entourage | |||||
| Microsoft Office Outlook | 1997 | 97 | 1997 | 97 | |
| Mozilla Thunderbird | 2003-07-28 | 0.1 | 2004-12-07 | 1.0 | |
| Mulberry | 1996-09-20 | 1.0 | 1996-09-20 | 1.0 | |
| Mutt | 1995 | ||||
| Netscape Messenger | |||||
| Netscape Messenger 9 | 2007-11-15 | 9.0a1 | discontinued | discontinued | 2007-11-15 |
| nmh / MH | 1979 | ||||
| Opera Mail | 1996-09 | 2.1b1 | 1996-12 | 2.1 | |
| Outlook Express | 1996 | 3.0 | |||
| Pegasus Mail | 1990 | 1990 | |||
| Pine | 1992-01-15 | 2.00 | 1992-01-15 | 2.00 | |
| Pocomail | 1999 | ||||
| RoundCube | 2006 | 0.1-rc1 | 2014-04-07 | 1.0.0 | |
| SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups | 2005-09-15 | 1.0a | 2006-01-30 | 1.0 | |
| SquirrelMail | 1999-12 | 0.1 | 2001-01 | 1.0 | |
| Sylpheed | 2000-01 | 0.1.0 | 2004-12 | 1.0.0 | |
| The Bat! | 1997-03 | 1.0 Beta | 1998-03 | 1.00 Build 1310 | |
| Trojitá | 2009-08 | 0.1 | 2012-12 | 0.3.90 | |
| Turnpike | 1996 | 1.0 | 1996 | 1.0 | |
| Vivaldi | 2015-11-03 | Beta 1 | 2022-06-09 | 1.0 | |
| Windows Live Mail | 2007-11-06 | 12 | 2007-11-06 | 12 | |
| Windows Mail | 2007-01-01 | ||||
| YAM | 1995 | 1.0 | 1995 | 1.0 | |
| Zimbra | 2005-11 | Beta | 2006-03 | 3.5 |
Operating system support
The operating systems on which the clients can run natively.Protocol support
Communication and access protocol support
What email and related protocols and standards are supported by each client.| Client | POP3 fetch all messages | POP3 selected by filter | POP3 selected by user | IMAP4 | SMTP | NNTP | LDAP v2 | LDAP v3 | EWS | IPv6 | MAPI |
| Alpine | |||||||||||
| Apple Mail | |||||||||||
| Becky! Internet Mail | |||||||||||
| Canary Mail | |||||||||||
| Citadel | |||||||||||
| Claws Mail | |||||||||||
| Courier | |||||||||||
| Elm | |||||||||||
| eM Client | |||||||||||
| EmailTray | |||||||||||
| Evolution | |||||||||||
| Gnus | |||||||||||
| 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 | extensible | ||||||||||
| Mulberry | |||||||||||
| Mutt | No | No | |||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||
| Client | POP3 fetch all messages | POP3 selected by filter | POP3 selected by user | IMAP4 | SMTP | NNTP | LDAP v2 | LDAP v3 | EWS | IPv6 | MAPI |
Integration protocol support
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.Internationalization
The Bat! supports Email Address Internationalization.As of October 2016, email clients supporting SMTPUTF8 included Outlook 2016, mail for iOS, and mail for Android.