Comparison of email clients

The following tables compare general and technical features of notable non-web-based email client programs.

General

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

   No longer in active development
  1. ^ Or LicenseRef-KDE-Accepted-GPL: "Any later version accepted by the membership of KDE e.V. (or its successor approved by the membership of KDE e.V.), which shall act as a proxy defined in Section 14 of version 3 of the license."

Release history

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A brief digest of the release histories.

Operating system support

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

  1. ^ Development stopped in 2008
  2. ^ a b Packaging planned
  3. ^ a b Free Software project, source available.
  4. ^ a b Free Software porting tangible provided OS has web browser.


Protocol support

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Communication and access protocol support

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

Integration protocol support

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  1. ^ Becky! requires FRNews or BkNews plugin installed for handling NNTP.
  2. ^ a b i.Scribe / InScribe requires a plugin to handle LDAP.
  3. ^ KDE supports Newsgroups (NNTP) by the use of KNode
  4. ^ a b c d Pegasus Mail can convert Newsgroup messages and/or RSS feeds to emails through the use of free add-ons.
  5. ^ Selective Download filters can skip/delete messages on POP3 server based on header (sender, recipient, subject, etc) information, this doesn't require to retrieve the full message body from the server.
  6. ^ Message Dispatcher allows the user to decide which messages should be retrieved, deleted or skipped based on the header information (sender, recipient, subject, etc) displayed to the user.
  7. ^ The Bat! requires MyGate plugin installed for handling NNTP.
  8. ^ a b c d Becky! requires BkBlogReader or BkRSSviewer or B.F.R or BkRssReader plugin installed for handling RSS and ATOM.
  9. ^ a b c RSSyl plugin is required to read RSS and ATOM in Claws Mail.
  10. ^ vCalendar plugin is required to handle iCalendar in Claws Mail.
  11. ^ a b c The evolution-rss plugin (provided as a separate package by many distributions provides the RSS functionality in Evolution.
  12. ^ Studio Blog Reader is one RSS reader application for IBM Lotus Notes. IBM Lotus Notes version 8.x introduced a native RSS reader.
  13. ^ a b c d KDE supports feeds by the use of Akregator
  14. ^ KDE supports iCal by the use of KOrganizer
  15. ^ a b c d Support of feeds is available in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Earlier versions require RSSPopper plug-in.
  16. ^ Microsoft Outlook support of iCalendar varies by version.
  17. ^ a b iCalendar is supported with an extension.
  18. ^ Mozilla Thunderbird only supports SimpleMAPI.[citation needed]
  19. ^ a b c d The Bat! versions prior to 6.3 required rss2mail or rss2pop3 plugin installed for handling RSS and ATOM. The Bat! versions 6.3 and later have built-in support for RSS.

Authentication support

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Client Regular
MSN (NTLM)
browser login
Compuserve
(RPA)
MD5 APOP [Note 1]
CRAM-HMAC
[Note 2]
DIGEST-MD5
SCRAM
with hardware token
PKCS#11
Biometric
SMTP Auth [Note 3]
LOGIN
PLAIN
MD5
SHA1
RIPEMD
Alpine Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No ? No No Yes No ?
Apple Mail Yes Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes [Note 4]
Becky! Internet Mail Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ?
Canary Mail Yes Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes No ? Yes No Yes
Courier Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? No No Yes Yes ?
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
eM Client Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes ? No No Yes No Yes
EmailTray Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No ? ? No No Yes No ?
Eudora Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No ? No No No ? ?
Evolution Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes ? No No Yes No Yes
Gnus Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ?
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hiri Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No ? No No No No Yes
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No ? No No Yes No Yes
IBM Lotus Notes Yes ? Yes No No No ? ? ? ? Yes No Yes ? ?
KMail Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes ? No No Yes Yes ?
Mailpile ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes No Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? Yes Yes ?
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes No Yes No No No No No No ? No No Yes No ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups Yes ? ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No[44] ? Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes ? No No Yes Yes ?
Mutt Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No Yes ? No No 1.5.15 Yes 1.10.1
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No ? ? ? No No Yes Yes ?
Outlook Express Yes No Yes No No No No No No ? No No Yes No ?
Pegasus Mail Yes ? No No Yes No No No No ? No No Yes Yes ?
Pine Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No ? No No Yes No ?
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RoundCube Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No[44] ? Yes No Yes Yes ?
SquirrelMail Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? ?
Sylpheed Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No ? No No Yes No No
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No ? Yes [Note 5] Yes [Note 5] Yes No Yes
Trojitá Yes No No No No No No No No ? No No Yes No ?
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No ? No No No No No
Windows Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes [Note 6]
YAM Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes AmiSSL ?
Zimbra Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? Yes [Note 7] ? ?
Client Regular
MSN (NTLM)
browser login
Compuserve
(RPA)
MD5 APOP [Note 1]
CRAM-HMAC
[Note 2]
DIGEST-MD5
SCRAM
with hardware token
PKCS#11
Biometric
SMTP Auth [Note 3]
SSL/TLS
Client Certificate
OAUTH
LOGIN
PLAIN
MD5
SHA1
RIPEMD
  1. ^ a b Description: RFC 1734
  2. ^ a b Description: RFC 2195
  3. ^ a b Description: RFC 2554
  4. ^ Minimum Mac OS version 10.11. Minimum iOS version 11.
  5. ^ a b Professional Edition.
  6. ^ Windows 10 required.
  7. ^ Zimbra Desktop supports SMTP auth, not sure about collaboration suite

SSL and TLS support

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Client Secure POP3 Secure IMAP4 Secure SMTP Secure NNTP Secure LDAP SNI OCSP [Note 1] CRL [Note 2]
SSL TLS [Note 3] SSL TLS [Note 3] SSL TLS [Note 4] SSL TLS SSL TLS
Alpine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Apple Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Becky! Internet Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Canary Mail No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
Courier No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
eM Client Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No ? No Yes
EmailTray Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No ? No No
Eudora Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ? ?
Evolution Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No No
Gnus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Hiri No No No No No No No No No No No No No
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No ? No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes Yes
KMail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? ? ? ? ?
Mailpile ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ? ?
Mutt Yes Yes Yes Yes 1.5.15 1.5.15 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail Yes Partial [Note 5] Yes Partial [Note 5] Yes Partial [Note 5] Yes No ? Yes Yes
Outlook Express Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pegasus Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ?
Pine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? ? ?
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RoundCube Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SquirrelMail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ? ?
Sylpheed Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes [Note 6] Yes [Note 6]
Trojitá ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? Yes (system) Yes (system)
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail Yes No Yes No Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Mail Yes No Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM Yes Yes No No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zimbra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes