# aerc vs Himalaya

- aerc: Terminal email client written in Go with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and notmuch backends and an embedded terminal for editing.
- Himalaya: Command-line email client written in Rust that lists, reads, sends and moves mail through shell commands with JSON output.

## Differences

- aerc is a full-screen terminal client; Himalaya is a command-line program.
- Only aerc has built-in mbox and notmuch.
- On Windows, aerc runs through WSL and Himalaya runs natively.
- On BSD, aerc runs natively and Himalaya builds from source.
- On Android, aerc runs through Termux and Himalaya is not available.
- aerc has mouse support; Himalaya does not.
- aerc has calendar support; Himalaya does not.
- aerc has OpenPGP; Himalaya does not.
- aerc has Vim-style keys; Himalaya does not.
- aerc is written in Go; Himalaya in Rust.
- Configuration: aerc uses INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf, and Himalaya uses TOML file; interactive setup wizard.

## Side by side

| | aerc | Himalaya |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| License | MIT | MIT or Apache 2.0 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Native |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | Through Termux | Not supported |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | No | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | Yes | Yes |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | Yes | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | No |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | via script |
| Threads | Yes | through the IMAP, JMAP and Gmail subcommands |
| Search | built-in; server-side for IMAP and JMAP; notmuch queries | built-in query syntax across backends; server-side for IMAP and JMAP |
| HTML mail | via filters, w3m by default | No |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | with mbsync or OfflineIMAP through the Maildir backend; IMAP header cache | with the Maildir backend and a sync tool such as mbsync |
| Calendar | Yes | No |
| Contacts | via address-book-cmd, e.g. khard or the bundled carddav-query | No |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | No |
| Configuration | INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf | TOML file; interactive setup wizard |

Pages: [aerc](https://terminalemail.com/clients/aerc/index.md), [Himalaya](https://terminalemail.com/clients/himalaya/index.md)