aerc vs mblaze
aerc: Terminal email client written in Go with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and notmuch backends and an embedded terminal for editing.
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
Differences
- aerc is a full-screen terminal client; mblaze is a command-line program.
- Only aerc has built-in IMAP, SMTP, JMAP, mbox and notmuch.
- On Android, aerc runs through Termux and mblaze is not available.
- aerc has mouse support; mblaze does not.
- aerc has calendar support; mblaze does not.
- aerc has OAuth2 sign-in; mblaze does not.
- aerc has Vim-style keys; mblaze does not.
- aerc is written in Go; mblaze in C.
- Configuration: aerc uses INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf, and mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines).
Side by side
| aerc | mblaze | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | Go | C |
| License | MIT | CC0 1.0 and MIT |
| Latest version | 0.22.0 | 1.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | No |
| IMAP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| POP3 | No | Through a separate tool |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | Yes | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | via contrib scripts |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in; server-side for IMAP and JMAP; notmuch queries | mpick and magrep filter messages by headers, flags and content |
| HTML mail | via filters, w3m by default | via a filter command in ~/.mblaze/filter used by mshow |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | via separate Maildirs and profile settings |
| Offline use | with mbsync or OfflineIMAP through the Maildir backend; IMAP header cache | full; works only on local Maildir |
| 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 | ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines) |
Which to choose
Choose aerc for
- Embedded terminal runs the editor and other commands inside aerc
- Built-in commands for applying and reviewing git patch series
- Supports JMAP and notmuch as well as IMAP and Maildir
Watch out for
- No POP3 or S/MIME support
- mbox files open read-only
- No native Windows build
Choose mblaze for
- Each command does one job, so mail handling is easy to combine in pipes and scripts.
- Works directly on Maildir with no index or database to maintain.
- Small C programs with no external library dependencies.
Watch out for
- No built-in IMAP, POP3 or SMTP; needs mbsync and msmtp or similar tools.
- Command-line only, with no full-screen interface.
- OpenPGP and S/MIME handling relies on unsupported contrib scripts.
Questions
What is the difference between aerc and mblaze?
aerc is a full-screen terminal client; mblaze is a command-line program. Only aerc has built-in IMAP, SMTP, JMAP, mbox and notmuch. On Android, aerc runs through Termux and mblaze is not available.
Which runs on Windows, aerc or mblaze?
On Windows, aerc runs through WSL. On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL.
See also: aerc alternatives, mblaze alternatives.