# 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 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | Not supported |
| 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) |

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