aerc vs meli
aerc: Terminal email client written in Go with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and notmuch backends and an embedded terminal for editing.
meli: Terminal email client written in Rust with IMAP, JMAP, notmuch, Maildir, mbox and NNTP backends and TOML configuration.
Differences
- On Windows, aerc runs through WSL and meli is not available.
- On Android, aerc runs through Termux and meli is not available.
- aerc has calendar support; meli does not.
- aerc is written in Go; meli in Rust.
- Configuration: aerc uses INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf, and meli uses TOML file (config.toml).
Side by side
| aerc | meli | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| License | MIT | EUPL 1.2 or GPL 3.0 or later |
| Latest version | 0.22.0 | 0.8.13 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | No |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | No |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | No | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | Yes | Yes |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | Yes | Yes |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | via script |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in; server-side for IMAP and JMAP; notmuch queries | built-in; sqlite3 index by default; notmuch queries |
| HTML mail | via filters, w3m by default | via filter command, w3m by default |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | with mbsync or OfflineIMAP through the Maildir backend; IMAP header cache | IMAP header cache in sqlite3; full offline use with Maildir and mbsync |
| Calendar | Yes | No |
| Contacts | via address-book-cmd, e.g. khard or the bundled carddav-query | built-in contact list; reads vCard and mutt alias files |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration | INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf | TOML file (config.toml) |
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 meli for
- Supports JMAP, notmuch, IMAP, Maildir and NNTP in one client
- Single TOML file with per-account and per-mailbox overrides
- Embedded terminal runs the editor inside the compose view
Watch out for
- No POP3 or S/MIME support
- mbox support is read-only
- No Windows or Termux packages
Questions
What is the difference between aerc and meli?
On Windows, aerc runs through WSL and meli is not available. On Android, aerc runs through Termux and meli is not available. aerc has calendar support; meli does not.
Which runs on Windows, aerc or meli?
On Windows, aerc runs through WSL. On Windows, meli is not available.
See also: aerc alternatives, meli alternatives.