# aerc vs Sup

- aerc: Terminal email client written in Go with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and notmuch backends and an embedded terminal for editing.
- Sup: Curses email client in Ruby built around threads, labels and fast full-text search over local mail.

## Differences

- Only aerc has built-in IMAP, SMTP, JMAP and notmuch.
- On BSD, aerc runs natively and Sup builds from source.
- On Android, aerc runs through Termux and Sup is not available.
- aerc has mouse support; Sup does not.
- aerc has calendar support; Sup does not.
- aerc has OAuth2 sign-in; Sup does not.
- aerc is written in Go; Sup in Ruby.
- Configuration: aerc uses INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf, and Sup uses ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks.

## Side by side

| | aerc | Sup |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Go | Ruby |
| License | MIT | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | Through Termux | Not supported |
| IMAP | Yes | No |
| POP3 | No | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | Yes | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in; server-side for IMAP and JMAP; notmuch queries | Xapian full-text index with a query language |
| HTML mail | via filters, w3m by default | via the mime-decode hook and an external viewer such as w3m |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | with mbsync or OfflineIMAP through the Maildir backend; IMAP header cache | reads local Maildir or mbox; sync with isync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | Yes | No |
| Contacts | via address-book-cmd, e.g. khard or the bundled carddav-query | tracks recent contacts automatically |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration | INI-style files: accounts.conf, aerc.conf, binds.conf | ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks |

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