alot vs mblaze

alot: Terminal mail reader written in Python that works on a local notmuch database, with tag-based search and threads.
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.

Differences

alot is a full-screen terminal client; mblaze is a command-line program.
Only alot has built-in notmuch.
alot has mouse support; mblaze does not.
alot has Vim-style keys; mblaze does not.
alot is written in Python; mblaze in C.
Configuration: alot uses INI-style config file plus optional Python hooks, and mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines).

Side by side

	alot	mblaze
Interface	Full-screen terminal interface	Command-line tools and prompts
Language	Python	C
License	GPL 3.0 or later	CC0 1.0 and MIT
Latest version	`0.12`	`1.4`
Linux	Native	Native
macOS	Native	Native
Windows	Through WSL	Through WSL
BSD	Native	Native
Android	No	No
IMAP	Through a separate tool	Through a separate tool
POP3	Through a separate tool	Through a separate tool
SMTP	Through a separate tool	Through a separate tool
JMAP	No	No
Maildir	Yes	Yes
mbox	No	No
notmuch	Yes	No
OpenPGP	Yes	via contrib scripts
S/MIME	No	No
OAuth2 sign-in	No	No
Threads	Yes	Yes
Search	notmuch queries	mpick and magrep filter messages by headers, flags and content
HTML mail	via mailcap, e.g. w3m -dump	via a filter command in ~/.mblaze/filter used by mshow
Mouse	Yes	No
Multiple accounts	Yes	via separate Maildirs and profile settings
Offline use	always; reads a local notmuch database	full; works only on local Maildir
Calendar	No	No
Contacts	via an external lookup command such as abook, khard or notmuch address	No
Vim-style keys	Yes	No
Configuration	INI-style config file plus optional Python hooks	~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines)

Which to choose

Choose alot for

Tag-based searches through notmuch instead of folders
Full PGP/MIME signing and encryption
Python hooks for custom behavior and formatting

Watch out for

Needs separate tools to fetch mail (mbsync) and send it (msmtp)
No direct IMAP, POP3 or SMTP support
No S/MIME support

Install alot

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.

Install mblaze

Questions

What is the difference between alot and mblaze?

alot is a full-screen terminal client; mblaze is a command-line program. Only alot has built-in notmuch. alot has mouse support; mblaze does not.

Which runs on Windows, alot or mblaze?

On Windows, alot runs through WSL. On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL.