Alpine vs S-nail
Alpine: Menu-driven terminal email client descended from Pine, with built-in help, setup screens and native Windows builds.
S-nail: Command-line mail program that implements POSIX mailx, with MIME, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Maildir and S/MIME support.
Differences
- Alpine is a full-screen terminal client; S-nail is a command-line program.
- Only S-nail has built-in Maildir.
- On Windows, Alpine runs natively and S-nail runs through WSL.
- On Android, Alpine runs through Termux and S-nail is not available.
- Alpine has mouse support; S-nail does not.
- Alpine has calendar support; S-nail does not.
- Alpine has OpenPGP; S-nail does not.
- Configuration: Alpine uses built-in setup screens, stored in .pinerc, and S-nail uses ~/.mailrc command file.
Side by side
| Alpine | S-nail | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | C | C |
| License | Apache 2.0 | ISC and BSD 2-Clause and BSD 3-Clause and BSD 4-Clause |
| Latest version | 2.26 | 14.9.25 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | No |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | No | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | via plugin | No |
| S/MIME | Yes | Yes |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | via script |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in search and message selection; server-side for IMAP | built-in message specifications and the search command; IMAP SEARCH on IMAP folders |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML-to-text rendering | built-in tag-soup filter or external viewer via mailcap |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | No | IMAP cache with disconnected mode |
| Calendar | Yes | No |
| Contacts | built-in address book; LDAP lookup | aliases via the alias command |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | built-in setup screens, stored in .pinerc | ~/.mailrc command file |
Which to choose
Choose Alpine for
- Command list on every screen and built-in help for each option
- Official native Windows builds alongside Unix packages
- Built-in XOAUTH2 for Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo, and built-in S/MIME
Watch out for
- PGP needs external display and sending filters
- No Maildir, notmuch or JMAP support
- Last stable release is 2.26; newer work is in alpha builds
Choose S-nail for
- Drop-in POSIX mailx, so it works in existing shell scripts and cron jobs.
- Built-in SMTP, POP3 and IMAP with TLS; no separate sync or send tool needed.
- S/MIME signing and encryption are built in.
Watch out for
- Line-oriented prompt instead of a full-screen interface.
- No built-in OpenPGP; upstream documents a gpg pipe workaround only.
- IMAP support is kept at an older code level and upstream advises care.
Questions
What is the difference between Alpine and S-nail?
Alpine is a full-screen terminal client; S-nail is a command-line program. Only S-nail has built-in Maildir. On Windows, Alpine runs natively and S-nail runs through WSL.
Which runs on Windows, Alpine or S-nail?
On Windows, Alpine runs natively. On Windows, S-nail runs through WSL.
See also: Alpine alternatives, S-nail alternatives.