Cone vs Forward Email
Cone: Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
Forward Email: Forward Email's webmail in the terminal: mail, calendar, contacts and settings, with mouse support and a key hint bar.
Differences
- Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; Cone works with any provider over IMAP, including Forward Email.
- On Linux, Cone builds from source and Forward Email runs natively.
- On macOS, Cone is not available and Forward Email runs natively.
- On Windows, Cone runs through WSL and Forward Email runs natively.
- On Android, Cone is not available and Forward Email runs through Termux.
- Forward Email has mouse support; Cone does not.
- Forward Email has calendar support; Cone does not.
- Cone is written in C++; Forward Email in TypeScript.
- Configuration: Cone uses interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone, and Forward Email uses settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css.
- Forward Email is source-available (Business Source License 1.1); Cone is open source (GPL 3.0).
Side by side
| Cone | Forward Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| License | GPL 3.0 | Business Source License 1.1 |
| Latest version | 2.5 | 0.14.16 |
| Linux | Build from source | Native |
| macOS | No | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Native |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Forward Email API |
| POP3 | Yes | Forward Email API |
| SMTP | Yes | Forward Email API |
| JMAP | No | Forward Email API |
| Maildir | Yes | Forward Email API |
| mbox | Yes | Forward Email API |
| notmuch | No | Forward Email API |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in folder search; server-side on IMAP | built-in, across messages, contacts and events |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML renderer | shown as formatted text with links; plain text by default |
| Mouse | No | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | No | drafts and changes made offline are sent when the connection returns |
| Calendar | No | Yes |
| Contacts | built-in address books, stored locally, in an IMAP folder, or on LDAP | Yes |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone | settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css |
Which to choose
Choose Cone for
- Handles IMAP, POP3, local mbox and Maildir folders, and newsgroups in one folder tree.
- Built-in OpenPGP signing and encryption with per-account keys.
- Optional master password encrypts saved server passwords.
Watch out for
- Not packaged by Debian, Fedora, Arch or Homebrew; usually built from source.
- No offline mode for IMAP accounts and no OAuth2.
- No S/MIME support.
Choose Forward Email for
- Calendar, contacts and tasks in the same terminal app as mail
- Mouse clicks, scrolling and text selection work, and the bottom row always shows the keys for the current screen
- One self-updating executable with no setup files to write
Watch out for
- Only works with Forward Email accounts
- Images and video are not drawn; HTML mail is shown as text with links
- Passkey sign-in needs a browser or the desktop app
Questions
What is the difference between Cone and Forward Email?
Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; Cone works with any provider over IMAP, including Forward Email. On Linux, Cone builds from source and Forward Email runs natively. On macOS, Cone is not available and Forward Email runs natively.
Which runs on Windows, Cone or Forward Email?
On Windows, Cone runs through WSL. On Windows, Forward Email runs natively.
See also: Cone alternatives, Forward Email alternatives.