Cone vs Matcha
Cone: Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
Matcha: Terminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support.
Differences
- Only Cone has built-in mbox.
- Only Matcha has built-in JMAP.
- On Linux, Cone builds from source and Matcha runs natively.
- On macOS, Cone is not available and Matcha runs natively.
- On Windows, Cone runs through WSL and Matcha runs natively.
- On BSD, Cone runs natively and Matcha builds from source.
- Matcha has mouse support; Cone does not.
- Matcha has calendar support; Cone does not.
- Matcha has S/MIME; Cone does not.
- Matcha has OAuth2 sign-in; Cone does not.
- Matcha has Vim-style keys; Cone does not.
- Cone is written in C++; Matcha in Go.
- Configuration: Cone uses interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone, and Matcha uses ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings.
Side by side
| Cone | Matcha | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| License | GPL 3.0 | MIT |
| Latest version | 2.5 | v1.0.1 |
| Linux | Build from source | Native |
| macOS | No | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Native |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | No | No |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | Yes |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | Yes |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | Yes |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in folder search; server-side on IMAP | built-in search and filter |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML renderer | built-in rendering, with inline images in supported terminals |
| Mouse | No | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | No | local cache of message lists and bodies |
| Calendar | No | shows .ics invites and sends RSVP replies |
| Contacts | built-in address books, stored locally, in an IMAP folder, or on LDAP | address book built from sent and received mail |
| Vim-style keys | No | Yes |
| Configuration | interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone | ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings |
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 Matcha for
- Supports IMAP, JMAP, POP3 and Maildir in one client
- PGP (including YubiKey) and S/MIME signing and encryption
- Prebuilt packages for Linux (Snap, Flatpak), macOS (Homebrew tap) and Windows (winget)
Watch out for
- Young project; v1.0 shipped only after a long series of 0.x releases
- JSON config is less readable to hand-edit than muttrc-style files
- Binary name clashes with an unrelated tool also called matcha
Questions
What is the difference between Cone and Matcha?
Only Cone has built-in mbox. Only Matcha has built-in JMAP. On Linux, Cone builds from source and Matcha runs natively.
Which runs on Windows, Cone or Matcha?
On Windows, Cone runs through WSL. On Windows, Matcha runs natively.
See also: Cone alternatives, Matcha alternatives.