Cone vs Mutt
Cone: Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
Mutt: Long-running text-mode email client with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP support, configured through a muttrc file.
Differences
- On Linux, Cone builds from source and Mutt runs natively.
- On macOS, Cone is not available and Mutt runs natively.
- On Android, Cone is not available and Mutt runs through Termux.
- Mutt has S/MIME; Cone does not.
- Mutt has OAuth2 sign-in; Cone does not.
- Mutt has Vim-style keys; Cone does not.
- Cone is written in C++; Mutt in C.
- Configuration: Cone uses interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone, and Mutt uses muttrc text file.
Side by side
| Cone | Mutt | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | C++ | C |
| License | GPL 3.0 | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 2.5 | 2.4.2 |
| Linux | Build from source | Native |
| macOS | No | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | Yes |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | via script |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in folder search; server-side on IMAP | built-in patterns; server-side IMAP search |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML renderer | via mailcap and an external viewer such as w3m or lynx |
| Mouse | No | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | No | with isync or OfflineIMAP; IMAP header and body cache |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | built-in address books, stored locally, in an IMAP folder, or on LDAP | via query_command with abook or khard |
| Vim-style keys | No | Yes |
| Configuration | interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone | muttrc text file |
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 Mutt for
- Packaged by major Linux distributions, Homebrew, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Termux
- Conservative releases that rarely break existing muttrc files
- Built-in PGP/MIME, S/MIME and Autocrypt
Watch out for
- No notmuch, NNTP or scripting support (NeoMutt has these)
- Configuration is a text file with hundreds of options and no setup wizard
- HTML mail needs an external viewer set up in mailcap
Questions
What is the difference between Cone and Mutt?
On Linux, Cone builds from source and Mutt runs natively. On macOS, Cone is not available and Mutt runs natively. On Android, Cone is not available and Mutt runs through Termux.
Which runs on Windows, Cone or Mutt?
On Windows, Cone runs through WSL. On Windows, Mutt runs through WSL.
See also: Cone alternatives, Mutt alternatives.