Cone vs nmh
Cone: Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
nmh: The MH message handling system: separate shell commands to read, file, search and send mail stored one file per message.
Differences
- Cone is a full-screen terminal client; nmh is a command-line program.
- Only Cone has built-in IMAP.
- On Linux, Cone builds from source and nmh runs natively.
- On macOS, Cone is not available and nmh runs natively.
- On Android, Cone is not available and nmh runs through Termux.
- nmh has calendar support; Cone does not.
- Cone has OpenPGP; nmh does not.
- Cone has threaded views; nmh does not.
- Cone is written in C++; nmh in C.
- Configuration: Cone uses interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone, and nmh uses ~/.mh_profile and mts.conf text files.
Side by side
| Cone | nmh | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | C++ | C |
| License | GPL 3.0 | BSD 3-Clause |
| Latest version | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Linux | Build from source | Native |
| macOS | No | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| POP3 | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | No |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | No |
| Threads | Yes | No |
| Search | built-in folder search; server-side on IMAP | pick command matches header fields and message text |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML renderer | via mhshow with an external converter such as w3m |
| Mouse | No | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | via per-command switches or separate profiles |
| Offline use | No | full; messages are stored as local files |
| Calendar | No | replies to invitations with mhical |
| Contacts | built-in address books, stored locally, in an IMAP folder, or on LDAP | aliases via MailAliases and the ali command |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone | ~/.mh_profile and mts.conf text files |
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 nmh for
- Every action is a shell command, so mail handling is easy to script.
- One file per message lets grep, find and other Unix tools work on mail.
- Built-in POP3 and SMTP with TLS and SASL; reads mbox and Maildir drops.
Watch out for
- No IMAP; IMAP mail must be synced to a Maildir first and then incorporated.
- No built-in OpenPGP or S/MIME, and no thread view.
- SMTP authentication needs nmh built with Cyrus SASL and its PLAIN or LOGIN plugin.
Questions
What is the difference between Cone and nmh?
Cone is a full-screen terminal client; nmh is a command-line program. Only Cone has built-in IMAP. On Linux, Cone builds from source and nmh runs natively.
Which runs on Windows, Cone or nmh?
On Windows, Cone runs through WSL. On Windows, nmh runs through WSL.
See also: Cone alternatives, nmh alternatives.