# Cone vs Notmuch Emacs interface

- Cone: Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
- Notmuch Emacs interface: Emacs front end for notmuch that reads, searches, tags and composes mail from a local Maildir.

## Differences

- Cone is a full-screen terminal client; Notmuch Emacs interface is a mail client that runs inside Emacs.
- Only Cone has built-in IMAP, POP3 and mbox.
- Only Notmuch Emacs interface has built-in notmuch.
- On Linux, Cone builds from source and Notmuch Emacs interface runs natively.
- On macOS, Cone is not available and Notmuch Emacs interface runs natively.
- On Android, Cone is not available and Notmuch Emacs interface runs through Termux.
- Notmuch Emacs interface has mouse support; Cone does not.
- Notmuch Emacs interface has calendar support; Cone does not.
- Notmuch Emacs interface has S/MIME; Cone does not.
- Notmuch Emacs interface has OAuth2 sign-in; Cone does not.
- Cone is written in C++; Notmuch Emacs interface in Emacs Lisp.
- Configuration: Cone uses interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone, and Notmuch Emacs interface uses Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config file.

## Side by side

| | Cone | Notmuch Emacs interface |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | C++ | Emacs Lisp |
| License | GPL 3.0 | GPL 3.0 or later |
| Linux | Build from source | Native |
| macOS | Not supported | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Not supported | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| POP3 | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | No | Yes |
| 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 | notmuch Xapian full-text search with tags |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML renderer | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library |
| Mouse | No | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | No | full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | No | shows text/calendar parts; no invitation replies |
| Contacts | built-in address books, stored locally, in an IMAP folder, or on LDAP | address completion from the notmuch index |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone | Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config file |

Pages: [Cone](https://terminalemail.com/clients/cone/index.md), [Notmuch Emacs interface](https://terminalemail.com/clients/notmuch-emacs/index.md)