Cone vs Wanderlust
Cone: Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
Wanderlust: Mail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support.
Differences
- Cone is a full-screen terminal client; Wanderlust is a mail client that runs inside Emacs.
- Only Cone has built-in mbox.
- On Linux, Cone builds from source and Wanderlust runs natively.
- On macOS, Cone is not available and Wanderlust runs natively.
- On Android, Cone is not available and Wanderlust runs through Termux.
- Wanderlust has mouse support; Cone does not.
- Wanderlust has OAuth2 sign-in; Cone does not.
- Cone is written in C++; Wanderlust in Emacs Lisp.
- Configuration: Cone uses interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone, and Wanderlust uses Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders.
Side by side
| Cone | Wanderlust | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | C++ | Emacs Lisp |
| License | GPL 3.0 | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 2.5 | 2.15.9 |
| 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 | No |
| notmuch | No | Through a separate tool |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | via oauth2.el |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in folder search; server-side on IMAP | IMAP server-side search; local search via mu, notmuch, grep or namazu |
| HTML mail | built-in HTML renderer | via mime-w3m (emacs-w3m) |
| Mouse | No | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | No | message cache and disconnected operation |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | built-in address books, stored locally, in an IMAP folder, or on LDAP | built-in address book |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | interactive setup screens; settings saved under ~/.cone | Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders |
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 Wanderlust for
- Built-in IMAP, POP3 and SMTP; no external sync or send tool needed
- Offline cache with disconnected operation
- Packaged in Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, FreeBSD and MELPA
Watch out for
- No formal release in many years; only 2.15.9 snapshots
- Folder syntax and the APEL/FLIM/SEMI dependency stack take time to learn
- Debian and Ubuntu ship an older snapshot than MELPA and Arch
Questions
What is the difference between Cone and Wanderlust?
Cone is a full-screen terminal client; Wanderlust is a mail client that runs inside Emacs. Only Cone has built-in mbox. On Linux, Cone builds from source and Wanderlust runs natively.
Which runs on Windows, Cone or Wanderlust?
On Windows, Cone runs through WSL. On Windows, Wanderlust runs through WSL.
See also: Cone alternatives, Wanderlust alternatives.