Forward Email vs Matcha
Forward Email: Forward Email's webmail in the terminal: mail, calendar, contacts and settings, with mouse support and a key hint bar.
Matcha: Terminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support.
Differences
- Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; Matcha works with any provider over IMAP, including Forward Email.
- On BSD, Forward Email runs natively and Matcha builds from source.
- On Android, Forward Email runs through Termux and Matcha is not available.
- Matcha has S/MIME; Forward Email does not.
- Matcha has OAuth2 sign-in; Forward Email does not.
- Matcha has Vim-style keys; Forward Email does not.
- Forward Email is written in TypeScript; Matcha in Go.
- Configuration: Forward Email uses settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css, and Matcha uses ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings.
- Forward Email is source-available (Business Source License 1.1); Matcha is open source (MIT).
Side by side
| Forward Email | Matcha | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| License | Business Source License 1.1 | MIT |
| Latest version | 0.14.16 | v1.0.1 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Native |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | Through Termux | No |
| IMAP | Forward Email API | Yes |
| POP3 | Forward Email API | Yes |
| SMTP | Forward Email API | Yes |
| JMAP | Forward Email API | Yes |
| Maildir | Forward Email API | Yes |
| mbox | Forward Email API | No |
| notmuch | Forward Email API | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | Yes |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | Yes |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in, across messages, contacts and events | built-in search and filter |
| HTML mail | shown as formatted text with links; plain text by default | built-in rendering, with inline images in supported terminals |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | drafts and changes made offline are sent when the connection returns | local cache of message lists and bodies |
| Calendar | Yes | shows .ics invites and sends RSVP replies |
| Contacts | Yes | address book built from sent and received mail |
| Vim-style keys | No | Yes |
| Configuration | settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css | ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings |
Which to choose
Choose Forward Email for
- Calendar, contacts and tasks in the same terminal app as mail
- Mouse clicks, scrolling and text selection work, and the bottom row always shows the keys for the current screen
- One self-updating executable with no setup files to write
Watch out for
- Only works with Forward Email accounts
- Images and video are not drawn; HTML mail is shown as text with links
- Passkey sign-in needs a browser or the desktop app
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 Forward Email and Matcha?
Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; Matcha works with any provider over IMAP, including Forward Email. On BSD, Forward Email runs natively and Matcha builds from source. On Android, Forward Email runs through Termux and Matcha is not available.
Which runs on Windows, Forward Email or Matcha?
On Windows, Forward Email runs natively. On Windows, Matcha runs natively.
See also: Forward Email alternatives, Matcha alternatives.