Forward Email vs nmail
Forward Email: Forward Email's webmail in the terminal: mail, calendar, contacts and settings, with mouse support and a key hint bar.
nmail: Terminal email client for Linux and macOS with an Alpine-like interface and built-in IMAP and SMTP.
Differences
- Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; nmail works with any provider over IMAP, including Forward Email.
- On Windows, Forward Email runs natively and nmail is not available.
- On BSD, Forward Email runs natively and nmail is not available.
- On Android, Forward Email runs through Termux and nmail is not available.
- Forward Email has mouse support; nmail does not.
- Forward Email has calendar support; nmail does not.
- Forward Email has OpenPGP; nmail does not.
- nmail has OAuth2 sign-in; Forward Email does not.
- Forward Email has multiple accounts; nmail does not.
- Forward Email has threaded views; nmail does not.
- Forward Email is written in TypeScript; nmail in C++.
- Configuration: Forward Email uses settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css, and nmail uses ~/.config/nmail/main.conf key=value file.
- Forward Email is source-available (Business Source License 1.1); nmail is open source (MIT).
Side by side
| Forward Email | nmail | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| License | Business Source License 1.1 | MIT |
| Latest version | 0.14.16 | v5.16.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | No |
| BSD | Native | No |
| Android | Through Termux | No |
| IMAP | Forward Email API | Yes |
| POP3 | Forward Email API | No |
| SMTP | Forward Email API | Yes |
| JMAP | Forward Email API | No |
| Maildir | Forward Email API | No |
| mbox | Forward Email API | No |
| notmuch | Forward Email API | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | No |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | Yes |
| Threads | Yes | No |
| Search | built-in, across messages, contacts and events | local cache index and server search |
| HTML mail | shown as formatted text with links; plain text by default | converted to text, or opened in an external browser |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | No |
| Offline use | drafts and changes made offline are sent when the connection returns | local SQLite cache; offline mode and send queue |
| Calendar | Yes | No |
| Contacts | Yes | address book built from messages |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css | ~/.config/nmail/main.conf key=value file |
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 nmail for
- Built-in IMAP and SMTP with setup wizards for Gmail, iCloud and Outlook
- Local cache, address book and outgoing queue can be encrypted
- Compose HTML mail using Markdown
Watch out for
- One account per running instance
- No threaded view and no PGP or S/MIME
- Linux and macOS only; no Debian or Fedora package
Questions
What is the difference between Forward Email and nmail?
Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; nmail works with any provider over IMAP, including Forward Email. On Windows, Forward Email runs natively and nmail is not available. On BSD, Forward Email runs natively and nmail is not available.
Which runs on Windows, Forward Email or nmail?
On Windows, Forward Email runs natively. On Windows, nmail is not available.
See also: Forward Email alternatives, nmail alternatives.