# 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 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Not supported |
| BSD | Native | Not supported |
| Android | Through Termux | Not supported |
| 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 |

Pages: [Forward Email](https://terminalemail.com/clients/forward-email/index.md), [nmail](https://terminalemail.com/clients/nmail/index.md)