# Forward Email vs nmh

- Forward Email: Forward Email's webmail in the terminal: mail, calendar, contacts and settings, with mouse support and a key hint bar.
- nmh: The MH message handling system: separate shell commands to read, file, search and send mail stored one file per message.

## Differences

- Forward Email is a full-screen terminal client; nmh is a command-line program.
- Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; nmh works with any provider, including Forward Email.
- On Windows, Forward Email runs natively and nmh runs through WSL.
- Forward Email has mouse support; nmh does not.
- Forward Email has OpenPGP; nmh does not.
- Forward Email has threaded views; nmh does not.
- Forward Email is written in TypeScript; nmh in C.
- Configuration: Forward Email uses settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css, and nmh uses ~/.mh_profile and mts.conf text files.
- Forward Email is source-available (Business Source License 1.1); nmh is open source (BSD 3-Clause).

## Side by side

| | Forward Email | nmh |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| License | Business Source License 1.1 | BSD 3-Clause |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Forward Email API | Through a separate tool |
| POP3 | Forward Email API | Yes |
| SMTP | Forward Email API | Yes |
| JMAP | Forward Email API | No |
| Maildir | Forward Email API | Yes |
| mbox | Forward Email API | Yes |
| notmuch | Forward Email API | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | No |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | No |
| Threads | Yes | No |
| Search | built-in, across messages, contacts and events | pick command matches header fields and message text |
| HTML mail | shown as formatted text with links; plain text by default | via mhshow with an external converter such as w3m |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | via per-command switches or separate profiles |
| Offline use | drafts and changes made offline are sent when the connection returns | full; messages are stored as local files |
| Calendar | Yes | replies to invitations with mhical |
| Contacts | Yes | aliases via MailAliases and the ali command |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css | ~/.mh_profile and mts.conf text files |

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