Forward Email vs Notmuch Emacs interface

Forward Email: Forward Email's webmail in the terminal: mail, calendar, contacts and settings, with mouse support and a key hint bar.
Notmuch Emacs interface: Emacs front end for notmuch that reads, searches, tags and composes mail from a local Maildir.

Differences

Forward Email is a full-screen terminal client; Notmuch Emacs interface is a mail client that runs inside Emacs.
Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; Notmuch Emacs interface works with any provider, including Forward Email.
On Windows, Forward Email runs natively and Notmuch Emacs interface runs through WSL.
Notmuch Emacs interface has S/MIME; Forward Email does not.
Notmuch Emacs interface has OAuth2 sign-in; Forward Email does not.
Forward Email is written in TypeScript; Notmuch Emacs interface in Emacs Lisp.
Configuration: Forward Email uses settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css, and Notmuch Emacs interface uses Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config file.
Forward Email is source-available (Business Source License 1.1); Notmuch Emacs interface is open source (GPL 3.0 or later).

Side by side

	Forward Email	Notmuch Emacs interface
Interface	Full-screen terminal interface	Runs inside Emacs
Language	TypeScript	Emacs Lisp
License	Business Source License 1.1	GPL 3.0 or later
Latest version	`0.14.16`	`0.40`
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	Through a separate tool
SMTP	Forward Email API	Yes
JMAP	Forward Email API	No
Maildir	Forward Email API	Yes
mbox	Forward Email API	No
notmuch	Forward Email API	Yes
OpenPGP	Yes	Yes
S/MIME	No	Yes
OAuth2 sign-in	No	via script
Threads	Yes	Yes
Search	built-in, across messages, contacts and events	notmuch Xapian full-text search with tags
HTML mail	shown as formatted text with links; plain text by default	built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library
Mouse	Yes	Yes
Multiple accounts	Yes	Yes
Offline use	drafts and changes made offline are sent when the connection returns	full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP
Calendar	Yes	shows text/calendar parts; no invitation replies
Contacts	Yes	address completion from the notmuch index
Vim-style keys	No	No
Configuration	settings screens, keyboard shortcut editor and an optional user.css	Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config 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

Install Forward Email

Choose Notmuch Emacs interface for

Tag-based organization with fast full-text search over all local mail.
Shows a whole thread in a single buffer.
Handles PGP/MIME and S/MIME signatures and decryption through notmuch.

Watch out for

No built-in IMAP; needs mbsync or a similar sync tool.
Custom tags stay in the local index; only standard flags such as unread and replied reach the IMAP server.
Requires Emacs and some Emacs Lisp to configure.

Install Notmuch Emacs interface

Questions

What is the difference between Forward Email and Notmuch Emacs interface?

Forward Email is a full-screen terminal client; Notmuch Emacs interface is a mail client that runs inside Emacs. Forward Email connects to Forward Email accounts through its API; Notmuch Emacs interface works with any provider, including Forward Email. On Windows, Forward Email runs natively and Notmuch Emacs interface runs through WSL.

Which runs on Windows, Forward Email or Notmuch Emacs interface?

On Windows, Forward Email runs natively. On Windows, Notmuch Emacs interface runs through WSL.