# 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 |
| 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 |

Pages: [Forward Email](https://terminalemail.com/clients/forward-email/index.md), [Notmuch Emacs interface](https://terminalemail.com/clients/notmuch-emacs/index.md)