# Gnus vs nmail

- Gnus: Mail and news reader built into GNU Emacs, with back ends for IMAP, POP3, local mail folders and NNTP.
- nmail: Terminal email client for Linux and macOS with an Alpine-like interface and built-in IMAP and SMTP.

## Differences

- Gnus is a mail client that runs inside Emacs; nmail is a full-screen terminal client.
- Only Gnus has built-in POP3, Maildir and mbox.
- On Windows, Gnus runs natively and nmail is not available.
- On BSD, Gnus runs natively and nmail is not available.
- On Android, Gnus runs through Termux and nmail is not available.
- Gnus has mouse support; nmail does not.
- Gnus has calendar support; nmail does not.
- Gnus has OpenPGP; nmail does not.
- Gnus has S/MIME; nmail does not.
- Gnus has multiple accounts; nmail does not.
- Gnus has threaded views; nmail does not.
- Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp; nmail in C++.
- Configuration: Gnus uses Emacs Lisp in init.el or ~/.gnus.el, and nmail uses ~/.config/nmail/main.conf key=value file.

## Side by side

| | Gnus | nmail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Runs inside Emacs | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Emacs Lisp | C++ |
| License | GPL 3.0 or later | MIT |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Not supported |
| BSD | Native | Not supported |
| Android | Through Termux | Not supported |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | Yes | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | No |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | Through a separate tool | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | No |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via plugin | Yes |
| Threads | Yes | No |
| Search | gnus-search: IMAP SEARCH, or notmuch, mu, mairix and other local indexers | local cache index and server search |
| HTML mail | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library | converted to text, or opened in an external browser |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | No |
| Offline use | via the Gnus agent or local Maildir back ends | local SQLite cache; offline mode and send queue |
| Calendar | replies to invitations with gnus-icalendar | No |
| Contacts | via BBDB or EUDC | address book built from messages |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | Emacs Lisp in init.el or ~/.gnus.el | ~/.config/nmail/main.conf key=value file |

Pages: [Gnus](https://terminalemail.com/clients/gnus/index.md), [nmail](https://terminalemail.com/clients/nmail/index.md)