Gnus vs Wanderlust
Gnus: Mail and news reader built into GNU Emacs, with back ends for IMAP, POP3, local mail folders and NNTP.
Wanderlust: Mail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support.
Differences
- Only Gnus has built-in mbox.
- On Windows, Gnus runs natively and Wanderlust runs through WSL.
- Gnus has calendar support; Wanderlust does not.
- Gnus has S/MIME; Wanderlust does not.
- Configuration: Gnus uses Emacs Lisp in init.el or ~/.gnus.el, and Wanderlust uses Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders.
Side by side
| Gnus | Wanderlust | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Runs inside Emacs | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | Emacs Lisp | Emacs Lisp |
| License | GPL 3.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 5.13 (bundled with Emacs 31.1) | 2.15.9 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | Through a separate tool | Through a separate tool |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via plugin | via oauth2.el |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | gnus-search: IMAP SEARCH, or notmuch, mu, mairix and other local indexers | IMAP server-side search; local search via mu, notmuch, grep or namazu |
| HTML mail | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library | via mime-w3m (emacs-w3m) |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | via the Gnus agent or local Maildir back ends | message cache and disconnected operation |
| Calendar | replies to invitations with gnus-icalendar | No |
| Contacts | via BBDB or EUDC | built-in address book |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | Emacs Lisp in init.el or ~/.gnus.el | Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders |
Which to choose
Choose Gnus for
- Included with every GNU Emacs install, including native Windows builds.
- Reads IMAP directly, plus local Maildir, MH and mbox stores and NNTP newsgroups.
- Scoring, splitting and the Gnus agent allow detailed filtering and offline reading.
Watch out for
- The group, summary and article model takes time to learn.
- IMAP access runs inside Emacs, so large mailboxes can make Emacs wait.
- Configuration is Emacs Lisp spread across many variables.
Choose Wanderlust for
- Built-in IMAP, POP3 and SMTP; no external sync or send tool needed
- Offline cache with disconnected operation
- Packaged in Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, FreeBSD and MELPA
Watch out for
- No formal release in many years; only 2.15.9 snapshots
- Folder syntax and the APEL/FLIM/SEMI dependency stack take time to learn
- Debian and Ubuntu ship an older snapshot than MELPA and Arch
Questions
What is the difference between Gnus and Wanderlust?
Only Gnus has built-in mbox. On Windows, Gnus runs natively and Wanderlust runs through WSL. Gnus has calendar support; Wanderlust does not.
Which runs on Windows, Gnus or Wanderlust?
On Windows, Gnus runs natively. On Windows, Wanderlust runs through WSL.
See also: Gnus alternatives, Wanderlust alternatives.