Matcha vs mblaze
Matcha: Terminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support.
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
Differences
- Matcha is a full-screen terminal client; mblaze is a command-line program.
- Only Matcha has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and JMAP.
- On Windows, Matcha runs natively and mblaze runs through WSL.
- On BSD, Matcha builds from source and mblaze runs natively.
- Matcha has mouse support; mblaze does not.
- Matcha has calendar support; mblaze does not.
- Matcha has S/MIME; mblaze does not.
- Matcha has OAuth2 sign-in; mblaze does not.
- Matcha has Vim-style keys; mblaze does not.
- Matcha is written in Go; mblaze in C.
- Configuration: Matcha uses ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings, and mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines).
Side by side
| Matcha | mblaze | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | Go | C |
| License | MIT | CC0 1.0 and MIT |
| Latest version | v1.0.1 | 1.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Through WSL |
| BSD | Build from source | Native |
| Android | No | No |
| IMAP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| POP3 | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | No | No |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | via contrib scripts |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in search and filter | mpick and magrep filter messages by headers, flags and content |
| HTML mail | built-in rendering, with inline images in supported terminals | via a filter command in ~/.mblaze/filter used by mshow |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | via separate Maildirs and profile settings |
| Offline use | local cache of message lists and bodies | full; works only on local Maildir |
| Calendar | shows .ics invites and sends RSVP replies | No |
| Contacts | address book built from sent and received mail | No |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | No |
| Configuration | ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings | ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines) |
Which to choose
Choose Matcha for
- Supports IMAP, JMAP, POP3 and Maildir in one client
- PGP (including YubiKey) and S/MIME signing and encryption
- Prebuilt packages for Linux (Snap, Flatpak), macOS (Homebrew tap) and Windows (winget)
Watch out for
- Young project; v1.0 shipped only after a long series of 0.x releases
- JSON config is less readable to hand-edit than muttrc-style files
- Binary name clashes with an unrelated tool also called matcha
Choose mblaze for
- Each command does one job, so mail handling is easy to combine in pipes and scripts.
- Works directly on Maildir with no index or database to maintain.
- Small C programs with no external library dependencies.
Watch out for
- No built-in IMAP, POP3 or SMTP; needs mbsync and msmtp or similar tools.
- Command-line only, with no full-screen interface.
- OpenPGP and S/MIME handling relies on unsupported contrib scripts.
Questions
What is the difference between Matcha and mblaze?
Matcha is a full-screen terminal client; mblaze is a command-line program. Only Matcha has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and JMAP. On Windows, Matcha runs natively and mblaze runs through WSL.
Which runs on Windows, Matcha or mblaze?
On Windows, Matcha runs natively. On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL.
See also: Matcha alternatives, mblaze alternatives.