# Matcha vs mu4e

- Matcha: Terminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support.
- mu4e: Email client that runs inside GNU Emacs, built on the mu Maildir indexer and search tool.

## Differences

- Matcha is a full-screen terminal client; mu4e is a mail client that runs inside Emacs.
- Only Matcha has built-in IMAP, POP3 and JMAP.
- On Windows, Matcha runs natively and mu4e runs through WSL.
- On BSD, Matcha builds from source and mu4e runs natively.
- On Android, Matcha is not available and mu4e runs through Termux.
- Matcha has Vim-style keys; mu4e does not.
- Matcha is written in Go; mu4e in Emacs Lisp (mu4e), C++ (mu).
- Configuration: Matcha uses ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings, and mu4e uses Emacs Lisp in init.el.

## Side by side

| | Matcha | mu4e |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | Go | Emacs Lisp (mu4e), C++ (mu) |
| License | MIT | GPL 3.0 or later |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Through WSL |
| BSD | Build from source | Native |
| Android | Not supported | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| POP3 | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | No | No |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | Yes | via Emacs MML |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | via script |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in search and filter | Xapian full-text index with mu query syntax |
| HTML mail | built-in rendering, with inline images in supported terminals | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | via contexts |
| Offline use | local cache of message lists and bodies | full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | shows .ics invites and sends RSVP replies | replies to invitations with mu4e-icalendar |
| Contacts | address book built from sent and received mail | address completion from indexed mail |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | No |
| Configuration | ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings | Emacs Lisp in init.el |

Pages: [Matcha](https://terminalemail.com/clients/matcha/index.md), [mu4e](https://terminalemail.com/clients/mu4e/index.md)