Matcha vs Sup
Matcha: Terminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support.
Sup: Curses email client in Ruby built around threads, labels and fast full-text search over local mail.
Differences
- Only Matcha has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and JMAP.
- Only Sup has built-in mbox.
- On Windows, Matcha runs natively and Sup runs through WSL.
- Matcha has mouse support; Sup does not.
- Matcha has calendar support; Sup does not.
- Matcha has S/MIME; Sup does not.
- Matcha has OAuth2 sign-in; Sup does not.
- Matcha is written in Go; Sup in Ruby.
- Configuration: Matcha uses ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings, and Sup uses ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks.
Side by side
| Matcha | Sup | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Go | Ruby |
| License | MIT | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | v1.0.1 | 1.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Native | Through WSL |
| BSD | Build from source | Build from source |
| Android | No | No |
| IMAP | Yes | No |
| POP3 | Yes | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | No | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | Yes | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in search and filter | Xapian full-text index with a query language |
| HTML mail | built-in rendering, with inline images in supported terminals | via the mime-decode hook and an external viewer such as w3m |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | local cache of message lists and bodies | reads local Maildir or mbox; sync with isync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | shows .ics invites and sends RSVP replies | No |
| Contacts | address book built from sent and received mail | tracks recent contacts automatically |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration | ~/.config/matcha/config.json plus in-app settings | ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks |
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 Sup for
- Fast full-text search over large archives
- Gmail-style labels, archiving and muting of threads
- Ruby hooks for custom behavior
Watch out for
- No built-in IMAP or SMTP; needs isync (or similar) and msmtp
- Changes sync back to Maildir only with the optional sync-back setting
- Packaged by Debian and Ubuntu (and the AUR); elsewhere installed as a Ruby gem with native Xapian bindings
Questions
What is the difference between Matcha and Sup?
Only Matcha has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and JMAP. Only Sup has built-in mbox. On Windows, Matcha runs natively and Sup runs through WSL.
Which runs on Windows, Matcha or Sup?
On Windows, Matcha runs natively. On Windows, Sup runs through WSL.
See also: Matcha alternatives, Sup alternatives.