mblaze vs Mutt
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
Mutt: Long-running text-mode email client with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP support, configured through a muttrc file.
Differences
- mblaze is a command-line program; Mutt is a full-screen terminal client.
- Only Mutt has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and mbox.
- On Android, mblaze is not available and Mutt runs through Termux.
- Mutt has S/MIME; mblaze does not.
- Mutt has OAuth2 sign-in; mblaze does not.
- Mutt has Vim-style keys; mblaze does not.
- Configuration: mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines), and Mutt uses muttrc text file.
Side by side
| mblaze | Mutt | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Command-line tools and prompts | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | C | C |
| License | CC0 1.0 and MIT | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 1.4 | 2.4.2 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| POP3 | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| SMTP | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | No | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | via contrib scripts | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | Yes |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | via script |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | mpick and magrep filter messages by headers, flags and content | built-in patterns; server-side IMAP search |
| HTML mail | via a filter command in ~/.mblaze/filter used by mshow | via mailcap and an external viewer such as w3m or lynx |
| Mouse | No | No |
| Multiple accounts | via separate Maildirs and profile settings | Yes |
| Offline use | full; works only on local Maildir | with isync or OfflineIMAP; IMAP header and body cache |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | No | via query_command with abook or khard |
| Vim-style keys | No | Yes |
| Configuration | ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines) | muttrc text file |
Which to choose
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.
Choose Mutt for
- Packaged by major Linux distributions, Homebrew, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Termux
- Conservative releases that rarely break existing muttrc files
- Built-in PGP/MIME, S/MIME and Autocrypt
Watch out for
- No notmuch, NNTP or scripting support (NeoMutt has these)
- Configuration is a text file with hundreds of options and no setup wizard
- HTML mail needs an external viewer set up in mailcap
Questions
What is the difference between mblaze and Mutt?
mblaze is a command-line program; Mutt is a full-screen terminal client. Only Mutt has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and mbox. On Android, mblaze is not available and Mutt runs through Termux.
Which runs on Windows, mblaze or Mutt?
On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL. On Windows, Mutt runs through WSL.
See also: mblaze alternatives, Mutt alternatives.