mblaze vs NeoMutt
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
NeoMutt: Full-screen terminal mail reader forked from Mutt, with notmuch, NNTP, Lua scripting and a sidebar built in.
Differences
- mblaze is a command-line program; NeoMutt is a full-screen terminal client.
- Only NeoMutt has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP, mbox and notmuch.
- On Android, mblaze is not available and NeoMutt runs through Termux.
- NeoMutt has S/MIME; mblaze does not.
- NeoMutt has OAuth2 sign-in; mblaze does not.
- NeoMutt has Vim-style keys; mblaze does not.
- Configuration: mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines), and NeoMutt uses neomuttrc text file.
Side by side
| mblaze | NeoMutt | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 20260616 |
| 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 | Yes |
| 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; notmuch for full-text |
| 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) | neomuttrc 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 NeoMutt for
- Built-in notmuch support for tag-based virtual mailboxes and full-text search
- Reads Usenet over NNTP and supports Lua scripting
- Reads most existing muttrc files with few or no changes
Watch out for
- Configuration is a text file with hundreds of options and no setup wizard
- HTML mail needs an external viewer set up in mailcap
- OAuth2 needs an external token script such as mutt_oauth2.py
Questions
What is the difference between mblaze and NeoMutt?
mblaze is a command-line program; NeoMutt is a full-screen terminal client. Only NeoMutt has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP, mbox and notmuch. On Android, mblaze is not available and NeoMutt runs through Termux.
Which runs on Windows, mblaze or NeoMutt?
On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL. On Windows, NeoMutt runs through WSL.
See also: mblaze alternatives, NeoMutt alternatives.