mblaze vs nmail
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
nmail: Terminal email client for Linux and macOS with an Alpine-like interface and built-in IMAP and SMTP.
Differences
- mblaze is a command-line program; nmail is a full-screen terminal client.
- Only mblaze has built-in Maildir.
- Only nmail has built-in IMAP and SMTP.
- On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL and nmail is not available.
- On BSD, mblaze runs natively and nmail is not available.
- mblaze has OpenPGP; nmail does not.
- nmail has OAuth2 sign-in; mblaze does not.
- mblaze has multiple accounts; nmail does not.
- mblaze has threaded views; nmail does not.
- mblaze is written in C; nmail in C++.
- Configuration: mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines), and nmail uses ~/.config/nmail/main.conf key=value file.
Side by side
| mblaze | nmail | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Command-line tools and prompts | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | C | C++ |
| License | CC0 1.0 and MIT | MIT |
| Latest version | 1.4 | v5.16.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | No |
| BSD | Native | No |
| Android | No | No |
| IMAP | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| POP3 | Through a separate tool | No |
| SMTP | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | No |
| mbox | No | No |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | via contrib scripts | No |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | No | Yes |
| Threads | Yes | No |
| Search | mpick and magrep filter messages by headers, flags and content | local cache index and server search |
| HTML mail | via a filter command in ~/.mblaze/filter used by mshow | converted to text, or opened in an external browser |
| Mouse | No | No |
| Multiple accounts | via separate Maildirs and profile settings | No |
| Offline use | full; works only on local Maildir | local SQLite cache; offline mode and send queue |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | No | address book built from messages |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines) | ~/.config/nmail/main.conf key=value 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 nmail for
- Built-in IMAP and SMTP with setup wizards for Gmail, iCloud and Outlook
- Local cache, address book and outgoing queue can be encrypted
- Compose HTML mail using Markdown
Watch out for
- One account per running instance
- No threaded view and no PGP or S/MIME
- Linux and macOS only; no Debian or Fedora package
Questions
What is the difference between mblaze and nmail?
mblaze is a command-line program; nmail is a full-screen terminal client. Only mblaze has built-in Maildir. Only nmail has built-in IMAP and SMTP.
Which runs on Windows, mblaze or nmail?
On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL. On Windows, nmail is not available.
See also: mblaze alternatives, nmail alternatives.