# 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 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Not supported |
| BSD | Native | Not supported |
| Android | Not supported | Not supported |
| 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 |

Pages: [mblaze](https://terminalemail.com/clients/mblaze/index.md), [nmail](https://terminalemail.com/clients/nmail/index.md)