mblaze vs S-nail
mblaze: Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
S-nail: Command-line mail program that implements POSIX mailx, with MIME, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Maildir and S/MIME support.
Differences
- Only S-nail has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and mbox.
- mblaze has OpenPGP; S-nail does not.
- S-nail has S/MIME; mblaze does not.
- S-nail has OAuth2 sign-in; mblaze does not.
- Configuration: mblaze uses ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines), and S-nail uses ~/.mailrc command file.
Side by side
| mblaze | S-nail | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Command-line tools and prompts | Command-line tools and prompts |
| Language | C | C |
| License | CC0 1.0 and MIT | ISC and BSD 2-Clause and BSD 3-Clause and BSD 4-Clause |
| Latest version | 1.4 | 14.9.25 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | No |
| 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 | No |
| 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 message specifications and the search command; IMAP SEARCH on IMAP folders |
| HTML mail | via a filter command in ~/.mblaze/filter used by mshow | built-in tag-soup filter or external viewer via mailcap |
| Mouse | No | No |
| Multiple accounts | via separate Maildirs and profile settings | Yes |
| Offline use | full; works only on local Maildir | IMAP cache with disconnected mode |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | No | aliases via the alias command |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | ~/.mblaze/profile (header-style key: value lines) | ~/.mailrc command 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 S-nail for
- Drop-in POSIX mailx, so it works in existing shell scripts and cron jobs.
- Built-in SMTP, POP3 and IMAP with TLS; no separate sync or send tool needed.
- S/MIME signing and encryption are built in.
Watch out for
- Line-oriented prompt instead of a full-screen interface.
- No built-in OpenPGP; upstream documents a gpg pipe workaround only.
- IMAP support is kept at an older code level and upstream advises care.
Questions
What is the difference between mblaze and S-nail?
Only S-nail has built-in IMAP, POP3, SMTP and mbox. mblaze has OpenPGP; S-nail does not. S-nail has S/MIME; mblaze does not.
Which runs on Windows, mblaze or S-nail?
On Windows, mblaze runs through WSL. On Windows, S-nail runs through WSL.
See also: mblaze alternatives, S-nail alternatives.