meli vs Sup
meli: Terminal email client written in Rust with IMAP, JMAP, notmuch, Maildir, mbox and NNTP backends and TOML configuration.
Sup: Curses email client in Ruby built around threads, labels and fast full-text search over local mail.
Differences
- Only meli has built-in IMAP, SMTP, JMAP and notmuch.
- On Windows, meli is not available and Sup runs through WSL.
- On BSD, meli runs natively and Sup builds from source.
- meli has mouse support; Sup does not.
- meli has OAuth2 sign-in; Sup does not.
- meli is written in Rust; Sup in Ruby.
- Configuration: meli uses TOML file (config.toml), and Sup uses ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks.
Side by side
| meli | Sup | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Rust | Ruby |
| License | EUPL 1.2 or GPL 3.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 0.8.13 | 1.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | No | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | No | No |
| IMAP | Yes | No |
| POP3 | No | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | Yes | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in; sqlite3 index by default; notmuch queries | Xapian full-text index with a query language |
| HTML mail | via filter command, w3m by default | via the mime-decode hook and an external viewer such as w3m |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | IMAP header cache in sqlite3; full offline use with Maildir and mbsync | reads local Maildir or mbox; sync with isync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | built-in contact list; reads vCard and mutt alias files | tracks recent contacts automatically |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration | TOML file (config.toml) | ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks |
Which to choose
Choose meli for
- Supports JMAP, notmuch, IMAP, Maildir and NNTP in one client
- Single TOML file with per-account and per-mailbox overrides
- Embedded terminal runs the editor inside the compose view
Watch out for
- No POP3 or S/MIME support
- mbox support is read-only
- No Windows or Termux packages
Choose Sup for
- Fast full-text search over large archives
- Gmail-style labels, archiving and muting of threads
- Ruby hooks for custom behavior
Watch out for
- No built-in IMAP or SMTP; needs isync (or similar) and msmtp
- Changes sync back to Maildir only with the optional sync-back setting
- Packaged by Debian and Ubuntu (and the AUR); elsewhere installed as a Ruby gem with native Xapian bindings
Questions
What is the difference between meli and Sup?
Only meli has built-in IMAP, SMTP, JMAP and notmuch. On Windows, meli is not available and Sup runs through WSL. On BSD, meli runs natively and Sup builds from source.
Which runs on Windows, meli or Sup?
On Windows, meli is not available. On Windows, Sup runs through WSL.
See also: meli alternatives, Sup alternatives.