meli vs Wanderlust
meli: Terminal email client written in Rust with IMAP, JMAP, notmuch, Maildir, mbox and NNTP backends and TOML configuration.
Wanderlust: Mail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support.
Differences
- meli is a full-screen terminal client; Wanderlust is a mail client that runs inside Emacs.
- Only meli has built-in JMAP, mbox and notmuch.
- Only Wanderlust has built-in POP3.
- On Windows, meli is not available and Wanderlust runs through WSL.
- On Android, meli is not available and Wanderlust runs through Termux.
- meli has Vim-style keys; Wanderlust does not.
- meli is written in Rust; Wanderlust in Emacs Lisp.
- Configuration: meli uses TOML file (config.toml), and Wanderlust uses Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders.
Side by side
| meli | Wanderlust | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | Rust | Emacs Lisp |
| License | EUPL 1.2 or GPL 3.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 0.8.13 | 2.15.9 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | No | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | No | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | Yes | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | No | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | via oauth2.el |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in; sqlite3 index by default; notmuch queries | IMAP server-side search; local search via mu, notmuch, grep or namazu |
| HTML mail | via filter command, w3m by default | via mime-w3m (emacs-w3m) |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | IMAP header cache in sqlite3; full offline use with Maildir and mbsync | message cache and disconnected operation |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | built-in contact list; reads vCard and mutt alias files | built-in address book |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | No |
| Configuration | TOML file (config.toml) | Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders |
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 Wanderlust for
- Built-in IMAP, POP3 and SMTP; no external sync or send tool needed
- Offline cache with disconnected operation
- Packaged in Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, FreeBSD and MELPA
Watch out for
- No formal release in many years; only 2.15.9 snapshots
- Folder syntax and the APEL/FLIM/SEMI dependency stack take time to learn
- Debian and Ubuntu ship an older snapshot than MELPA and Arch
Questions
What is the difference between meli and Wanderlust?
meli is a full-screen terminal client; Wanderlust is a mail client that runs inside Emacs. Only meli has built-in JMAP, mbox and notmuch. Only Wanderlust has built-in POP3.
Which runs on Windows, meli or Wanderlust?
On Windows, meli is not available. On Windows, Wanderlust runs through WSL.
See also: meli alternatives, Wanderlust alternatives.