mu4e vs NeoMutt
mu4e: Email client that runs inside GNU Emacs, built on the mu Maildir indexer and search tool.
NeoMutt: Full-screen terminal mail reader forked from Mutt, with notmuch, NNTP, Lua scripting and a sidebar built in.
Differences
- mu4e is a mail client that runs inside Emacs; NeoMutt is a full-screen terminal client.
- Only NeoMutt has built-in IMAP, POP3, mbox and notmuch.
- mu4e has mouse support; NeoMutt does not.
- mu4e has calendar support; NeoMutt does not.
- NeoMutt has Vim-style keys; mu4e does not.
- mu4e is written in Emacs Lisp (mu4e), C++ (mu); NeoMutt in C.
- Configuration: mu4e uses Emacs Lisp in init.el, and NeoMutt uses neomuttrc text file.
Side by side
| mu4e | NeoMutt | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Runs inside Emacs | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Emacs Lisp (mu4e), C++ (mu) | C |
| License | GPL 3.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 1.14.3 | 20260616 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | Through Termux | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| POP3 | Through a separate tool | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | No | Yes |
| notmuch | No | Yes |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | via Emacs MML | Yes |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | via script |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Xapian full-text index with mu query syntax | built-in patterns; notmuch for full-text |
| HTML mail | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library | via mailcap and an external viewer such as w3m or lynx |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | via contexts | Yes |
| Offline use | full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP | with isync or OfflineIMAP; IMAP header and body cache |
| Calendar | replies to invitations with mu4e-icalendar | No |
| Contacts | address completion from indexed mail | via query_command with abook or khard |
| Vim-style keys | No | Yes |
| Configuration | Emacs Lisp in init.el | neomuttrc text file |
Which to choose
Choose mu4e for
- Full-text search over all local mail through mu's Xapian index.
- Works offline, since all mail lives in a local Maildir.
- Uses Emacs message mode, so PGP/MIME, S/MIME and Org mode links are available.
Watch out for
- No built-in IMAP; needs mbsync or a similar sync tool, so setup spans several config files.
- Requires Emacs and some Emacs Lisp to configure.
- No native Windows build, and Arch packages it only in the AUR.
Choose NeoMutt for
- Built-in notmuch support for tag-based virtual mailboxes and full-text search
- Reads Usenet over NNTP and supports Lua scripting
- Reads most existing muttrc files with few or no changes
Watch out for
- Configuration is a text file with hundreds of options and no setup wizard
- HTML mail needs an external viewer set up in mailcap
- OAuth2 needs an external token script such as mutt_oauth2.py
Questions
What is the difference between mu4e and NeoMutt?
mu4e is a mail client that runs inside Emacs; NeoMutt is a full-screen terminal client. Only NeoMutt has built-in IMAP, POP3, mbox and notmuch. mu4e has mouse support; NeoMutt does not.
Which runs on Windows, mu4e or NeoMutt?
On Windows, mu4e runs through WSL. On Windows, NeoMutt runs through WSL.
See also: mu4e alternatives, NeoMutt alternatives.