mu4e vs Sup
mu4e: Email client that runs inside GNU Emacs, built on the mu Maildir indexer and search tool.
Sup: Curses email client in Ruby built around threads, labels and fast full-text search over local mail.
Differences
- mu4e is a mail client that runs inside Emacs; Sup is a full-screen terminal client.
- Only mu4e has built-in SMTP.
- Only Sup has built-in mbox.
- On BSD, mu4e runs natively and Sup builds from source.
- On Android, mu4e runs through Termux and Sup is not available.
- mu4e has mouse support; Sup does not.
- mu4e has calendar support; Sup does not.
- mu4e has S/MIME; Sup does not.
- mu4e has OAuth2 sign-in; Sup does not.
- Sup has Vim-style keys; mu4e does not.
- mu4e is written in Emacs Lisp (mu4e), C++ (mu); Sup in Ruby.
- Configuration: mu4e uses Emacs Lisp in init.el, and Sup uses ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks.
Side by side
| mu4e | Sup | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Runs inside Emacs | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | Emacs Lisp (mu4e), C++ (mu) | Ruby |
| License | GPL 3.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 1.14.3 | 1.4 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | Through Termux | No |
| IMAP | Through a separate tool | No |
| POP3 | Through a separate tool | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | No | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | via Emacs MML | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Xapian full-text index with mu query syntax | Xapian full-text index with a query language |
| HTML mail | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library | via the mime-decode hook and an external viewer such as w3m |
| Mouse | Yes | No |
| Multiple accounts | via contexts | Yes |
| Offline use | full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP | reads local Maildir or mbox; sync with isync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | replies to invitations with mu4e-icalendar | No |
| Contacts | address completion from indexed mail | tracks recent contacts automatically |
| Vim-style keys | No | Yes |
| Configuration | Emacs Lisp in init.el | ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks |
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 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 mu4e and Sup?
mu4e is a mail client that runs inside Emacs; Sup is a full-screen terminal client. Only mu4e has built-in SMTP. Only Sup has built-in mbox.
Which runs on Windows, mu4e or Sup?
On Windows, mu4e runs through WSL. On Windows, Sup runs through WSL.
See also: mu4e alternatives, Sup alternatives.