# Mutt vs Sup

- Mutt: Long-running text-mode email client with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP support, configured through a muttrc file.
- Sup: Curses email client in Ruby built around threads, labels and fast full-text search over local mail.

## Differences

- Only Mutt has built-in IMAP, POP3 and SMTP.
- On BSD, Mutt runs natively and Sup builds from source.
- On Android, Mutt runs through Termux and Sup is not available.
- Mutt has S/MIME; Sup does not.
- Mutt has OAuth2 sign-in; Sup does not.
- Mutt is written in C; Sup in Ruby.
- Configuration: Mutt uses muttrc text file, and Sup uses ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks.

## Side by side

| | Mutt | Sup |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Full-screen terminal interface | Full-screen terminal interface |
| Language | C | Ruby |
| License | GPL 2.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Build from source |
| Android | Through Termux | Not supported |
| IMAP | Yes | No |
| POP3 | Yes | No |
| SMTP | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | Yes |
| notmuch | No | No |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | No |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in patterns; server-side IMAP search | Xapian full-text index with a query language |
| HTML mail | via mailcap and an external viewer such as w3m or lynx | via the mime-decode hook and an external viewer such as w3m |
| Mouse | No | No |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | with isync or OfflineIMAP; IMAP header and body cache | reads local Maildir or mbox; sync with isync or OfflineIMAP |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | via query_command with abook or khard | tracks recent contacts automatically |
| Vim-style keys | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration | muttrc text file | ~/.sup/config.yaml and ~/.sup/sources.yaml, plus Ruby hooks |

Pages: [Mutt](https://terminalemail.com/clients/mutt/index.md), [Sup](https://terminalemail.com/clients/sup/index.md)