# Notmuch Emacs interface vs Wanderlust

- Notmuch Emacs interface: Emacs front end for notmuch that reads, searches, tags and composes mail from a local Maildir.
- Wanderlust: Mail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support.

## Differences

- Only Notmuch Emacs interface has built-in notmuch.
- Only Wanderlust has built-in IMAP and POP3.
- Notmuch Emacs interface has calendar support; Wanderlust does not.
- Notmuch Emacs interface has S/MIME; Wanderlust does not.
- Configuration: Notmuch Emacs interface uses Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config file, and Wanderlust uses Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders.

## Side by side

| | Notmuch Emacs interface | Wanderlust |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Interface | Runs inside Emacs | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | Emacs Lisp | Emacs Lisp |
| License | GPL 3.0 or later | GPL 2.0 or later |
| 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 | No |
| notmuch | Yes | Through a separate tool |
| OpenPGP | Yes | Yes |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | via oauth2.el |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | notmuch Xapian full-text search with tags | IMAP server-side search; local search via mu, notmuch, grep or namazu |
| HTML mail | built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library | via mime-w3m (emacs-w3m) |
| Mouse | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP | message cache and disconnected operation |
| Calendar | shows text/calendar parts; no invitation replies | No |
| Contacts | address completion from the notmuch index | built-in address book |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config file | Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders |

Pages: [Notmuch Emacs interface](https://terminalemail.com/clients/notmuch-emacs/index.md), [Wanderlust](https://terminalemail.com/clients/wanderlust/index.md)