S-nail vs Wanderlust
S-nail: Command-line mail program that implements POSIX mailx, with MIME, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Maildir and S/MIME support.
Wanderlust: Mail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support.
Differences
- S-nail is a command-line program; Wanderlust is a mail client that runs inside Emacs.
- Only S-nail has built-in mbox.
- On Android, S-nail is not available and Wanderlust runs through Termux.
- Wanderlust has mouse support; S-nail does not.
- Wanderlust has OpenPGP; S-nail does not.
- S-nail has S/MIME; Wanderlust does not.
- S-nail is written in C; Wanderlust in Emacs Lisp.
- Configuration: S-nail uses ~/.mailrc command file, and Wanderlust uses Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders.
Side by side
| S-nail | Wanderlust | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Command-line tools and prompts | Runs inside Emacs |
| Language | C | Emacs Lisp |
| License | ISC and BSD 2-Clause and BSD 3-Clause and BSD 4-Clause | GPL 2.0 or later |
| Latest version | 14.9.25 | 2.15.9 |
| Linux | Native | Native |
| macOS | Native | Native |
| Windows | Through WSL | Through WSL |
| BSD | Native | Native |
| Android | No | Through Termux |
| IMAP | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | Yes | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes | Yes |
| JMAP | No | No |
| Maildir | Yes | Yes |
| mbox | Yes | No |
| notmuch | No | Through a separate tool |
| OpenPGP | No | Yes |
| S/MIME | Yes | No |
| OAuth2 sign-in | via script | via oauth2.el |
| Threads | Yes | Yes |
| Search | built-in message specifications and the search command; IMAP SEARCH on IMAP folders | IMAP server-side search; local search via mu, notmuch, grep or namazu |
| HTML mail | built-in tag-soup filter or external viewer via mailcap | via mime-w3m (emacs-w3m) |
| Mouse | No | Yes |
| Multiple accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Offline use | IMAP cache with disconnected mode | message cache and disconnected operation |
| Calendar | No | No |
| Contacts | aliases via the alias command | built-in address book |
| Vim-style keys | No | No |
| Configuration | ~/.mailrc command file | Emacs Lisp in ~/.wl, folder list in ~/.folders |
Which to choose
Choose S-nail for
- Drop-in POSIX mailx, so it works in existing shell scripts and cron jobs.
- Built-in SMTP, POP3 and IMAP with TLS; no separate sync or send tool needed.
- S/MIME signing and encryption are built in.
Watch out for
- Line-oriented prompt instead of a full-screen interface.
- No built-in OpenPGP; upstream documents a gpg pipe workaround only.
- IMAP support is kept at an older code level and upstream advises care.
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 S-nail and Wanderlust?
S-nail is a command-line program; Wanderlust is a mail client that runs inside Emacs. Only S-nail has built-in mbox. On Android, S-nail is not available and Wanderlust runs through Termux.
Which runs on Windows, S-nail or Wanderlust?
On Windows, S-nail runs through WSL. On Windows, Wanderlust runs through WSL.
See also: S-nail alternatives, Wanderlust alternatives.