Terminal email clients with built-in IMAP
Clients that talk to an IMAP server directly, with no separate sync program. 12 clients on this site qualify.
| Systems | Name | Language and license |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL, on Android through Termux. | aercTUITerminal email client written in Go with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and notmuch backends and an embedded terminal for editing. | Go MIT |
| Runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD, on Android through Termux. | AlpineTUIMenu-driven terminal email client descended from Pine, with built-in help, setup screens and native Windows builds. | C Apache 2.0 |
| Runs on BSD, on Windows through WSL, builds from source on Linux. Not available for macOS or Android. | ConeTUIFull-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project. | C++ GPL 3.0 |
| Runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD, on Android through Termux. | GnusEmacsMail and news reader built into GNU Emacs, with back ends for IMAP, POP3, local mail folders and NNTP. | Emacs Lisp GPL 3.0 or later |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and Windows, builds from source on BSD. Not available for Android. | HimalayaCLICommand-line email client written in Rust that lists, reads, sends and moves mail through shell commands with JSON output. | Rust MIT or Apache 2.0 |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and Windows, builds from source on BSD. Not available for Android. | MatchaTUITerminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support. | Go MIT |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD. Not available for Windows or Android. | meliTUITerminal email client written in Rust with IMAP, JMAP, notmuch, Maildir, mbox and NNTP backends and TOML configuration. | Rust EUPL 1.2 or GPL 3.0 or later |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL, on Android through Termux. | MuttTUILong-running text-mode email client with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP support, configured through a muttrc file. | C GPL 2.0 or later |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL, on Android through Termux. | NeoMuttTUIFull-screen terminal mail reader forked from Mutt, with notmuch, NNTP, Lua scripting and a sidebar built in. | C GPL 2.0 or later |
| Runs on Linux and macOS. Not available for Windows, BSD or Android. | nmailTUITerminal email client for Linux and macOS with an Alpine-like interface and built-in IMAP and SMTP. | C++ MIT |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL. Not available for Android. | S-nailCLICommand-line mail program that implements POSIX mailx, with MIME, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Maildir and S/MIME support. | C ISC and BSD 2-Clause and BSD 3-Clause and BSD 4-Clause |
| Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL, on Android through Termux. | WanderlustEmacsMail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support. | Emacs Lisp GPL 2.0 or later |
| Nothing matches. | ||
Other lists: PGP, POP3, JMAP, Maildir, notmuch, OAuth2, mouse support, Email clients with Vim keys, a calendar, Emacs and Open-source terminal.