# Terminal Email

> Terminal email clients for Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD and Android, compared by the facts. 19 terminal email clients and 7 mail tools, each with verified install commands for Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD and Android, protocol and feature support, pros and cons, a working Forward Email config and links to the sources the facts came from. Made by Forward Email, whose terminal app (`forwardemail`) is featured and disclosed as such.

Every page has a Markdown version at the same URL plus `index.md`. All data is at https://terminalemail.com/api/clients.json and in one text file at https://terminalemail.com/llms-full.txt. Content is CC BY-SA 4.0.

## Featured

- [Forward Email terminal app](https://terminalemail.com/clients/forward-email/index.md): Forward Email's webmail in the terminal: mail, calendar, contacts and settings, with mouse support and a key hint bar.

## Clients

- [aerc](https://terminalemail.com/clients/aerc/index.md): Terminal email client written in Go with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and notmuch backends and an embedded terminal for editing.
- [alot](https://terminalemail.com/clients/alot/index.md): Terminal mail reader written in Python that works on a local notmuch database, with tag-based search and threads.
- [Alpine](https://terminalemail.com/clients/alpine/index.md): Menu-driven terminal email client descended from Pine, with built-in help, setup screens and native Windows builds.
- [Cone](https://terminalemail.com/clients/cone/index.md): Full-screen console mail client and newsreader from the Courier mail server project.
- [Gnus](https://terminalemail.com/clients/gnus/index.md): Mail and news reader built into GNU Emacs, with back ends for IMAP, POP3, local mail folders and NNTP.
- [Himalaya](https://terminalemail.com/clients/himalaya/index.md): Command-line email client written in Rust that lists, reads, sends and moves mail through shell commands with JSON output.
- [Matcha](https://terminalemail.com/clients/matcha/index.md): Terminal email client written in Go with the Bubble Tea TUI library, with IMAP, JMAP and POP3 support.
- [mblaze](https://terminalemail.com/clients/mblaze/index.md): Set of small Unix utilities for reading, searching, threading and composing mail stored in Maildir folders.
- [meli](https://terminalemail.com/clients/meli/index.md): Terminal email client written in Rust with IMAP, JMAP, notmuch, Maildir, mbox and NNTP backends and TOML configuration.
- [mu4e](https://terminalemail.com/clients/mu4e/index.md): Email client that runs inside GNU Emacs, built on the mu Maildir indexer and search tool.
- [Mutt](https://terminalemail.com/clients/mutt/index.md): Long-running text-mode email client with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP support, configured through a muttrc file.
- [NeoMutt](https://terminalemail.com/clients/neomutt/index.md): Full-screen terminal mail reader forked from Mutt, with notmuch, NNTP, Lua scripting and a sidebar built in.
- [nmail](https://terminalemail.com/clients/nmail/index.md): Terminal email client for Linux and macOS with an Alpine-like interface and built-in IMAP and SMTP.
- [nmh](https://terminalemail.com/clients/nmh/index.md): The MH message handling system: separate shell commands to read, file, search and send mail stored one file per message.
- [Notmuch Emacs interface](https://terminalemail.com/clients/notmuch-emacs/index.md): Emacs front end for notmuch that reads, searches, tags and composes mail from a local Maildir.
- [S-nail](https://terminalemail.com/clients/s-nail/index.md): Command-line mail program that implements POSIX mailx, with MIME, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, Maildir and S/MIME support.
- [Sup](https://terminalemail.com/clients/sup/index.md): Curses email client in Ruby built around threads, labels and fast full-text search over local mail.
- [Wanderlust](https://terminalemail.com/clients/wanderlust/index.md): Mail and news reader for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp, with built-in IMAP, POP3, NNTP and SMTP support.

## Mail tools

- [getmail6](https://terminalemail.com/tools/getmail6/index.md): Mail retriever that downloads messages over POP3 or IMAP into Maildir, mbox or an external delivery program.
- [isync](https://terminalemail.com/tools/isync/index.md): Command line program (mbsync) that syncs IMAP mailboxes with local Maildir folders in both directions.
- [msmtp](https://terminalemail.com/tools/msmtp/index.md): SMTP client with a sendmail-compatible interface that terminal mail clients use to send mail.
- [mutt-wizard](https://terminalemail.com/tools/mutt-wizard/index.md): Shell script that sets up NeoMutt, isync and msmtp for an email account, with passwords stored in pass.
- [notmuch](https://terminalemail.com/tools/notmuch/index.md): Command-line mail indexer that adds fast full-text search, threading and tags to a local Maildir.
- [OfflineIMAP](https://terminalemail.com/tools/offlineimap/index.md): Python program that syncs IMAP mailboxes with local Maildir folders in both directions.
- [Pop](https://terminalemail.com/tools/pop/index.md): Send-only email tool from Charm with a terminal form for composing and a command-line mode for scripts.

## By system

- [Terminal email clients for Linux](https://terminalemail.com/linux/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients for macOS](https://terminalemail.com/macos/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients for Windows](https://terminalemail.com/windows/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients for BSD](https://terminalemail.com/bsd/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients for Android](https://terminalemail.com/android/index.md)

## By feature

- [Terminal email clients with OpenPGP](https://terminalemail.com/features/pgp/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients with built-in IMAP](https://terminalemail.com/features/imap/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients with POP3](https://terminalemail.com/features/pop3/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients with JMAP](https://terminalemail.com/features/jmap/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients that read Maildir](https://terminalemail.com/features/maildir/index.md)
- [Email clients for notmuch](https://terminalemail.com/features/notmuch/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients with OAuth2 sign-in](https://terminalemail.com/features/oauth2/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients you can use with a mouse](https://terminalemail.com/features/mouse/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients with Vim-style keys](https://terminalemail.com/features/vim-keys/index.md)
- [Terminal email clients with calendar support](https://terminalemail.com/features/calendar/index.md)
- [Email clients for Emacs](https://terminalemail.com/features/emacs/index.md)
- [Open-source terminal email clients](https://terminalemail.com/features/open-source/index.md)

## Other pages

- [Forward Email settings and configs for every client](https://terminalemail.com/setup/index.md)
- [All comparisons](https://terminalemail.com/compare/index.md) (171 pages such as [NeoMutt vs aerc](https://terminalemail.com/compare/aerc-vs-neomutt/index.md))
- [Alternatives](https://terminalemail.com/alternatives/index.md)
- [About Terminal Email](https://terminalemail.com/about/index.md): What Terminal Email lists, how the facts are checked, and how Forward Email, which makes the site, is featured.

## Data

- [All clients and tools (JSON)](https://terminalemail.com/api/clients.json)
- One JSON file per entry at `/api/clients/<slug>.json`
- [Sitemap](https://terminalemail.com/sitemap.xml)
- Source repository: https://github.com/forwardemail/terminalemail.com