Comparison of e-mail clients

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The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of e-mail client programs. Please see the individual products articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date.

Contents

[edit] General

Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, license/price etc.

Client Creator Cost Software license
Alpine University of Washington Free Apache License
Citadel citadel.org Free GNU GPL
Claws Mail the Claws Mail team Free GNU GPL
Cone Courier Mail Server developers Free GNU GPL
Correo Nick Kreeger Free GNU GPL
Courier (formerly Calypso) Micro Computer Systems, Inc., continued by Rose City Software Free (as of version 3.5) proprietary software
Elm Dave D. Taylor, Sydney Weinstein, Bill Pemberton, Michael Elkins, Kari Hurtta Free Elm Mail System GPL
Eudora Qualcomm Free (Light), Adware (Pro) Future release, Penelope, will be Free/Open Source based on Mozilla Thunderbird
Eureka Email Sean O'Connor Shareware, US$20 full version proprietary software
Gnus Gnus team Free GNU GPL
GroupWise Novell Included with GroupWise mailbox license proprietary software
i.Scribe / InScribe Memecode Freeware (i.Scribe), US$20 (InScribe) proprietary software
IBM Lotus Notes Lotus Software / IBM US$107, includes 1 yr phone support proprietary software
KMail The KMail Team Free, part of KDE GNU GPL
Mail Apple Inc. Part of Mac OS X proprietary software
Mailsmith Bare Bones Software US$75 incl. SpamSieve proprietary software
Microsoft Entourage Microsoft DependsPart of Microsoft Office for Mac proprietary software
Microsoft Office Outlook Microsoft DependsPart of Microsoft Office, US$109 stand-alone proprietary software
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups Mozilla Foundation Free, part of Mozilla Application Suite MPL, MPL/GNU GPL/GNU LGPL tri-license
Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Foundation Free MPL, MPL/GNU GPL/GNU LGPL tri-license
Mulberry Cyrus Daboo (previously Cyrusoft International, Inc./ISAMET Free (as of version 4.0.5)  ??? (old versions), Apache License
Mutt Michael Elkins Free GNU GPL
Netscape Messenger Netscape Communications Free  ?
Netscape Messenger 9 Netscape Communications Free MPL, MPL/GNU GPL/GNU LGPL tri-license
nmh / MH RAND Corporation Free BSD
Novell Evolution Ximian Free GNU GPL
Opera Mail Opera Software Free, Part of Opera Freeware
Outlook Express Microsoft Part of Microsoft Windows proprietary software
Pegasus Mail David Harris Donationware ?
Pine University of Washington Free Pine License
Pocomail Poco Systems $40 Proprietary Software
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups SeaMonkey Council Free, part of SeaMonkey MPL, MPL/GNU GPL/GNU LGPL tri-license
Sylpheed Hiroyuki Yamamoto Free GNU GPL/GNU LGPL
The Bat! RitLabs US$45 proprietary software
Turnpike Thus PLC (Demon Internet) GB£15 + VAT (as of 2007-11, about US$36) proprietary software
Windows Live Mail Microsoft Free proprietary software
Windows Mail Microsoft DependsPart of Microsoft Windows proprietary software
YAM YAM Open Source Team and contributing authors Free GNU GPL
Zimbra Zimbra Free MPL on server and ZPL (attribution clause) on client
Client Creator Cost Software license

[edit] Release history

A brief overview of the release history.

 This section contains information about computer software currently in development.
The content may change as the software development progresses.
Client First public release First stable release Latest stable release
Date Version Date Version Date Version
Alpine November 2006 0.8 December 2007 1.00 August 26, 2008 2.00
Citadel 1987 ? 1988 1.00 September 2007 7.20
Claws Mail May 2001 0.4.67 January 2005 1.0.0 Dec 19, 2008 3.7.0
Cone May 2003 0.50 May 2003 0.50 August 2008 0.77
Correo January 9, 2007 .1 ? ? ? ?
Courier ? ? ? ? ? ?
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora 1988[1] ? 1988[1] ? October 11, 2006 7.1 (Windows), 6.2.4 (Mac OS X)
Eureka Email November 2002 1.0 November 2002 1.0 March 2005 2.2
Gnus 1987[2] ? February 1, 1988[2] 2.0 March 21, 2008 5.10.10
GroupWise ? ? 1986 1.0 November 17, 2008 8.0
i.Scribe / InScribe 1999 1.00 ? ? November 2005 1.88
IBM Lotus Notes 1989 1.0 1989 1.0 August 2008 8.0.2
KMail October 1998 Alpha February 1999 1.0.17 February 13, 2008 3.5.9
Mail ? ? ? ? December 15, 2008 3.5 (930.3)
Mailsmith May 8, 1998 1.0 May 8, 1998 1.0 March 3, 2005 2.1.5
Microsoft Entourage ? ? ? ? 2008 Office 2008 for Mac
Microsoft Office Outlook 1997 97 1997 97 January 30, 2007 12.0.4518.1014
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups December 7, 1998 "Preview" March 19, 1999 M3 April 21, 2006 1.7.13
Mozilla Thunderbird July 28, 2003 0.1 December 7, 2004 1.0 November 19, 2008 2.0.0.18
Mulberry September 20, 1996 1.0 September 20, 1996 1.0 February 21, 2007 4.0.8
Mutt 1995 ? ? ? June 9, 2007 1.4.2.3
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 November 15, 2007 9.0a1 discontinued discontinued discontinued discontinued
nmh / MH 1979 ? ? ? December 20, 2005 1.2 / 6.8.4
Novell Evolution 11 May 2000 0.0 3 December 2001 1.0 28 May 2007 2.10.2
Opera Mail September 1996 2.1b1 December 1996 2.1 October 8, 2008 9.60
Outlook Express 1996 3.0 ? ? October 25, 2001 6.0
Pegasus Mail 1990 ? 1990 ? July 16, 2006 4.41
Pine January 15, 1992 2.00 January 15, 1992 2.00 September 28, 2005 4.64
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups September 15, 2005 1.0a January 30, 2006 1.0 July 14, 2008 1.1.11
Sylpheed January 2000 0.1.0 December 2004 1.0.0 June 17, 2008 2.5.0
The Bat! March 1997 1.0 Beta March 1998 1.00 Build 1310 April 23, 2008 4.0.28
Turnpike  ? 1.0  ?  ? 23 May 2006 6.06
Windows Live Mail ? ? ? ? November 6, 2007 2008 (Build 12.0.1606)
Windows Mail ? ? ? ? November 8, 2006 6.0.6000.16386
YAM 1995 1.0 1995 1.0 23 December 2007 YAM 2.5
Zimbra November, 2005 Beta March, 2006 3.5 February 2008 5.0.2
Client Date Version Date Version Date Version
First public release First stable release Latest stable release

[edit] Operating system support

The operating systems on which the clients can run natively (without emulation).

Client Microsoft Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix FreeDOS, DOS AmigaOS MorphOS
Alpine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Citadel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Claws Mail Yes† Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Cone No ? Yes Yes Yes No No
Correo No Yes No No No No No
Courier Yes No No No No No No
Elm No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Eudora Yes Yes No No No No No
Eureka Email Yes No No No No No No
Gnus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
GroupWise Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
KMail via cygwin Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Mail No Included No No No No No
Mailsmith No Yes No No No No No
Microsoft Entourage No Yes No No No No No
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes No No No No No No
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups Terminated (1.7.13) No No
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Mutt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes [3] No
Netscape Messenger Terminated (4.80) No No
Netscape Messenger 9 Terminated (9.0a1) No No
nmh / MH ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Novell Evolution Yes (beta) Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Opera Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Outlook Express Included (up to XP) No No No No No No
Pegasus Mail Yes No No No No Yes No
Pine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Terminated (3.96) [4] No
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Sylpheed Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
The Bat! Yes No No No No No No
Turnpike Yes No No No No No No
Windows Live Mail Yes No No No No No No
Windows Mail Included (Vista) No No No No No No
YAM No No No No No No Yes
Zimbra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Client Microsoft Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix FreeDOS, DOS AmigaOS MorphOS

^  The windows port of Claws-Mail currently lacks SSL support and IMAP support.

[edit] Protocol support

What e-mail and related protocols and standards are supported by each client.

Client POP3
fetch all messages		 POP3
selected by filter		 POP3
selected by user		 IMAP4
 SMTP
 NNTP
 LDAP v2
 LDAP v3
 IMSP
 ACAP
 RSS 0.91 Feeds RSS 1.0 Feeds RSS 2.0 Feeds ATOM Feeds iCalendar
Alpine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? No Yes † Yes † Yes † Yes †
Cone Yes No No † Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Correo Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No No
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No † No † ? ? Yes Yes Yes No ?
GroupWise Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No ? ? ? ? Yes
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes † Yes † No No No No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes † Yes Yes Yes Yes
KMail Yes No No Yes Yes No † Yes ? ? ? No † No † No † No † No †
Mail Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Mailsmith Yes ? Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ? No No No No No
Microsoft Entourage Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes ? ? ? Yes † Yes † Yes † Yes † Yes †
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Partial ? No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes †
Mulberry Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes ? Yes Yes No No No No Yes
Mutt Yes No (possible with POP3 browser) No (possible with POP3 browser) Yes Yes No (slrn looks alike) Partial (resolve real names through NSS) ? ? ? No No No No No
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Novell Evolution Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No No No No Yes
Opera Mail Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Outlook Express Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? No No No No No
Pegasus Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes † Yes ? ? ? Yes † Yes † Yes † ? ?
Pine Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Partial ? No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes †
Sylpheed Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No
The Bat! Yes Yes † Yes † Yes Yes Yes † Yes No No No Yes † Yes † Yes † Yes † No
Turnpike Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Windows Mail Yes No No Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Zimbra Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Client POP3
fetch all messages		 POP3
selected by filter		 POP3
selected by user		 IMAP4 SMTP NNTP LDAP v2 LDAP v3 IMSP ACAP RSS 0.91 Feeds RSS 1.0 Feeds RSS 2.0 Feeds ATOM Feeds iCalendar
  • ^  An Emacs module named EUDC extends Gnus and BBDB to support LDAP.
  • ^  KDE supports Newsgroups (NNTP) by the use of KNode
  • ^  KDE supports feeds by the use of Akregator
  • ^  KDE supports iCal by the use of KOrganizer
  • ^  Studio Blog Reader is one RSS reader application for IBM Lotus Notes. IBM Lotus Notes version 8.x introduced a native RSS reader.
  • ^  Support of feeds is available in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
  • ^  Microsoft Outlook support of iCalendar varies by version.
  • ^  Selective Download filters can skip/delete messages on POP3 server based on header (sender, recipient, subject, etc) information, this doesn't require to retrieve the full message body from the server.
  • ^  Message Dispatcher allows the user to decide which messages should be retrieved, deleted or skipped based on the header information (sender, recipient, subject, etc) displayed to the user.
  • ^  iCalendar is supported with an extension.
  • ^  RSSyl plugin is required to read RSS and ATOM in Claws Mail.
  • ^  vCalendar plugin is required to handle iCalendar in Claws Mail.
  • ^  The BAT! requires MyGate plugin installed for handling NNTP.
  • ^  The BAT! requires rss2mail or rss2pop3 plugin installed for handling RSS and ATOM.
  • ^  i.Scribe / InScribe requires a plugin to handle LDAP.
  • ^  Pegasus Mail can convert Newsgroup messages and/or RSS feeds to e-mails through the use of free add-ons.
  • ^  Cone has an option to either keep all POP3 mail on the server, or download all messages from the POP3 mailbox.

[edit] Authentication support

Client Regular MSN (NTLM)

browser login

 Compuserve

(RPA)

 MD5 APOP † CRAM-HMAC † DIGEST-MD5 with hardware token

PKCS#11

 Biometric SMTP Auth † SSL/TLS Client Certificate
LOGIN PLAIN MD5 SHA1 RIPEMD
Alpine Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No No No Yes No
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes † ? Yes Yes
Cone Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes
Correo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes ?
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes ?
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes ? Yes