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Comparison of email clients

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jengelh (talk | contribs) at 01:35, 2 November 2008 (→Database, folders and customization: slipped). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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

General

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

Client Creator Cost Software license
@Mail @Mail Free Apache 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 Non-freeUS$107, includes 1 yr phone support proprietary software
Kerio WebMail Kerio Technologies Non-freePart of Kerio MailServer 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 Non-freeUS$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
Open-Xchange Open-Xchange 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 Non-freeUS$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

Release history

A brief overview of the release history. Template:Beta software

Client First public release First stable release Latest stable release
Date Version Date Version Date Version
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ?
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 Jun 27 2008 3.5.0
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ?
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 ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe 1999 1.00 ? ? November 2005 1.88
IBM Lotus Notes 1989 1.0 1989 1.0 August 2008 8.0.2
Kerio WebMail ? ? ? ? ? ?
KMail October 1998 Alpha February 1999 1.0.17 February 13 2008 3.5.9
Mail ? ? ? ? September 15, 2008 3.5 (929.4/929.2)
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 September 25 2008 2.0.0.17
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
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? April 2006 0.8.2
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

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
@Mail Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Citadel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Claws Mail YesTemplate:Refun Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Cone ? ? ? ? Yes ? ?
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 ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Kerio WebMail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 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
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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.

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
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? No Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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 Template:Refun No Template:Refun ? ? Yes Yes Yes No ?
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun No No No No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kerio WebMail Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? No No No No Yes
KMail Yes No No Yes Yes No Template:Refun Yes ? ? ? No Template:Refun No Template:Refun No Template:Refun No Template:Refun No Template:Refun
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 Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Partial ? No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun
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
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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 Template:Refun Yes ? ? ? Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun ? ?
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 Template:Refun
Sylpheed Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No
The Bat! Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes No No No Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun 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. [1]
  • ^ 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.

Authentication support

Client Regular MSN (NTLM)

browser login

Compuserve

(RPA)

MD5 APOP Template:Refun CRAM-HMAC Template:Refun DIGEST-MD5 with hardware token

PKCS#11

Biometric SMTP Auth Template:Refun SSL/TLS Client Certificate
LOGIN PLAIN MD5 SHA1 RIPEMD
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No No No Yes No
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Template:Refun ? Yes Yes
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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 No No No ? ? ? Yes No Yes ?
Kerio WebMail Yes Yes ? No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes
KMail Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes ?
Mail Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun No Yes Yes Template:Refun ? ? ? ? ? Yes ?
Mailsmith ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes No Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? Yes ? Yes Yes
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No Yes ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No [2] Yes No Yes Yes
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes
Mutt Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No Yes No No 1.5.15 Yes
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Novell Evolution Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes ?
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes
Outlook Express Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No Yes ?
Pegasus Mail Yes ? No No Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes
Pine Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No No No Yes No
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No [3] Yes No Yes Yes
Sylpheed Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No No No ?
Windows Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? AmiSSL
Zimbra Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ? ?
Client Regular MSN (NTLM)

browser login

Compuserve

(RPA)

MD5 APOP Template:Refun CRAM-HMAC Template:Refun DIGEST-MD5 with hardware token

PKCS#11

Biometric SMTP Auth Template:Refun SSL/TLS Client Certificate
LOGIN PLAIN MD5 SHA1 RIPEMD

SSL and TLS Support

Client Secure POP3 Secure IMAP4 Secure SMTP Secure NNTP Secure LDAP OCSP Template:Refun CRL Template:Refun
SSL TLS Template:Refun SSL TLS Template:Refun SSL TLS Template:Refun SSL TLS SSL TLS
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Correo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier No No No No No No No No No No No No
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ?
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes
Kerio WebMail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes ? ?
KMail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? ? ? ?
Mail Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? No No Yes ? ? ?
Mailsmith ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ?
Mutt Yes Yes Yes Yes 1.5.15 1.5.15 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Novell Evolution Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? ? ? ?
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail Yes Partial Template:Refun Yes Partial Template:Refun Yes Partial Template:Refun Yes No No No ? ?
Outlook Express Yes No Yes No Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pegasus Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ?
Pine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? ?
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Sylpheed ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail Yes No Yes No Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Mail Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zimbra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Client Secure POP3 Secure IMAP4 Secure SMTP Secure NNTP Secure LDAP OCSP Template:Refun CRL Template:Refun
SSL TLS Template:Refun SSL TLS Template:Refun SSL TLS Template:Refun SSL TLS SSL TLS

Features

Information on what features each of the clients support.

Note that for all of these clients, the concept of "HTML support" does not mean that they can process the full range of HTML that a web browser can handle. Almost all email readers limit HTML features, either for security reasons, or because of the nature of the interface. CSS and Javascript can be especially problematic. A number of articles describe these limitations per-email-client; see 1, 2, 3, and 4

Client HTML e-mail UTF-8 support Image blocking Junk filtering Phishing filtering Thread view PGP support S/MIME support
local server-side inline PGP/MIME or OpenPGP protocol OCSP CRL certificates on tokens, smartcards support
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Citadel Yes Yes No Yes Template:Refun ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Read-only Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Correo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier Yes No No Yes Yes ? No ? ? ? ? ? ?
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Yes No Yes Pro only Pro only ? Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes ? ? ?
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Read-only Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes Yes No No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes
(4.1.2+) 		Yes Yes, [4] Yes Yes
Kerio WebMail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ?
KMail Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes
(with GPG) 		Yes
(1.5+, with GPGME) 		Yes ? ? ?
Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes ? ?
Mailsmith ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? ? ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes Yes Yes No since 1.5.0.4 Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun ? ? ?
Mutt External Yes Yes
(no support for images) 		Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes (with GPGME) ?
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Novell Evolution Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ?
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail Read-only Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No No No ? ? ?
Outlook Express Yes Yes Yes No ? ? Yes Yes Template:Refun No Template:Refun Yes ? ? ?
Pegasus Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes
(sending is broken) 		? No No No
Pine Read-only Yes Yes No ? ? Yes Yes
(with Pine Privacy Guard) 		No Yes ? ? ?
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes ? Yes
Sylpheed No Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Template:Refun Partial Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Windows Mail Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zimbra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (depends on antivirus) Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ?
Client HTML e-mail UTF-8 support Image blocking Junk filtering Phishing filtering Thread view PGP support S/MIME support
local server-side inline PGP/MIME or OpenPGP protocol OCSP CRL certificates on tokens, smartcards support
  • ^ First release 6.0 (September 2003), enhancements introduced in release 7.0 (August 2005)
  • ^ PGP/GPG and S/MIME support require a free (included) plugin.
  • ^ Sylpheed has some limited ability to show HTML email. It can show the plain text that's left after stripping away all the HTML tags. Sylpheed has no ability to compose HTML.
  • ^ The Bat is not able to display inline images.
  • ^ The Bat! supports two modes of S/MIME: Internal Implementation and via Microsoft Crypto API[5]. CRLs and OCSP are only supported in the latter mode.
  • ^ The Bat! supports two modes of S/MIME: Internal Implementation and via Microsoft Crypto API. Internal implementation only supports Aladdin eToken Pro or Rainbow iKey1000[6] tokens and can import certificates (from PKCS#12/PFX format) which were created outside The Bat!. CryptoAPI supports any kind of tokens and smart cards which have a corresponding Cryptographic Service Provider installed.
  • ^ Citadel plugs Mail into SpamAssassin
  • ^ Eudora requires a plugin to handle PGP.
  • ^ Mail requires GPGMail-plugin.
  • ^ Using PGP in Thunderbird requires Enigmail.
  • ^ Using PGP in Outlook Express requires a plugin.
  • ^ Outlook Express does not display PGP/MIME signed messages.

Messages features

Client Label Messages Spell Checking Signatures Native images preview
with Colors with flag antidelete add note jpeg gif bmp png others
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Correo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes XPM
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes No No Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun ICO, TIFF
IBM Lotus Notes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No CGM, Lotus PIC, PCX, TIFF
Kerio WebMail Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
KMail No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Mail Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes any QuickTime supported format
Mailsmith ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes Yes ? YesTemplate:Refun Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes PDF
Microsoft Outlook Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ICO
Mulberry ? Yes ? ? Yes Yes No No No No No
Mutt Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Novell Evolution Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail No Yes No No Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes APNG, ICO, SVG, WBMP, XBM
Outlook Express No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ICO, art
Pegasus Mail Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Pine Yes Yes ? ? Yes Template:Refun Yes No No No No No
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Sylpheed Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ICO, emf
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Windows Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zimbra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Client Label Messages Spell Checking Signatures Native images preview
with Colors with flag antidelete add note jpeg gif bmp png others
  • ^ Opera supports full integration with GNU Aspell, which is its requirement for spell checking.
  • ^ Pine supports full integration with GNU Aspell or other external speller, which is its requirement for spell checking.
  • ^ i.Scribe / InScribe supports full integration with GNU Aspell, which is its requirement for spell checking.
  • ^ i.Scribe / InScribe requires libjpeg.
  • ^ i.Scribe / InScribe requires libpng.
  • ^ Entourage can link a message to a note.

Database, folders and customization

Client Message file format Encrypted database Virtual folders Scheduled backup Ticker notification Customizable interface Customizable keybindings Fragmented messages Template:Refun Database search with regular expressions support Indexed search Search folders Template:Refun IMAP search
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine mbox, mbx, mix, maildir (with patches), MMDF, tenex, mtx, MH, mx, news, phile ? Yes Partial ? Yes No ? No Yes Yes Yes
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail MH, mbox No No No Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Correo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier Proprietary Yes (weak) Yes Yes ? Yes (layout) No ? No No Yes No
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora mbox No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes [specify] Yes Yes Yes
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus babyl, maildir, mbox, mmdf, news, rnews, SOUP, nsmail, outlook, oe-dbx No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Mail2 File No No No No Yes No No No No No No
IBM Lotus Notes Proprietary Yes [5] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun No Yes Yes ?
Kerio WebMail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
KMail mbox, maildir No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? Yes Yes
Mail Proprietary ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun ?
Mailsmith ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Proprietary ? Yes Partial Template:Refun ? Partial No No Partial Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Office Outlook Proprietary No Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Template:Refun Yes ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird mbox ? Yes ? Yes Yes Template:Refun ? No ? No Yes Yes
Mulberry mbox Template:Refun Partial Template:Refun Partial Template:Refun Partial Template:Refun ? Yes ? ? Yes [specify] Partial Template:Refun No Yes
Mutt mbox, MMDF, MH, maildir Yes (with compressed folders patch [6]) ? (has limit command) No ? Yes Yes ? Yes ? (has header cache) No (easily integrated with mairix) Yes
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH MH No Yes No No Yes No ? Yes Yes Yes No
Novell Evolution maildir, mbox, MH No Yes ? No Partial Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail maildir (9.20 and Above), mbox (9.10 and Below) No Yes
(all folders are virtual) 		No Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes Yes ?
Outlook Express Proprietary No No No No No No Yes ? No ? ?
Pegasus Mail Proprietary No Yes No ? Yes ? ? Yes ? Yes Yes
Pine mbox, mbx, mix, maildir (with patches), MMDF, tenex, mtx, MH, mx, news, phile ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups mbox ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes
Sylpheed MH No No No Yes Yes Yes No No Template:Refun No Template:Refun No ?
The Bat! Proprietary Yes (RC2 128 bit)

(with Pro and Voyager version) Template:Refun

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

(PCRE 6.2)

No Yes Yes
Turnpike Proprietary Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? Yes ?
Windows Live Mail ? No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes ?
Windows Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zimbra File system Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Client Message file format Encrypted database Virtual folders Scheduled backup Ticker notification Customized interface Customizable keybindings Fragmented messages Template:Refun Database search with regular expressions support Indexed search Search folders Template:Refun IMAP search
  • ^ Fragmented messages are called truncated document in Lotus Notes.
  • ^ with Spotlight Mac OS X v. 10.4
  • ^ Search folders is called Smart Folders in Mail on Mac OS X v. 10.4.
  • ^ Mulberry is a dedicated IMAP client; If the IMAP server has these abilities, Mulberry can use them.
  • ^ This is for Mulberry's 'offline browsing' capability, which is turned off by default. In the default configuration no local copy of the mail is created.
  • ^ Search Folders are virtual folders that contain views of all e-mail items matching specific search criteria. Search Folders display the results of previously defined search queries.
  • ^ Editable keybindings is part of GNOME, provided "Editable menu accelerators" is enabled in GNOME's "Menus & Toolbars" control applet.
  • ^ Fragmented messages makes possible, for example, to send a large audio message as several partial messages, and still have it appear to the recipient as a simple audio message rather than as an encapsulated message containing an audio message. RFC 2046
  • ^ Because MH stores each letter in a separate file, it is trivially easy to (externally) search them with grep. This ease is shattered when non-raw encodings are used, such as base64.
  • ^ The Bat! Pro support two methods access to program when database is encrypted: password authorization and token authorization; Voyager support only password authorization and encrypted database is default and only available storage method.
  • ^ Thunderbird's interface can be user customized via the use of themes (which can reposition and skin controls)
  • ^ supported since Office 2007.
  • ^ when best encryption is used, .pst file cannot be read by a hex editor.
  • ^ With Entourage 2008, you can use AppleScript and various internal/external scheduling mechanisms to create timed backups of Entourage Data.
  • ^ With Entourage 2008 and later versions of 2004, you can use the Spotlight data to search what's in the E'rage database via regular expression in the file system in Terminal or via Spotlight's ...interesting...version of "regular expressions".

Templates, scripts and programming languages

Client Message templates Message templates individual for Support in message templates scripts, programming languages
new reply forward read confirmation save print JavaScript VBScript PHP Scripts Python Regular expressions Java Other (specify)
@Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Alpine Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? any No No No No ? No ?
Citadel ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Claws Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No No No No ? ? ?
Cone ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Correo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Courier Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes ? No No No No No No No
Elm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? No No No No Yes No No
Eureka Email ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Gnus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No No No No Yes No elisp
GroupWise ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
i.Scribe / InScribe Yes Yes Yes No No No any No No No No No No Internal macros (similar to JavaScript)
IBM Lotus Notes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes No No No Yes [7] Yes LotusScript, Formula language
Kerio WebMail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
KMail Yes Yes Yes No No No none ? No No No ? ? ?
Mail Yes Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) No No No ? ? ? No No No No No ? AppleScript, Automator
Mailsmith ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Microsoft Entourage Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? AppleScript,Automator
Microsoft Office Outlook Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mozilla Thunderbird Yes YesTemplate:Refun YesTemplate:Refun Yes Yes Yes profile Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mulberry Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? No No No No ? ? ?
Mutt Yes Yes Yes No ? ? any No No No No Yes ? Internal macros
Netscape Messenger ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Netscape Messenger 9 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
nmh / MH ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Novell Evolution Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Open-Xchange ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Opera Mail Yes Yes No No No No none No No No No No No No
Outlook Express Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Pegasus Mail Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pine Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? any ? No No ? ? No ?
Pocomail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SeaMonkey Mail & Newsgroups ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Sylpheed Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No No No No No ? ?
The Bat! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes account
folder
address book group
contact 		Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes PCRE 6.2 Internal and plugins macros
Turnpike ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Live Mail YesTemplate:Refun YesTemplate:Refun ? YesTemplate:Refun ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Mail ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
YAM Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes ? No No No No ? ? ARexx
Zimbra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes any No No No No No ? ?
Client Message templates Message templates individual for Support in message templates scripts, programming languages
new reply forward read confirmation save print JavaScript VBScript PHP Scripts Python Regular expressions Java Other (specify)
  • ^ The Bat! supports JavaScript in message templates with the JavaScript Macro plugin.
  • ^ The Bat! supports VBScript in message templates with the XMP plugin.
  • ^ The Bat! supports PHP in message templates with the XMP plugin.
  • ^ The Bat! supports Python in message templates with the TBPyxie plugin.
  • ^ Weak "stationery" system that only accept pages done with Word.
  • ^ Thunderbird supports HTML templates with "Stationery" add-on.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Birth of Eudora". Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  2. ^ a b "GNUS: a NNTP based news reader for GNU Emacs (1 of 2)". Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  3. ^ "Other Programming Projects and Downloads". Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  4. ^ "PC-PINE-3.96 README". Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  5. ^ "List of features of The Bat! e-mail client".
  6. ^ "The Bat! with Hardware Tokens".
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