What are the best cross-platform email clients?

Question

12

Options
Considered

235

User
Recs.

May 30, 2020

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

10 Options Considered

Best cross-platform email clients	Price	Platforms	IMAP
-- Claws Mail	-	BSD, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, Unix, Windows	Yes
85 Mozilla Thunderbird	Free	Windows, macOS, Linux	Yes
82 Mailspring	-	-	-
-- Opera Mail	-	os	Yes
-- Postbox	$29.99	MacOS, Windows	Yes

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score 10 · Answer 1

Claws Mail

Top Pro

Open Source

Top Con

Buggy

Andrew Mutavdzija's Experience

For 99% of users, installing this email client on macOS is far too complicated to even waste the time reading the rest of this review. Only try this if the following, from the Claws website, makes sense to you: Installing Claws Mail will require X.org, GTK+ 2.6, and a working POSIX building environment (including the gcc/make toolchain). Let's consider using Fink to install the software requirements on your Mac OS X system. Install Fink (http://www.finkproject.org/). Download and unpack the Claws Mail sources. Run ./configure --prefix=/sw to quickly see what packages are missing, and install them using Fink (fink or FinkCommander). Some of the required packages are available in unstable only, so you might need to enable unstable packages in the Fink prefs, then do fink selfupdate scanpackages. You'll need a complete gcc/make toolchain as well as few extra requirements See More

Specs

Platforms:BSD, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, Unix, Windows

Top Pro

Fast, even on older machines

Top Con

No 64-bit Windows version available

Top Pro

Low resource client

Claws Mail is a low resource e-mail client that is often default in low resource Linux distributions. See More

Top Con

Requires "Enter" to be pressed to read a message

Selecting it is not sufficient. See More

Top Pro

Has many plugins for extra functionality

Top Con

Doesn't optionally display HTML emails

But always converts them to text. See More

Top Pro

Saves emails in uncompressed readable format

Allows one to read archived emails with a text editor. See More

Top Pro

Clean interface with 5 layout variants

Top Pro

Quite usable filtering capabilities

E.g. move mail to folder or delete it, if it comes from a certain sender or contains a certain pattern in the subject. See More

See All

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score 42 · Answer 2

Mozilla Thunderbird

Top Pro

Supports multiple accounts and identities

Top Con

Interface is old-fashioned

But a new interface is coming soon. And it looks stunning. See More

StrongSeker's Experience

Calendar, Mail, Invitations, Twitter integration, hundreds of add-ons... just the most versatile email client out there See More

Specs

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

Top Pro

Free (as in freedom and beer)

Top Con

Can't minimise it to tray

It doesn't send any sort of notifications of any email while the Thunderbird is closed. We can't even minimise Thunderbird to tray in order to get notifications. Getting real-time notifications is very important for any email client. See More

SharpKayra's Experience

On Linux, slow & lags. See More

Top Pro

Available for Windows, Mac and Linux

Top Con

Development slowed to only focus on stability and security

Mozilla Thunderbird has slowed down its development of features to only focus resources on security and stability. See More

nicwow's Experience

Cannot go wrong with Thunderbird. See More

Top Pro

Powerful filtering options

Top Con

Serious bugs

Clicking on a subject line can bring up the wrong email. See More

ReliablePirwa's Experience

Can not get notifications when the client is closed. Can't minimize it to tray anymore. See More

Top Pro

Very reliable

Version after version, Mozilla Thunderbird works as expected. See More

Top Con

Quite sluggish

Triggering commands usually is delayed for a noticeable moment. See More

Top Pro

Large assortment of plugins available

Mozilla Thunderbird offers a huge amount of extensions to expand the usability and options of the client. See More

Top Con

Subject lines can (temporarily) disappear from the list

This is sporadic behavior. See More

Top Pro

Can be extended to be very restrictive

E.g. show HTML messages only on demand. See More

Top Con

Often the UI hangs for multiple seconds

With large email folders. See More

Top Pro

Good filtering system

Mozilla Thunderbird offers a flexible filtering system with the ability to set flags and read/unread, as well as sort/assign to new mail directories. There are also numerous plugins available to assist in the filtering. See More

Top Con

Fetching mails often collides with compacting

Especially if Thunderbird detects that a folder could be compressed and suggests to do that (while fetching fails), it often reports problems in doing this because the 2 tasks could not work on the same folder at the same time. See More

Top Pro

Available on Linux, OS X and Windows

Top Con

Hard to debug filter rules

If you have a lot of filter rules, it is hard to find the reason why messages got filtered incorrectly (unexpectedly). See More

Top Pro

Lightning Calendar and Address Book integration

Top Pro

Portable version available

Top Pro

Consistent and involving a moderate learning curve

The app design of Mozilla Thunderbird has not changed significantly since its beginning, making its learning curve almost non-existent. See More

Top Pro

Tabs for navigation

Top Pro

Large file attachments accepted

Install pCoud plugin for thunderbird and send up to 20 GB for free. Simple, drag and drop, converted into download link. Anyone can download the link. See More

See All

score 88 · Answer 3

Mailspring

Top Pro

Neat UI

The UI is very well designed and neat. See More

Top Con

Can't use without creating a Mailspring ID

There is no need to create a third party ID for an email client. What if the Mailspring closes in the future - can't install a previously downloaded Mailspring software any more to continue using it or access your stored emails? See More

FantasticMarzyana's Experience

I use linux (Ubuntu 16.0) and Mailspring is the best app for mailing, it has some useful features like notifications when someone read my email and so one. See More

Top Pro

CPU / battery efficient

Mailspring uses a C++ sync engine designed to be as efficient as possible, so you can leave the app running and not see your laptop battery life drain away. See More

Top Con

Pro subscription model

To use some features, like contact profiles and link tracking more than a few times a month, you need to pay for a Pro subscription. See More

meikl's Experience

Might be an option for hobby usage, but for professional use too sluggish and too inefficient interface. See More

Top Pro

Read receipts and link tracking

Activity tracking is built into Mailspring so you get notified as soon as contacts read your messages and can follow up appropriately. See More

Top Con

No addressbook

DetailedApep's Experience

Very good! I run it on manjaro without a problem! Very clean et efficient, even the free version! See More

Top Pro

Snoozing support

You can swipe to archive / snooze messages and specify when you'd like them to resurface in your inbox. See More

Top Con

No way to see messages as plain text

And HTML is only optional. See More

SensibleBodbDerg's Experience

Very clean design. Just hate that have to create some account to use it. See More

Top Pro

Great integration with Gmail

Mailspring has great integration with gmail features and tags. See More

Top Con

Slow updates and bug fixes

It takes months to fix some simple bugs. For example, they can't fix bug with notifications on mac OS from April 2019! Upd: they fixed it after 6-7 months See More

ResponsiveAuxesia's Experience

Much better than that thunderbird See More

Top Pro

Unified inbox

Using a single inbox for all of your email accounts helps you get more done in less time. Mailspring supports every major mail provider—Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP—so you have a single, streamlined command center for all your messages. See More

Top Con

Does not support Microsoft Exchange

Lynette Chia's Experience

One of the best email clients on Windows. See More

Top Pro

Unlimited number of accounts

Only in the paid version though. See More

Top Con

Very limited user interface

No way to see the messages as a list, no way to rearrange views. See More

Hamza's Experience

Good app, but suffering from not working notifications. It was helpful for me when I was searching for a job, 'read receipts function' helped to sort companies, move on, or wait for a letter from employer for 1 or 2 days more. UI is ok and hope they will add auto theme change. At this moment, the application looks abandoned, but they watching comments on GitHub, even if they are slow in developing, they promise to fix bugs! See More

Top Con

No portable windows (.zip) bundle available

CromulentRundas's Experience

Love the functionality / clean interface. Exactly what I was hoping for. See More

Top Con

Does not support POP

Just IMAP. See More

Top Con

Does not support multi-user installation (Windows)

But instead installs to the user's home directory. See More

Top Con

UI is sluggish (Windows)

Click and only after a tiny delay (~half second) something happens. See More

See All

score 9 · Answer 4

Opera Mail

Top Con

End-of-life state

It will not be continued to develop. See More

Top Pro

Intuitive user interface

The design of the UI in Opera Mail is clean and intuitive, making for an easy to use client. See More

Specs

Top Con

Being discontinued

Opera Mail will be end of lifed per Opera website See More

Top Pro

Lightweight and fast

Top Con

Does not support 4K monitors

Top Pro

Opera Mail CAN BE set as default email client in Windows 8 & 10

Top Con

Very limited feature set

Compared to Thunderbird. See More

Top Pro

Automagic smart filtering

After a bit of use, Opera learns what e-mail belongs in what folder just by the previous usage. This makes for a convenient way to have e-mails filtered without having to manually manage every e-mail. See More

See All

score 4 · Answer 5

Postbox

Top Con

Only available for Windows and Mac

Not Linux. See More

Top Pro

A great email app!

Postbox has a ton of features, is easy to use, and has a really beautiful UI. See More

Ιωαννης Αλεξιου's Experience

MY EXPERIENCE WAS FAULTLESS (29-5-2018) See More

Specs

Platforms:MacOS, Windows

Top Con

No support forum

Support for paid product has no online forums. See More

Top Pro

Quick Bar for macros

Quick bar allows you to add a variety of content to your message. It will let you reuse URLS in your Sent folder, and autocompletes against canned responses, signatures, and topics. See More

Top Pro

Blocks tracking gifs

Has the ability to block tracking gifs commonly used for read receipts. See More

Top Pro

One Inbox for all accounts

All messages in one place. But you can select to show only messages from each account either. See More

See All

score 7 · Answer 6

Simon's Mail

Top Con

Web-application

Even when installing local bundles, you don't know where the emails and settings, especially passwords, are stored. See More

Top Pro

Supports viewing many attachment types

Specs

Platforms:Web, Windows, Android, Chrome app

IMAP:Yes

POP3:Yes

Languages:English, Czech

See All Specs

Top Con

Some message types can't be read

See All

score 2 · Answer 7

Kiwi for Gmail

Top Pro

All native Gmail functionality

Specs

Top Pro

Multiple gmail accounts without having to log in and out

See All

score 2 · Answer 8

Sylpheed

Top Con

Sometimes incredible slow

E.g. when selecting a larger spam email to delete it. See More

Top Con

Require external tool for spam filtering

Top Con

No support for zoom levels above 100%

E.g. on a 4k-monitor the icons and cursors are too tiny (Windows). See More

See All

score 2 · Answer 9

Columba

Top Con

Last release >10 years old

score 1 · Answer 10

Hiri

Top Pro

Office 365 integration

Top Con

No longer supported by developer (they still ask high cost for software)

They are still actively pushing for payment, yet are not fixing issues/implementing anything new (or anything at all). See More

meikl's Experience

Can't use because it does not support POP accounts. See More

Specs

Platforms:Linux, Windows, Mac

Top Pro

Simple and modern UI/UX design

Top Con

No IMAP support, only for Microsoft Exchange

VigorousAnaideia's Experience

The app is superb, but it is no longer being supported by the developer. See More

10 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Claws Mail

My Recommendation for Claws Mail

Open Source

Buggy

Fast, even on older machines

No 64-bit Windows version available

Low resource client

Requires "Enter" to be pressed to read a message

Has many plugins for extra functionality

Doesn't optionally display HTML emails

Saves emails in uncompressed readable format

Clean interface with 5 layout variants

Quite usable filtering capabilities

My Recommendation for Mozilla Thunderbird

My Recommendation for Mozilla Thunderbird

Supports multiple accounts and identities

Interface is old-fashioned

Free (as in freedom and beer)

Can't minimise it to tray

Available for Windows, Mac and Linux

Development slowed to only focus on stability and security

Powerful filtering options

Serious bugs

Very reliable

Quite sluggish

Large assortment of plugins available

Subject lines can (temporarily) disappear from the list

Can be extended to be very restrictive

Often the UI hangs for multiple seconds

Good filtering system

Fetching mails often collides with compacting

Available on Linux, OS X and Windows

Hard to debug filter rules

Lightning Calendar and Address Book integration

Portable version available

Consistent and involving a moderate learning curve

Tabs for navigation

Large file attachments accepted

My Recommendation for Mailspring

My Recommendation for Mailspring

Neat UI

Can't use without creating a Mailspring ID

CPU / battery efficient

Pro subscription model

Read receipts and link tracking

No addressbook

Snoozing support

No way to see messages as plain text

Great integration with Gmail

Slow updates and bug fixes

Unified inbox

Does not support Microsoft Exchange

Unlimited number of accounts

Very limited user interface

No portable windows (.zip) bundle available

Does not support POP

Does not support multi-user installation (Windows)

UI is sluggish (Windows)

My Recommendation for Opera Mail

My Recommendation for Opera Mail

End-of-life state

Intuitive user interface

Being discontinued

Lightweight and fast

Does not support 4K monitors

Opera Mail CAN BE set as default email client in Windows 8 & 10

Very limited feature set

Automagic smart filtering

My Recommendation for Postbox

My Recommendation for Postbox

Only available for Windows and Mac

A great email app!

No support forum

Quick Bar for macros

Blocks tracking gifs

One Inbox for all accounts

My Recommendation for Simon's Mail

My Recommendation for Simon's Mail

Web-application