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Add to SafariWhen comparing Mozilla Thunderbird vs Claws Mail, the Slant community recommends Claws Mail for most people. In the question“What are the best native e-mail clients for Linux?” Claws Mail is ranked 1st while Mozilla Thunderbird is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose Claws Mail is:
Claws Mail is a low resource e-mail client that is often default in low resource Linux distributions.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Free (as in freedom and beer)
Pro Available on Linux, OS X and Windows
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.
Pro Very reliable
Version after version, Mozilla Thunderbird works as expected.
Pro Large assortment of plugins available
Mozilla Thunderbird offers a huge amount of extensions to expand the usability and options of the client.
Pro Great flexibility
More options and extended settings than most power users could dream of. Get it working how YOU want.
Pro Tabs for navigation
Pro Lightning Calendar and Address Book integration
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.
Pro Send large files easy
Install pCloud plugin for Thunderbird and your files (upto 20 GB free storage included) will be received as download links
Pro Low resource client
Claws Mail is a low resource e-mail client that is often default in low resource Linux distributions.
Pro Open-Source
Pro Has many plugins for extra functionality
Pro Traditional user interface
Pro Clean interface with 5 layout variants
Pro Saves emails in uncompressed readable format
Allows one to read archived emails with a text editor.
Pro Has very strong filters
The filters a much stronger than in thunderbird.
Pro Saves passwords in encrypted format
Pro Has many themes
Pro Also supported on Windows
This makes switching the platform easier.
Pro Good support for Google's services
Cons
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.
Con Outdated interface
Thunderbird's interface is very outdated and unpleasant. It feels more like a Windows XP application than like a modern MacOS one.
Con Terrible integration with macOS
Simple things - drag/dropping pictures doesn't work, for instance.
Con Subject lines can (temporarily) disappear from the list
This is sporadic behavior.
Con Serious bugs
Clicking on a subject line can bring up the wrong email.
Con Blocks and freezes all the time
Con Saves passwords in plain format
Con Too much bloat
some people dont like the simple design of slypheed so they forked it and created claws mail but it has become so bloated since itsbeginnings.
Con Saves emails in uncompressed format
This takes more space on the HDD.
Con Interface looks old and setup is not easy
The icons as well as the rest of the interface look like an application from the early 90's, with this there is also no easy setup options built in like the more modern e-mail clients.
