Thunderbird icon
Thunderbird icon

Thunderbird

Cross-platform email client supporting multiple identities, chat, and strong filtering. Extend functionality with add-ons like RSS/Atom feed readers and PGP support.

Thunderbird screenshot 1

Cost / License

  • Free
  • Open Source

Application types

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Android
  • BSD
  • AppImageHub
  • Snapcraft
  • Flathub
  • PortableApps.com
  • F-Droid
  • Haiku
  • Homebrew
  • Chocolatey
4.0
Very Good104 reviews
2522likes
84comments

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  Customizable
  2.  Intuitive Interface
  3.  Privacy focused
  4.  Support for Themes

Features

  1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
  2.  Multiple Account support
  3.  IMAP Support
  4.  Calendar Integration
  5.  Email Organizer
  6.  SMTP Support
  7.  Add-ons
  8.  Built-in RSS reader
  9.  POP3 Support
  10.  Graphical User Interface
  11.  Dark Mode
  12. Google Calendar icon  Google Calendar integration
  13.  Works Offline
  14.  OpenPGP
  15.  Ad-free
  16. Gmail icon  Gmail integration
  17.  Tabbed interface
  18.  Integrated Web Browser
  19.  No Tracking
  20.  Unified inbox
  21.  Portable
  22.  Built-in Calendar
  23.  Mail Filtering
  24.  Calendar Sync
  25.  Integrated Chat
  26.  Categories
  27.  Full-Text Search
  28.  Calendar View
  29.  GPG Encryption
  30.  PGP Encryption
  31.  Import/Export OPML Feeds
  32.  Integrated Password Manager
  33.  Spam Filter
  34. Google Calendar icon  Sync with Google Calendar
  35.  Spell Checking
  36.  No registration required
  37.  Protected by Password
  38.  Personal Information Manager (PIM)
  39.  S/MIME Support
  40.  Import from Google Reader
  41.  Free API
  42.  HTML Compose
  43.  Legacy addons support
  44.  Secure File Sharing
  45.  Delivery reports
  46.  Matrix Protocol

 Tags

Thunderbird News & Activities

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Recent activities

  • CrossDaemon27 liked Thunderbird
  • Diatomee reviewed Thunderbird  

    My everyday email program, manages emails from different providers, a CalDAV-synchronized calendar and even an RSS-feed.

  • Diatomee, marcinkowalskipl, gingamuffin and cloudly-chat liked Thunderbird
  • peter-miller rated Thunderbird  
  • peter-miller liked Thunderbird
  • MyEzInbox icon
    Gerry-Haus added Thunderbird as alternative to MyEzInbox
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Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Comment summary: Thunderbird is praised as a reliable, customizable, and open-source email client with strong support for multiple accounts and add-ons. Users appreciate its recent UI improvements and its ability to manage emails across platforms effectively. However, a few users report challenges with initial setup, synchronization issues with Outlook, and occasional performance problems. Thunderbird remains a well-regarded choice, particularly for those prioritizing privacy and cross-platform functionality.
Top Positive Comment
3psilon
17

I have tried several email clients including Outlook, Em Client, Claws Mail, Zimbra Desktop, Mailbird... and went back to Thunderbird every single time.

Thunderbird is simply still the most customizable email client out there that delivers a solid, stable performance for the unbeatable price of free.

Supports an unlimited number of mailboxes, calendards, has full-text email search, can show you an unified inbox, you can easily compose HTML messages, read RSS feeds, use extensions etc. It's really a Swiss army knife.

The only real alternative is Claws Mail if you rather prefer a fast, lightweight client.

If you only use 1-2 mailboxes (or don't mind paying) and use Windows, Em Client is a decent alternative, too, with a steady release period.

Good to know: Thunderbird is not an abandoned project, it's maintained by the community and bugfixes, minor feature updates are being released periodically.

Top Negative Comment
Fabrice D
9

Thunderbird has always been my favourite email client. But update after updates, Thunderbird gets worse and worse.

On each update, disabled extensions increase, and lot of them are no more updated, or, when they are updated, doesn't work as they should.

Some features asked for years by many users are still not made (like mail summary in list, as you can see in Apple Mail, and most of other email clients). Can't use maildir (beta / unsafe) instead of mbox.

I'm really fed up fighting with Thunderbird on each update with features like "dark mode" I don't really need or could wait for (as they disabled themes support which was useful for "dark mode" or "accessibility").

Looks like Mozilla is trying to kill Thunderbird !

Diatomee
0

My everyday email program, manages emails from different providers, a CalDAV-synchronized calendar and even an RSS-feed.

DL300
0

Way, way, WAY too bloated, with an appalling, cluttered, messy, ugly interface. Everything with this app is a chore, and the user is given WAY too many options and settings on every screen - 99% of which are safe to totally ignore for 99% of users.

kromster80
1

Didn't update in a while and now I'm shocked how bloated it became.

Clint E
1

Thunderbird is extremely cludgy and messy. It is not friendly when using Office 365 for business due to requiring use of 3rd party paid service. It is heavy and just does not handle large email accounts well as it starts to crawl. It is fine for light weight use, but is far from a business class app.

Sebastian
-1

Free and better alternative to Windows Mail

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What is Thunderbird?

Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail, news and instant messaging client. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox icon Mozilla Firefox.

It supports POP (storing mail locally on your hard drive so that it can be accessed without an internet connection), and IMAP. It features excellent mail filter capabilities and management.

Thunderbird has strong support for using multiple accounts and identities, including automated signature features.

Chat functionality is built in, so you can enjoy real-time conversation with your contacts, right from your favorite messaging application, with multiple supported networks. Thunderbird makes it easy to search through both past conversations and received emails.

Thunderbird can also function as an RSS/Atom feed reader, and has a large selection of add-ons that extend it with calendar support, PGP support, integration with online services and much more.

Thunderbird for Android is known as K-9 Mail icon K-9 Mail

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Thunderbird information

Our users have written 84 comments and reviews about Thunderbird, and it has gotten 2522 likes

Thunderbird was added to AlternativeTo by Mogelfar on and this page was last updated .