aerc is an email client that runs in your terminal. It's highly efficient and extensible, perfect for the discerning hacker.


Mutt is described as 'Small but very powerful text-based mail client for Unix operating systems. Some of its features are: color support, message threading, MIME support (including RFC2047 support for encoded headers), PGP/MIME (RFC2015), various features to support mailing lists, including' and is a popular Email Client in the office & productivity category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Mutt for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and BSD apps. The best Mutt alternative is Thunderbird, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Mutt are Betterbird, Microsoft Outlook, Evolution and eM Client.
aerc is an email client that runs in your terminal. It's highly efficient and extensible, perfect for the discerning hacker.


Engineered for iOS, macOS, and watchOS, this fast mail client supports multiple account types, custom actions, Smart Inbox filtering, unified inbox, privacy mode, email scheduling, snooze, third-party app integration, flexible personalization, and advanced workflow tools.






Not CLI-based, so not really an alternative

NeoMutt is a command-line mail reader. It's a version of Mutt with added features.
The free Zimbra Desktop client allows you to meld the online and offline worlds – storing and synching your email, calendar, contacts, files and documents in the cloud, yet having them locally accessible when on the road.




Mac IMAP email client featuring keyboard control, Markdown email composition, advanced search capabilities, smart mailboxes, automatic signature handling, cryptographic options with OpenPGP/S-MIME, tagging, multiple notifications, and customizable layouts including widescreen.




Foxmail is a free POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail client in English and Chinese for Windows systems.


Not CLI-based, limited platform support


KMail is the email component of Kontact, the integrated personal information manager of KDE. Kontact is a personal information manager and groupware software suite for KDE. It supports calendars, contacts, notes, to-do lists, news, and email.

Not CLI-based, so not really an alternative

Alpine is a fast, easy to use email client for the command line that is suitable for both the inexperienced email user as well as for the most demanding of power users. Alpine is based on the Pine® Message System (http://www.washington.

Sup is a console-based email client for people with a lot of email. It supports tagging, very fast full-text search, automatic contact- list management, custom code insertion via a hook system, and more.

The Bat! is a secure email client software, built to protect your correspondence against third-parties.




Not CLI-based, so not really an alternative