For the traditionalists, emails remains a fundamental part of the operating system. Fortunately, there is a wide selection of free email software available on the Linux platform which is stable, feature laden, and ideal for personal and business environments.
The vast majority of Linux users would never be satisfied without access to a graphical user interface. However, even in 2021 there remain many reasons why console based applications can be extremely desirable.
Although console applications are very useful for updating, configuring, and repairing a system, their benefits are not only confined to system administration. Console based applications are light on system resources (very useful on low spec machines), can be faster and more efficient than their graphical counterparts, they do not stop working when X/Wayland needs to be restarted, and they are great for scripting purposes.
Given the volume of email sent and received and the importance of emails in our workflows, it’s imperative to process that email as efficiently as possible. While many of us use webmail for casual use, there’s nothing quite like using a console application.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 20 console email clients. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone who wants to efficiently manage their mailbox from the terminal.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. All of the programs are free and open source goodness. Many of the programs featured here delegate some tasks to other tools, so they can focus on being the best client possible.
Let’s explore the 20 console email clients. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Console Email Clients | |
|---|---|
| NeoMutt | Brings together many patches to extend Mutt |
| mu4e | An extension of mu that runs a full-featured email client within Emacs |
| Himalaya | CLI email client written in Rust |
| Sup | Curses threads-with tags style email client |
| Mutt | Small but very powerful text based program |
| Alpine | Alternatively Licensed Program for Internet News and Email |
| meli | Configurable and extensible e-mail client with sane defaults |
| nmail | User interface similar to alpine / pine |
| alot | Lets notmuch handle your mailindex and uses a toolkit to render its display |
| Wanderlust | Mail/news management system with IMAP4rev1 support for Emacs |
| aerc | Billed as a "pretty good email client" |
| matcha | Powerful, feature-rich email client for your terminal |
| Cone | COnsole Newsreader And Emailer |
| bower | Curses frontend for the Notmuch email system |
| Indicium Mail TUI | Keyboard-driven terminal interface with a streamlined workflow |
| CXPost | Cross-platform desktop app for managing multiple accounts |
| mxr | Local-first messaging app built for speed and offline use |
| Epist | Keyboard-centric desktop app for fast, focused correspondence |
| Vmail | Vim interface to Gmail |
| neatmail | Non-interactive email client |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
 Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |
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