An email client is a desktop application that is used to access, read and manage emails on a computer. Nowadays most of us prefer reading and writing emails using a web browser but still, there are a lot of people who rely on desktop applications.
So here I will discuss the best email clients for Linux operating system.
Thunderbird
Thunderbird is a free and open-source email client developed by Mozilla Foundation. It comes with multiple features such as built-in do not track and remote content blocking which ensures the safety and security of a user’s data.
You can also use the Thunderbird application as a chat client, RSS, and news client app.
The key features of the Thunderbird email client are –
- Free and opensource
- Tabbed emails and quick filter toolbar
- You can change the look and feel of the application by changing its theme
- Robust privacy and builtin phishing protection feature
- You can extend its functionality by using add ons
- Automated updates
Evolution
Evolution or GNOME Evolution is a free and open-source personal information manager which provides integrated mail, calendar, address book, and task list functionality.
GNOME Evolution is similar to Microsoft Outlook and it is the default personal information management application in the GNOME desktop environment.
The key features of the Evolution email client are –
- Free and opensource
- Integrated applications such as calendar, address book, task list, note-taking app, etc.
- Secure network connections with SSL, TLS, and STARTTLS
- Automatic email encryption
- Automatic spam filtering with SpamAssassin and Bogofilter
- Support different calendar formats
- Have a news client and RSS reader plugin
Mailpile
Mailpile is a free and open-source email client which mainly focuses on privacy and usability. Unlike other desktop applications, it opens with a web browser as a local website.
It is designed to be fast and responsive and comes with a lot of features.
The key features of Mailpile are –
- Free and opensource
- Fast search and tagging
- It is fast and responsive
- Privacy-focused
- Open PGP signature and encryption of emails
- No advertisements
- Self-hosted on your computer
KMail
KMail is a free and open-source email client which comes preinstalled on distributions using the KDE desktop environment. It is a part of Konnect, the default personal information manager in the KDE desktop.
It supports end-to-end encryption through OpenPGP.
The key features of the KMail email client are –
- Free and opensource
- Nicely integrates with KDE applications
- Powerful search and filters options
- Supports PGP & S/MIME encryption
- Automatic spam filtering with SpamAssassin and Bogofilter
Claws Mail
Claws Mail is a cross-platform free and open-source email client. It is fast, lightweight, and highly configurable.
Claws Mail is based on GTK+ and features a graceful and sophisticated user interface. The emails are managed in the standard MH format which features fast access and data security.
The functionalities of the Claws Mail email client can be extended through an RSS aggregator, calendar, etc which is provided as separate plugins.
The key features of Claws Mail are –
- Cross-platform
- Fast and lightweight
- Secure features like encryption and antiphishing
- Automatic spam filtering using SpamAssasins and Bogofilter
- Offers templates for messages
- Extensible with plugins
- Support for Mbox mail format
Geary
Geary is a free and open-source email client which allows you to read, find and send emails with a very straightforward, modern user interface. It was developed with an intention to bring back users from webmails to a faster and easy-to-use desktop application.
Geary is written in Vala and developed under the GNOME project.
The key features of the Geary email client are –
- Simple lightweight and fast
- It supports popular IMAP servers including Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook.com
- Fully featured HTML email composer
- Support for reading TNEF attachments
- GNOME keyring integration to store password
- Desktop notification for new mails
BlueMail
BlueMail is a modern, free and cross-platform email client. It uses a unified email inbox approach where all the emails from different accounts appear in a single place.
It supports all types of accounts i.e. IMAP, Exchange, POP3, etc. It is available for installation on Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, etc.
The key features of BlueMail are –
- Free and cross-platform
- Modern and sleek interface
- Unified inbox
- Easy search and filter emails
- Integrated calendar and chat features
- It supports IMAP, Exchange, ActiveSync & POP3
- Provides advanced security and encryption feature
Mailspring
Mailspring is another email client which features a simple and easy-to-use interface. Like BlueMail it also consolidates all the emails from the different accounts in a single place.
The advanced functionalities of Mailspring are paid so if you want you can try it.
The key features of the Mailspring email client are-
- Simple and easy to use interface
- Multiple account support
- Touch and gesture support
- Unified Inbox
- Undo Send
- Advanced shortcuts available
- You can change the look and feel by using themes
- Multilingual support
Sylpheed
Sylpheed is a free and open-source email client and news client. It uses a GTK+ interface and provides easy configuration and a lot of features. The emails are managed in the standard MH format which features fast access and data security.
It was forked to create Claws Mail and now both are developed independently.
The key features of Sylpheed are –
- Simple and easy to use interface
- Cross-platform
- Supports spam filtering using the bogofilter or bsfilter
- Extensible through plugins
- It includes support for GPG encryption
- Supports various protocols POP3, IMAP4rev1, and SMTP, but also NNTP (NetNews), etc
Mutt
Mutt is a simple free and open-source text-based email client for Unix-like systems. Being text-based, it requires fewer system resources and can run on older systems.
Mutt was originally developed by Michael Elkins in 1995. Now if you are a fan of using a terminal then you can try this as well.
The key features of Mutt are –
- Small and efficient
- Text-based user interface
- It is highly configurable with keybinding and macros support
- Supports regular expression for searching emails
- Supports PGP and MIME
- It supports various protocols including POP3, SMTP, IMAP, etc.
Trojitá
Trojita is a free and open-source IMAP and SMTP email client. The developer’s primary goal was to develop a fast and resource-efficient email client. It works well on older machines also.
Trojita is now a part of the KDE community.
The key features of Trojita email client are –
- Free and opensource
- Simple and easy to use interface
- Fast and efficient
- Can work well on older hardware
- Efficiently uses network resources
Which one is your favorite email client for Linux?
So here we have discussed a few good email clients for the Linux platform, now you can tell us which one is your favorite and you use it on your system.
Ok, that’s all for now if you have a query then write us in the comments below.