Introduction

Best Imap Mail Client For Mac Os X Free; Email Client For Mac; For Gmail users in particular, more thorough solutions are available, many which are free. Here’s a look at five Mail alternatives and why they might work for you. AirMail ($10) Marketed as being a “lighting-fast email client for Mac,” AirMail is also the most beautiful. The email client works seamlessly with any IMAP, POP3 or Exchange email provider, and is ideal for G-Suite (now Google Workspace) and Outlook users, with Mailbird for Mac coming up next. Mailbird users can manage all their email accounts from a single pane of glass, keeping personal and business emails separate, while managing them both from a.

We’ve all heard of Gmail. Some of the older ones probably remember Hotmail too. But chances are you don’t use those in a professional setting.

Microsoft Outlook had dominated the scene of business email providers. But no more. Now there are loads of good email clients. To get the skinny on the best email clients, both paid and free, check out this super roundup.

Best email clients comparison chart (top 10 highest rated)

^{*Not including free versions}

What is an email client?

An email client is a more robust email app than your average Gmail or Hotmail.

Firstly, an email client lets you host your email data on your own computer, as well as on the cloud sometimes. This is opposed to webmail which hosts everything on a server. That’s why client-based emails are better for business purposes: You have better access and protection over your work emails.

Secondly, email clients let you sync multiple email accounts into one UX. You can bring in your Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo accounts and use them all in one unified inbox.

There are a lot of great features when it comes to the functionality of email clients. These go beyond showing which emails have been read, and which are still unread.

The best email client solutions do the following:

• Send later lets you write an email and schedule it to be sent at another time

• Smart inboxes in email clients can identify important emails

• Read receipts show you when someone has opened your email

• Email templates let you save and reuse emails

• Attachment management lets you store and retrieve attachments

• Snooze buttons help you avoid email distractions for a period of time

• Encryption is often more robust with special email clients, using tech like PGP

• Phishing or other suspicious emails get flagged by email clients

• Calendar tools let you create events directly from an email invitation

• Contact tools let you create or edit a contact directly from an email

• Collaboration tools let you share emails with colleagues and work as a team

These are just some of the great features you can expect with the best email apps.

What are the best email clients? Here’s our top 15 list:

Now that you’ve learned a thing or two about email solutions, it’s time to explore your options. This list of the best email clients covers both paid and free versions. We highlight their strong suits and list off their best features. Read on to find your perfect email client fit.

Microsoft Outlook (Best email client for Windows 10)

Forget Gmail. When it comes to email servers at the office, Microsoft Outlook is probably the best known name in email services. It first came out with Microsoft Office 97.

Microsoft Outlook combines email and calendar tools in one place. It identifies emails that are “focused.” These are important emails. You can easily create calendar events or tasks directly from the email dashboard. Outlook has good enterprise-end encryption. There’s also ransomware detection. Microsoft Outlook integrates mainly with other Microsoft products like Office and cloud storage app OneDrive. Outlook comes with mobile apps for iOS and Android.

There is a free version of Outlook. Premium versions come with Office 365. Personal plans go for $69.99 for one user, $99.99 for up to 6 users, both per year. Business plans are $5, $12.50 and $20 per user per month billed annually.

Microsoft Outlook is best for:

• SMBs

• Large businesses

• Enterprise

• Calendar

• Microsoft 365 integrations

• Windows users

Mozilla Thunderbird (Best alternative to Gmail)

Thunderbird is the email product of Mozilla. Like all of Mozilla’s apps, Thunderbird is free and open source. Its latest version came out in September 2020.

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and easy to use email app. Anyone can set it up and use it like a pro in minutes. There are many customization options for the Thunderbird dashboard with add-ons. These include extensions, plugins for more features, and themes for different looks. For security, it offers do-not-track and phishing protection. There’s also an add-on for PGP encryption. You also get calendar and to-do tools. One-click address book makes it easy to add new contacts. Attachment reminders make sure you don’t forget to add mentioned files. Finally if you have multiple email accounts, Thunderbird helps keep them organized with smart folders.

Thunderbird is totally free. So are the many add-ons by Mozilla and other companies.

Thunderbird is best for:

• Free users

• Startups

• SMBs

• Customization

• Multiple email accounts

• Ease of use

eM Client (Best email client for Windows & Mac)

eM Client Inc. is a software company out of the Czech Republic. It got off the ground in 2017. It’s flagship app is the email client of the same name.

eM Client works in over 20 languages. It runs on the operating systems of Microsoft Windows and macOS. It supports the major email technologies. These include POP3, SMTP, IMAP, and more. You can encrypt your messages with PGP for added security. eM Client lets you watch for replies and gets you read receipts. You get access to email templates. There is an attachment manager. You can schedule emails to send later. eM Client includes modules for calendars, task management and contact management. You can also do messaging through eM Client.

There’s a free version of eM Client for 2 email accounts. The pro versions start $49.95 per device.

eM Client is best for:

• Startups

• SMBs

• Templates

• Messaging

• End encryption

• Translation

Mailbird (Top email client for multiple accounts)

The folks behind Mailbird call themselves a “A Brilliant Team of Email Innovation Nerds.” That should inspire confidence that they are serious about great email.

Mailbird operates on Windows. It specializes in handling multiple email accounts. You can sync from other email accounts into a unified inbox. The dashboard is clean and pleasing to the eye. Figuring out Mailbird’s features is intuitive. You can customize the look with color themes and layouts. Other Mailbird features include speed reader, snooze buttons, and attachment searching. Mailbird excels at integrating with other useful tools. These include Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook, Evernote, and more. It also works with Google Drive and Calendar, Dropbox and Slack.

Mailbird Personal is only $1.63 per month, $19.50 per year, or a one-time payment of $39.50. Mailbird Business is $2.88 per month or $34.50 per year.

Mailbird is best for:

• One person business

• Startups

• SMBs

• Unified inbox

• Multiple accounts

• Integrations

• Windows users

Airmail (Top email client for iPhone)

Airmail is the email client by the Italian software development Bloop SRL. They design apps for macOS and iOS. Airmail is Bloop’s main product.

Airmail works exclusively within the Apple ecosystem. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. The design is native to each device. Apple has often praised Airmail’s cool look. The platform can respond to Siri. It syncs multiple accounts from the likes of Gmail, iCloud Mail, Office 365, Microsoft Outlook, IMAP and POP3. It lets you manage them all in one unified inbox. A smart inbox sorts out the important emails for you. You get snooze tools and send later tools. Airmail lets you set up workflow rules to automate your email management. There is a privacy mode to work offline. It also prevents pixel tracking. The iOS versions use FaceID and TouchID for extra security. Airmail even works on Apple Watches.

You can download Airmail and use many features for free. Airmail Pro is $2.99 per month or $9.99 per year. Airmail Business is a single purchase of $49.99

Airmail is best for:

• Single users

• One person business

• Small teams

• iOS devices

• iPhone users

• Unified inbox

Spike (Good desktop email client)

Spike is an Israeli company. It got off the ground in 2017.

You can best use Spike on your desktop with a web browser. It also works on other devices. They have apps for iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. The Spike approach is called conversational email. It removes things like subject lines and signatures to make the email thread easier to follow. The inbox highlights important emails. Spike also has a note app that’s good for collaboration. You can also chat in a sidebar in real-time. Group chats with team members work too. There are scheduler and to-do tools. Spike uses email encryption to keep your stuff safe.

Spike offers a free version. The pro plan is $4 and the Business plan is $6, both per account per month billed annually. Contact them for Enterprise prices.

Product name is best for:

• Freelancers

• Startups

• SMBs

• Group chat

• To-dos

Hiri (Good email client for Mac)

Hiri is an Irish email client. It was first released in 2012.

Hiri is an email app for Mac. It puts simplicity first. Aside from email it does calendars, to-do lists and contacts. Hiri also puts a lot of attention to its design details. This includes features to remove clutter. Hiri syncs all calendar events from Office 365 and Exchange. You can share your calendars too. Hiri has an offline mode for added privacy. You also get reminders and snooze tools.

Hiri costs $39 per year or $119 for life.

Hiri is best for:

• Startups

• SMBs

• Large businesses

• Shared calendars

• Mac users

• Design

Mailspring (Good free email client)

Mailspring forked off from the mail client Nylas Mail. It’s open-source and built with a native C++ sync engine.

Mailspring works with macOS, Windows and Linux. It lets you use multiple IMAP & Office 365 accounts. It’s got a lot of the basic email features. These include undo send and read receipts. There’s also snooze and reminders. The dashboard is customizable with layouts and themes. Mailspring does real-time translation with English, Spanish, Russian, simplified Chinese, French, and German. There’s an RSVP feature that lets you instantly respond to email invites. Your contact list in Mailspring has profiles with Linkedin bios, social media links and company information.

Mailspring has a free version. The pro version is $8 per month.

Mailspring is best for:

• Freelancers

• Startups

• SMBs

• Translation

• Contacts

INKY (Top email app to block phishing)

INKY is an email app that is foremost about protection from phishing and other fraud. It uses AI and machine learning to do this.

INKY blocks malware, spam and phishing. Its detection is more robust than average email clients. Warnings on emails range from safe, unusual and malicious. You get visibility and email tracking into the blocked emails. It also guides you if you want to examine the suspicious email closer. You can report any suspicious email with one click. INKY’s platform is hosted in the cloud. It supports Office365, Exchange and G Suite. This email security app scales up to companies of any size.

You can request a demo from INKY’s website. For prices contact them as well.

INKY is best for:

• Small businesses

• Large businesses

• Enterprise

• Email security

• Phishing detection

• Spam and malware detection

Spark (Good email app for team collaboration)

Spark was made by Ukranian app development company Readdle. They launched Spark back in 2015.

Spark has mobile apps for iPhones and Androids. There’s a desktop version for macOS and one for Windows is on its way. It syncs email accounts from Outlook, iCloud, Google, Yahoo, Exchange and IMAP. The intelligent inbox sorts out important emails. You can also pin important emails. There is a batch email action feature. You can also get notifications when emails come from people you know. You can work with team members with Spark. It lets you write drafts together or add private notes. Team leaders can delegate emails tasks from the email inbox. It lets you set deadlines and track progress. There’s the usual send later, follow-up reminders, snooze and customizable signatures.

Spark has a free version. The best team collaboration tools are in the Premium plan at $6.39 per user per month billed annually. Contact Spark for enterprise plans.

Spark is best for:

• Startups

• SMBs

• Large businesses

• Managers

• Team collaboration

• Task management

Postbox

Postbox was first released in 2007. The brains behind this desktop email client came out of the Mozilla team. It was originally based on Thunderbird.

Postbox positions itself as a professional email app. The UX is very straightforward and familiar. It syncs accounts from Yahoo, Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, Outlook, and more. The dashboard lets you see your emails in tabs. Email tools let you group your accounts. You can create favorite folders. There is advanced searching and filtering. Postbox also offers file and image management. Pre-canned responses, professional-looking signatures and pre-formatted clips are also available. There’s also an HTML code editor. Postbox uses PGP encryption.

Postbox offers one-year licenses for $29. A lifetime license is $49 (though subject to change).

Postbox is best for:

• Freelancers

• Startups

• SMBs

• Desktop email client

• Tabbed browsing

Superhuman

The reviews are very mixed about Superhuman Email. Some love it, others are underwhelmed. Still this email app is worth mentioning.

Superhuman tries to reinvent a lot of email UX. The design is very streamlined and sleek. Superhuman also puts speed as the top selling point. They claim every action takes less than 100 milliseconds. It uses powerful AI in the email tirage stage. This sorts the important emails from the lesser ones. You get an undo send option. There’s also follow-ups, reminders and send later tools. Read statuses and read receipts are also part of the toolset. Superhuman gathers insights on your contacts from LinkedIn and other social media.

While there is no pricing listed on the website, other reviewers have noted that Superhuman costs $30 per month.

Superhuman is best for:

• SMBs

• Large businesses

• Fast emailing

• AI triage

ProtonMail

ProtonMail is the creation of Swiss scientists who met while working at CERN. That’s some big brains behind this email client.

ProtonMail is an email platform with full end-to-end encryption email. Security is a big deal with ProtonMail, Swiss-style. New accounts are made without needing to use personal information. It doesn’t store any IP logs. You can use ProtonMail with a web browser, or on iOS and Android devices. ProtonMail is open-source and simple to use. The interface has the look and feel as any normal email app.

ProtonMail offers a free version. The Plus version is good for one person at $5 per month. The Pro version is $8 per user per month, and the Visionary version is $30 per month for 6 users.

ProtonMail is best for:

• Individuals

• Freelancers

• Startups

• SMBs

• End to end encryption

• Email privacy

Zimbra

Zimbra was developed by Synacor. That’s a technology company out of Buffalo, NY. Synacor launched Zimbra in 2005.

Zimbra is collaboration software. A big part of it is the email server. The idea is to combine email with other teamwork tools. These include live chatting, 1:1 messaging and group chats. There’s also video conferencing, file sharing and screen sharing. There are tools for real-time collaboration on documents. For emailing, you can sync up Gmail, Yahoo, IMAP and POP. The platform works on Windows, macOS and Linux. You can create tags for emails. Email threads are displayed on multiple tabs. You also get undo send, restore email and scheduled delivery. Calendar and contact management are also available.

For prices contact Zimbra through their website.

Zimbra is best for:

• Teams

• Startups

• SMBs

• Collaboration

• File sharing

Shift

Shift hails from Victoria, Canada. The people behind Shift have a goal to make work both more productive and more fun.

The Shift approach is to help you manage multiple workflows. You can create custom workspaces inside Shift and invite people to collaborate. Shift is a desktop email client that lets you sync up many email accounts into a unified inbox. It integrates G Suite apps, as well as Slack and Facebook Messenger. You can add extensions to Shift. These include things like Grammarly, Dropbox, HubSpot and Zoom. The overall idea is to create Shift Workspaces and add all your web apps to the UX. It can replace basic web browsing.

The basic Shift plan is free. The Advanced and Team plans are $99.99 per year.

Shift is best for:

• Individuals

• Freelancers

• Startups

• SMBs

• Extensions

Key takeaways

To sum it all up, you’ve got no more excuses to stick with basic Gmail or Hotmail. Sure Outlook is a decent choice for Windows users. But we hope you’ve discovered some other good email client solutions.

FAQs

What is the difference between webmail and email client?

An email client runs off your own computer, and you can also back up your emails in the cloud. This is opposed to webmail which hosts everything on a server. Email clients are more common for business purposes, while webmail is more for personal use.

What is client-based email?

Client-based email is email software downloaded to your computer. It also stores your email archives on your own computer. You can back up your emails in cloud storage. Client-based emails have more features than simple webmail, and are often premium products.

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GET THE FUTURE OF WORK TODAY

Over the last few years, email has become an integral part of our daily lives. It has evolved from a simple way to send and receive text between two parties into a familiar and reliable method of communication that can be used as a place to receive newsletters, updates, and notifications from various services, etc. Several email apps have built additional features and experiences on top of the core email technology, such as shared inboxes, team collaboration, delegation, inline comments, etc.

Finding an email client for your Mac is not a trivial task. There are numerous free email apps for Mac that are released every few months and many simply shut down or disappear just as easily. Thankfully, we’ve made it easy for you by picking some of the best email apps out there and highlighting everything you should know about them. By the end of this article, you’ll emerge fully aware why Readdle’s Spark is by far the best email app for Mac.

Here’s our roundup of all the good email clients available for macOS:

1. Apple Mail app

Pricing: Free

Pros: Good set of basic features, well-integrated with the OS, great for starters.
Cons: Lacks advanced features, no customization options, often ignored by Apple.

It’s nearly impossible to talk about the best email apps for Mac and not include Apple’s own Mail.app in the list. Apple Mail is a reliable & solid email app for Mac that is a great option for someone just starting off with email. It comes bundled with macOS and integrates well with the major email service providers. Mail app works best when used with iCloud and automatically sets up the iCloud email account when you set up your iCloud account on your Mac.

It has a basic set of features that are good enough for novice users to get started with the essential email experience. If you’ve just switched to a Mac from a PC, you’ll find the Apple Mail app experience far better than anything you’ve previously used from Microsoft. But you’ll quickly realize that Apple Mail lacks the essential email features that are must-have in today’s day and age and you’ll find yourself searching for the best Apple Mail alternative on Mac.

2. Microsoft Outlook for Mac

Pricing: Free to download, but requires a Microsoft 365 Subscription starting $70/year

Pros: Comes bundled with other Microsoft apps, Built-in Calendar, Dark Mode
Cons: Expensive in the long run, cluttered User Interface, unfamiliar design language on Mac

Microsoft Outlook for Mac is what Apple Mail would be if you threw in a bunch of features and made it look like every other Microsoft app. Unlike the Outlook Mail app on iOS which is praised by many, Outlook for Mac feels like a cluttered mess designed by a team of programmers 10 years ago. It is, however, packed with several great email features. Outlook has what it calls a Focused Inbox, which automatically sorts your important or personal emails into the Focused tab and separates the rest of the junk like newsletters and marketing emails into a separate tab.

Outlook comes bundled with a Microsoft 365 subscription that gives you access to Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, and OneDrive, so if you use any of these apps on your Mac, you can easily start using Outlook for Mac over Apple Mail and take advantage of all its good features. It works with email services like Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud and pretty much anything that supports POP3 or IMAP protocols (I’m looking at you HEY Email). However, if you want a Mac email client that has both a beautiful design & a feature-rich approach, you have to look no further than Spark.

3. Spark

Pricing: Free for Individuals & Small Teams, with optional Premium plans for teams that require more features

Pros: Beautiful & polished design, elegant aesthetics, feature-packed, multi-platform, several team-focused features, great for collaboration.
Cons: Lacks a Windows app (currently in development)

Spark is a beautifully designed and feature-rich email client from the house of Readdle, known for their suite of productivity apps for iOS and Mac. Spark offers a distraction-free email experience through a delightful interface and a very powerful set of features. It works with all major email services like Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Hotmail, Aol, GMX, Exchange, as well as any IMAP account.

Spark features a Smart Inbox that automatically sorts incoming email in collections of Personal email, Notifications, and Newsletters. This lets you focus on all the important emails first, while the rest of the clutter takes a back seat. This, coupled with the Smart Notifications feature that only alerts you about the important emails is a great way to take control of your inbox and get productive.

Spark comes with a smart & robust email search feature using which you can locate any email buried deep down in an instant. Simply search for what you’re looking for using Natural Language Search terms and Spark will find it for you. Type “Attachments from Nick” to search for all emails from Nick that have attachments in them, and “PDF attachments from David sent last week on Monday” to bring up all those emails from last Monday from David that have PDF files in them. You can even save your frequent searches, so locating those emails is just a click away.

If you don’t feel like attending to an email right away (such as bill reminders or upcoming renewal notifications), you can set the email aside temporarily using the Snooze feature and reduce the clutter in your inbox. You can schedule emails to be sent later, get reminded to follow-up if you don’t get a response by a stipulated deadline, integrate with a bunch of different apps & services, and so much more. Spark has all the features you need to work with email.

One area where Spark really shines is Spark for Teams. Invite your team members to Spark to collectively work on email together. Spark for Teams lets you Delegate emails — complete with a due date, Share & Discuss email with teammates with inline comments, collaborate on email with a real-time editor on Shared Drafts and share your emails with teammates without manually forwarding them and cluttering up their inboxes.

Overall, Spark is a remarkable bundle of all the features you need to work with email. It’s a fantastic email app for Individuals, and even better for teams. You don’t have to deal with two different versions — the same Spark app is the best Mac email client for personal use and adapts itself with built-in features to become the best email app for teams as well.

Best of all, Spark is absolutely free, so you really have no reason to miss out on the wonderful experience that Spark has in store for you.

4. Airmail

Pricing: Free, but requires a Recurring Subscription of $2.99/mo for Pro features

Pros: Loaded with features, fast, and has a Unified Inbox.
Cons: Messy UI that feels like it was hastily put together, requires Pro subscription for most features.

Airmail is a popular email client available for macOS that boasts of several features in its satchel. It supports all the popular email service providers including Exchange, as well as accounts with IMAP or POP3 access. Just like in Spark, there’s an Unified Inbox feature that lets you view emails from all your accounts in one place.

If you have a Mac notebook with a Touch Bar, Airmail puts your frequently used actions on it so that they’re just a tap away. You can, of course, customize these actions with your favorite set. There’s a lovely Dark Mode to help you with the night sessions, Quick Replies for short responses, a Today Widget to get a quick overview of your inbox, and a handy Share Extension so you can instantly email anything using Airmail.

Overall, Airmail is a really good email app for macOS, and would do really well if it wasn’t for its messy UI and it’s requirement of a recurring subscription of $2.99/mo for Pro features that hasn’t gone down well with its users.

5. Mailplane

Pricing: $30

Pros: Brings the familiar Gmail experience with a native interface
Cons: Only works with Gmail, often breaks due to changes by Google

If you have multiple Gmail accounts that you use simultaneously, Mailplane is the app you need to have on your Mac. Simply put, Mailplane is a native Mac app that wraps around the familiar web interface of Google’s products. With Mailplane, you get Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts — all in the same application. You can use multiple accounts in the app, and you can mix and match the accounts & services. For example, you can have Tab 1 for your personal Gmail account, Tab 2 for your G Suite for Work account, and Tab 3 for your Work Calendar account.

Mailplane has a handy notifier that not only alerts you about new emails, but also shows unread messages count in the menu bar. It has a ‘Search Everywhere’ feature that lets you simultaneously search for emails across different mailboxes. It also seamlessly integrates with a bunch of different macOS apps. My favorite Mailplane feature is that since it is essentially a browser for Google’s web UIs, it supports most of the popular third-party extensions to enhance your experience. You can enable Grammarly to improve your language, Simplify/Gmail to clean up the Gmail UI, Boomerang for Gmail to power-up features, Clearbit to add context to email addresses, and so on.

Unfortunately, your experience is still plagued with issues as Mailplane has to depend on Gmail’s web UI for it to work correctly and oftentimes it just fails to load Gmail, asking you to load an basic HTML version instead. You’ll also often be annoyed by Gmail asking you to enter your account credentials to verify yourself if you use too many accounts in Mailplane. To avoid these hassles, you can set up multiple Gmail accounts in Spark for Mac. This way, you get a premium native email experience and you also have access to your Google Calendar and contacts at your disposal.

6. Canary Mail

Pricing: $20

Pros: Good design, with heavy focus on Security & Privacy
Cons: Lacks Team features

Canary Mail is another email app for macOS that puts a heavy focus on privacy and security. It features end-to-end encryption, full PGP support, and an open source mail sync engine, making it a good choice for users who rely on PGP for all their email communication.

Canary has a beautiful design that looks like any other native Mac app built by Apple. There are familiar icons and buttons in the Mac app, and the UI is built to be simple yet powerful. It’s almost like the default Mail app on steroids.

While Canary is a pretty good email app for personal use, it lacks team collaboration features that are the need of the hour today. If you need to discuss emails with your team, need to draft emails together, and want to share emails without manually forwarding them, then Spark Mail app is what you really need.

7. Newton Mail

Pricing: Recurring Subscription of $49.99/yr

Free Mail App For Macos

Pros: Multi-platform, Minimal & elegant design
Cons: Expensive subscription with an unclear future

Newton mail is an immensely popular email app that has spent quite some time in the news cycle lately. The app has an extensive set of features that make it an attractive choice for normal and pro users both. Newton features a very minimalistic user interface that takes the clutter out and lets you focus on the core email experience. Unfortunately, the UI is a little too minimal for many who are bothered by the empty spaces in the app.

In recent times, Newton has managed to alienate its loyal users after it announced that it is shutting down, two times in a row. The first time, the original owners of Cloudmagic announced that they were shutting down Newton, only to be bought over by Andy Rubin’s phone company Essential. Then for round #2, when Essential was shutting down, they announced that Newton would meet its end as well, only to be brought back by two independent fans of the service who didn’t want to see it die. As of now, there’s no clear future for Newton, especially considering that the service is priced at a hefty $50 per year.

Best Free Mail Client For Mac

When pitted against all the popular email apps for Mac available in the market, Spark Mail app emerges as the best email app for Mac by a long margin. It has the absolute perfect combination of a friendly & elegant user interface along with an extensive & robust set of features. Coupled with its impeccable polish, seamless integrations, phenomenal team features, and highly impressive price of being available for free, there’s really nothing that comes close to being a viable contender. Spark is truly the best email client for Mac.