Mozilla’s Thunderbird gets a lot of love in the world of email. It’s completely free, open source, and runs on a variety of operating systems including Linux. It also has hundreds of add-on apps available that allow users to customize their email client and increase functionality. However, over recent years, there’s been plenty of talk about whether Thunderbird has a future, and whether it’s up to the job in our increasingly mobile world.
In 2015,Mozilla announced that it would separate the infrastructure of Thunderbird and its popular Firefox web browser. This created plenty of confusion as to whether Mozilla was, in fact, dropping the Thunderbird project altogether. That situation hasn’t come to pass, and users can still download Thunderbird from the website, however, plenty of open questions as to what the future holds remain.
Other important factors to consider when researching alternatives to Thunderbird include functionality and features. We have compiled a list of solutions that reviewers voted as the best overall alternatives and competitors to Thunderbird, including Microsoft Outlook, Spike, Mailbird, and eM Client. Thunderbird makes email better for you, bringing together speed, privacy and the latest technologies. Works great on Microsoft Windows 10. Phishing Protection – Thunderbird protects you from email scams which try to trick users into handing over personal and confidential information by indicating when a message is a potential phishing attempt. Get the answer to 'What is the best alternative to Mozilla Thunderbird?' See a list of the top 20 options and learn their pros and cons. Alternatives to a Thunderbird Discussion in 'Basses BG' started by sir juice, Oct 20, 2007. Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next Oct 20, 2007 #1. At the same time, outside developers ('the community') can continue working on a parallel version of Thunderbird (still released by Mozilla) which will include new features, etc. Considering that Mozilla.org involvement in developing Thunderbird will stop only after Quantal is released, it's a little early to begin looking about for alternatives.
Alternatives To Thunderbird Email Client
But don’t worry, for Thunderbird lovers everywhere, Spike’s got just the thing. Whether Mozilla’s email client has a future or not, Spike is here to make sure you have all of your favorite features and much more. Check out this break down of Spike’s 21st century Thunderbird alternative so you can see for yourself.
Thunderbird vs. Spike: Email. Redesigned.
Alternatives To Outlook And Thunderbird
When it comes to email, Thunderbird’s approach is similar to many of the most popular email clients currently out there. You have your inbox organized in folders, your messages set out in threads, and a few productivity tools (such as calendars and task lists) on separate tabs. Focus is definitely on functionality at the expense of aesthetics, and for many people, the basic interface can be a turn off.
Speed and performance have always been highly regarded; however, the open-source nature of the app has also been responsible for many bugs over the years, and while issues are usually ironed out eventually, this can take time. This has been a particular issue over the past few years considering the uncertain future surrounding the email client.
As an alternative to Thunderbird, Spike does things a little differently by putting everything you need in a single, streamlined, beautifully designed productivity workspace. It’s called Conversational Email, and it’s mission is to redesign the way you engage with the people who matter most. Let’s compare Spike’s very own Conversational Email with Thunderbird’s more conventional email—you’re going to love it!
Many of us have multiple email accounts. Managing the mails received in each one of them is troublesome. Thunderbird helps us do so by connecting with the email servers, collecting the messages, and replying from one place. Although, many people are now looking for Thunderbird alternatives that provide similar features. So, I have prepared a list of similar software like Thunderbird that allows managing multiple emails from one place.
Features of Thunderbird
Here are some great and handy features from Thunderbird that you should expect from its alternatives-
- User privacy and phishing protection: Thunderbird can detect potential phishing and scam attempts from emails and has robust support for privacy. Automatic, regular security updates are icing on the cake.
- Next-level user experience: Light and dark modes, with available add-ons, lets you customize your email experience. ‘Smart folders’ is a feature that allows you to manage multiple accounts by combining special folders like the inbox, sent, or archive folder.
- Features for maximum efficiency and productivity: Features like tabbed emails, quick filter toolbar, Search tools, and message archives makes things a lot easier for power users.
- Very easy setup wizard, One-click address book, and attachment reminders make it easy to switch to Thunderbird and get started.
Read the full set of features here.
Alternatives to Thunderbird for Windows & Mac
In today’s market, Thunderbird is a good email client, however, there are several similar software available. Listed below some of the best Thunderbird alternatives that work with Windows, Mac & Online:
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is an application used to manage emails. Apart from sending emails and receiving them, Outlook acts as a very efficient organizer and helps you plan your schedule. That’s because it’s capable of syncing your emails with your calendar. Its features are-
- Bill pay reminder gives you notifications about paying your bills as it keeps tabs on the emails your receive that remind you to pay your bill. As the mails are synced with the calendar, Outlook gives reminders two days in advance
- It suggests where to hold your next meeting based on data retrieved from mails that show where you had your last few meetings
- It is capable of tracking RSVPs for the meetings, including those not organized by you. This helps you decide if you’ll attend meetings called by others
Official Website
System supports: Windows, macOS, Android and Web-based
eM Client
eM Client is a truly unique alternative to Thunderbird. With eM Client, you can create tasks out of your emails by filtering out relevant information. All you’ve got to do is just right click on the mail and opt for “Create Task from Message”. There are certain features eM Client comes with-
- The contact manager helps you store vital information like names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of your contacts for better functioning
- The calendar functionality helps you plan your schedule
- It has an instant messaging facility that helps you reach out with vital information quickly
- It’s very user friendly and it’s free
Official Website
System supports: Microsoft Windows, macOS
File size: 69.2 MB
BlueMail
What sets BlueMail apart as an alternative to Thunderbird is that it can manage any number of mail accounts from separate providers. It’s free to use and designed very elegantly. Its features are-
- It has a beautiful design which makes it very pleasing for the eyes
- It gives a single interface you can sync various email accounts on from various providers
- It offers total privacy and security with complete encryption
- It works on multiple devices
Official Website
System supports: Windows, macOS, Linux and Android
File size: 160 KB
Zoho Mail
You can have enterprise email hosting with Zoho Mail. It works by assigning a domain-based custom mail id for the members in your organization. You can then control the email settings of the entire organization as the super admin with access to the control panel. The features are:-
- Mark emails from a specific person or moves them to a separate folder using the filter feature
- It’s easy to find mails down below in your inbox with the search feature
- Delete mails in bulk to avoid cluttering in your inbox
Official Website
System supports: Windows and Web-based
Claws Mail
Claws Mail is a powerful email client that is user friendly and very powerful. While it works independent of your desktop, it tries to integrate its functioning with your desktop as best as it can. It can be used in computers with the most basic of configurations as it’s quite lightweight. The features are:
- It is capable of quick response
- It has a sleek and sophisticated interface
- It’s robust and stable
- Its configuration is easy and the operations are intuitive making it easy to use
- It’s extensible. So, it’s future-ready
Official link
System supports: BSD, Linux, macOS, Solaris, Unix, and Windows
File size: 32.7 MB (for windows)
Mozilla Email
Mailbird
A beautiful and intuitive application for your desktop, Mailbird integrates all the communication you make. It’s an email application developed by Windows that’s ideal for Gmail. It has attractive features that make it a very capable alternative for Thunderbird.
- It has a single unified inbox that contains the contacts and emails from the separate email accounts that you have
- You can integrate all your apps like Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Google Calendar, etc.
- Focus on your important emails first by snoozing the others
- It’s easy to find even those attachment that is a year old with the attachment search feature
Official Website
System supports: Windows
File size: 1904 KB
IncrediMail
If you’re looking to add some spice to the mundane work of emailing, IncrediMail is the thing for you. With its bright backgrounds and quirky dancing graphics, IncrediMail makes mailing fun. It also offers protection from spam, phishing, and email fraud. The features that set it apart are-
- It’s user friendly and a lot of fun
- Comes with lots of multimedia and stationery content
- You can organize your emails pretty fast and in an efficient manner using its fast search option
- You can use a filter to receive emails only from those you want to
Note: Support is no more available
Mailspring
To be able to use Mailspring, you need to create a Mailspring ID. It helps in snoozing and unsnoozing your mails across devices that Mailspring does by storing the date of the mail by itself and then syncing it. Its features are-
- Rich contact profiles
- Link tracking
- Follow-up reminders
- Snooze messages
Official Website
System supports: Mac, Linux, and Windows
File size: 110 MB
Opera Mail
You can save the trouble of checking the inbox of your mail ids separately with Opera Mail. It gives you a single inbox with emails from all your mail accounts. That saves you the trouble of logging into all your mail ids individually one at a time. It’s unique features are-
Alternative To Thunderbird Mail
- It’s free to use
- Comes with a low bandwidth mode
- You can open your mails in separate tabs
- You can organize your mails very easily
- It loads quickly
Official Website
System supports: Windows XP and later, OS X 10.5 and later
File size: 53.8 MB
SeaMonkey
SeaMonkey is unique in the sense that it’s an all-in-one application suite for the internet. It comes with not just an email, but also an internet browser, newsgroup client, HTML editor, IRC chat along with web development tools. Its features are-
- The sync feature helps you save information like your browsing history across separate devices securely
- You can open multiple pages with the tab feature
- If on rare occasions SeaMonkey crashes, you can restore all the windows you opened with Session Restore
Official Website
System supports: Windows 10 & older versions, Linux, macOS, Linux kernel, Solaris, OS/2
File size: 34.4 MB
Sylpheed
If you’re looking for an easy way to use an email client, Sylpheed is the answer. You can organize your emails by using virtual folders, templates, and labels. Your mails are secure as Sylpheed comes with OpenPGP encryption. The features are-
- Works in various languages
- Spam filtering is easy with bogofilter
- You can search all your messages with the convenient Sylp-Searcher
- You can edit your messages with a message editor it comes with. You can also use another editor
Official Website
System supports: Windows, Linux, BSD, and Mac OS X
File size: 7.9 MB
ProtonMail
ProtonMail is more of a security provider. It provides complete encryption ensuring full privacy for your mails. This way, none can read your emails and that includes ProtonMail too. After opening an account, you can protect your messages with the public RSA keys encrypting the mails. Its features are-
- There’s a limit on the number of messages you can send, it’s 300/hour and 1000/day
- It offers storage of 5 GB
- It comes with 5 addresses
- It has a short domain name
Official Website
System supports: Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Windows, macOS, and Web-based
Rambox
Rambox is a very convenient email client that brings various services on one platform. So, with Rambox, you can use popular email service providers like Gmail, Outlook, Slack, WhatsApp, etc. all on one single app. What’s more, you can also add services. The features of Rambox are-
- Choose from 100 services/apps to integrate
- You can ensure privacy with a master password protecting the app
- There’s a mode that allows you not to be disturbed
- You can sync various apps that you use on separate devices
Official Website
System supports: Windows, Linux, and macOS
File size: 150 MB
Isotope Mail Client
The isotope has been created with the future in mind. It has been developed to adopt and develop new technologies and design patterns to improve the experience of using email clients. Its features are-
- It needs no database
- Gives you the option to drag and drop messages
- You can open embedded messages too
- You can create, rename or even delete folders
Official Website
System supports: macOS, Windows, Linux, and Web-based
File size: 3.6 MB
Mail-in-a-box
Mail-in-a-box lets you create your very own mail server for multiple domains. To set it up, you have to send a test mail. Follow that by sending a new mail or replying to one from the address that’s being managed by the server of Mail-in-a-box. It has its features.
- It has a Roundcube webmail that manages emails using the web browser
- The control panel allows you to add or remove mailboxes, change passwords, back up data, etc.
- It uses Postfix as a simple mail transfer protocol
- Uses Dovecot as the IMAP
Official Website
System supports: SMTP, IMAP/POP, spam filtering, webmail, and even DNS
File size: 240 KB
Geary
Geary is an email application made for Linux (GNOME) operating system. It is popular due to its modern and clean user interface and is free of cost. You don’t need to be a seasoned Linux user to install and use the app as it is not that complicated.
- An efficient search indexer helps you find emails fast
- Feature-rich composer with lots of text formatting options
- Account setup takes just a few seconds
- Clean, fast, and modern interface
Systems Supported: Linux
Email Alternatives To Thunderbird
File Size: 7.1 MB
Alternatives To Thunderbird Linux
Conclusion
Alternatives To Thunderbird Email
Among the many email clients available, above are the Thunderbird alternatives. They are smart and shall help you organize your mails efficiently. I look forward to hearing from you. Do let me know which one you choose to use and how your experience turns out to be.