Aqua Mail vs BlueMail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, BlueMail grades higher than Aqua Mail: 3.2 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
BlueMail grades higher on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Aqua Mail
Email app for Android and iOS that handles many accounts at once
BlueMail
Cross-platform email client with a unified inbox and built-in AI
Which one is for you
Pick Aqua Mail if
- Fits if you read three or four mailboxes from different providers on your phone
- Works for people who would sooner pay once than every month
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a desktop or web app too, as it's phones only
- Tight if you stay free: one account, with ads and only part of the features
- Pricey if you go monthly, at $9.99 a month
- Watch out: the $1 first-term offer renews at $9.99 a month
- Watch out: the pricing page loads prices with JavaScript, so the yearly view is not on record
Pick BlueMail if
- Fits if you want the same email app on your phone, your Mac and a Linux machine
- Works for people with several accounts, since the free plan takes unlimited ones
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want email in a browser tab, as there's no web version
- Not for you if you need S/MIME, SSO or MDM support, which are listed on the Enterprise plan only
- Tight if you were hoping for free AI, because GemAI starts on Plus at $35.99 a year
- Watch out: the website prices Plus at $4.99 a month or $35.99 a year, but the App Store shows $6.99 and $49.99
- Watch out: the Plus trial is 7 days, and the FAQ ties it to yearly subscriptions
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAqua MailFair | 3.2GPABlueMailVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPremium is $9.99 a month, but the family plan works out at $1.99 a head and the one-off is $99.99. That's under two years of what the typical email app charges, so the one-off is the way in. | BPlus is $35.99 a year, which BlueMail shows as $3 a month, inside the lowest-priced quarter for this category, where the middle is $8. That buys unlimited GemAI, desktop backup and priority support. Pay monthly and it's $4.99, and the US App Store shows different in-app figures, $6.99 and $49.99. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree covers one account, with ads and only some of the features. Add a second mailbox and you're paying. | AThe Personal plan is free for good with no cap a normal person would reach: unlimited email accounts, the unified inbox, Clusters, MagicSync and PGP encryption, on every platform. GemAI and desktop email backup are held back for Plus. |
| Features | CUnlimited accounts on paid plans, manual IMAP and POP3, colour-coding and scheduled backups. It does the phone-mail job and the listing shows no real gap, but nothing here goes past the basics. | BIt covers the mail-client job: one inbox for every account, Clusters that group newsletters and receipts, a screener that holds mail from new senders for review, a calendar inside the app that proposes times from a thread, and PGP with your own keys. S/MIME is Enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You still add each mailbox yourself, and there are hundreds of settings to wade through if you go looking. | BNo app rating on record, and nothing to set up beyond signing in: it takes Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Exchange and any IMAP or POP3 account, as many as you like, on the free plan too. |
| Platforms and integrations | CAndroid and iPhone only. No desktop app and no web version, so it's one family of devices. | BiPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux, plus links to Slack, Notion, Linear, Trello, Asana and the big cloud drives. The gap is the browser: no web version is listed. |
| Best for | one inbox for many mailboxes on a phone | one free inbox on every device you own |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Aqua Mail and BlueMail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Aqua Mail starts at $9.99 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. BlueMail starts at $3 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.0.
BlueMail scores higher and starts $6.99 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 52 score higher than Aqua Mail for less, and 2 score higher than BlueMail for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Aqua Mail can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- BlueMail is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- BlueMail also covers templates, calendar and inbox filtering.
At a glance
| Aqua Mail | BlueMail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month (Premium) | $35.99 per year (Plus, shown as $3 per month billed annually) |
| Free plan | Free: one account with ads and limited access to key, advanced and customization features. | Personal plan, free for individual use: unlimited email accounts, unified inbox, Clusters, MagicSync and PGP encryption on every platform. GemAI and desktop email backup are not included. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial of Plus (annual subscriptions, per the FAQ) and 14-day free trial of Team |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Aqua Mail | Blix Inc. |
| Price read from | aqua-mail.com | bluemail.me |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Aqua Mail
- The free version is limited to one account and shows ads.
- The pricing page loads prices with JavaScript; a Yearly toggle exists that was not captured, so only the monthly view is recorded.
- The $1 first-term offer renews at $9.99 a month, per the page's footnote.
- Phone apps only; no desktop client is listed.
BlueMail
- GemAI, email backup on desktop and priority support need the paid Plus plan; S/MIME, SSO and MDM support are listed only on Enterprise.
- No web version is listed: BlueMail runs as apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux.
- The pricing page shows yearly prices as a rounded monthly figure ($3 and $8) and switches currency by country; the figures here come from its US price table.
- The US App Store lists BlueMail+ in-app purchases at $6.99 and $49.99 with no billing period shown; the website prices Plus at $4.99 a month or $35.99 a year.
Key features
Aqua Mail
- Many accounts, one inbox
- Supports unlimited accounts on paid plans, covering major providers and manually entered IMAP or POP3 servers.
- Privacy approach
- The vendor says the app is not cloud based and does not store passwords or emails on its servers.
- Customization
- The site advertises hundreds of settings for personalizing the mail experience, such as color-coding accounts.
- Scheduled backups
- The vendor's blog covers scheduled backups so messages are not lost if an account or phone changes.
- Android and iOS
- Download buttons for both platforms are on the site, and the app lists in-app purchases on Google Play.
BlueMail
- Unified Inbox
- Mail from every account and provider appears in one combined view. Every plan, including the free one, allows unlimited email accounts.
- Clusters
- Automatically groups newsletters, transactions, shopping, social and personal mail, so everything in a group can be archived, moved or flagged at once.
- GemAI
- Generative AI that summarizes threads, drafts replies, rewrites text for tone or length and translates across 90+ languages. It is included from the Plus plan.
- Active Screener
- Holds mail from new senders in a review queue, where each sender can be allowed, blocked or sent to spam before reaching the inbox.
- Integrated calendar
- A calendar inside the mail app that syncs with Google, Apple and Outlook calendars and can propose meeting times directly from a thread.
- PGP encryption
- Encrypt, sign and verify messages with PGP keys that you bring or generate inside the app. S/MIME support is listed on the Enterprise plan only.
Plans
Aqua Mail
Free$0
One account, with ads and limited access to features.
Premium$9.99
per month
Unlimited accounts, no ads and full access; the page also offers a first-term promotion.
Family$1.99
per user / month, billed annually ($144 a year)
For up to 6 users; unlimited accounts, no ads and full access.
One-off$99.99
one-time
Unlimited accounts, no ads and full access; shown with $199 crossed out.
BlueMail
Personal$0
For individuals: unlimited email accounts, unified inbox, Clusters, MagicSync, PGP encryption, light and dark themes, and community support.
Plus$35.99
per year (shown as $3 per month), or $4.99 billed monthly
Everything in Personal, plus unlimited GemAI, an email verified badge, premium themes, email backup on desktop and priority support.
Team$99
per user / year (shown as $8 per month), or $12 billed monthly
Everything in Plus, plus a domain verified badge, subscription and billing control, custom domain mailboxes and service configuration.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds identity provider integration (SSO), MDM support, S/MIME, adaptive multi-factor authentication, advanced governance and 24/7 priority support.
Ways to pay less
Aqua Mail
- Other savings
First term for $1, 80% off Premium
The pricing page promotes Aqua Mail for only $1 with the footnote that it renews at $9.99 a month, cancel anytime.
BlueMail
- Annual discount
Lower price with yearly billing
In the US price table Plus is $35.99 a year against $4.99 a month (about 40% less) and Team is $99 per user a year against $12 a month (about 31% less). The page's toggle advertises a 20% saving.
- Other savings
Volume pricing for Team plans over 100 seats
The pricing FAQ says Team plans with more than 100 seats receive automatic volume pricing, and Enterprise is quoted individually by sales.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Aqua Mail or BlueMail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, BlueMail is cheaper to start with: $3 a month when paid by the year, against $9.99 a month for Aqua Mail. Aqua Mail starts at $9.99 per month (Premium), and BlueMail starts at $35.99 per year (Plus, shown as $3 per month billed annually).
Which has a free plan, Aqua Mail or BlueMail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Aqua Mail and BlueMail have a free plan.
Which platforms do Aqua Mail and BlueMail run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only BlueMail lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.