Betterbird vs Mailspring (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Betterbird grades higher than Mailspring: 3.0 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Betterbird grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mailspring
Open-source desktop email client for Mac, Windows and Linux
Which one is for you
Pick Betterbird if
- Fits if you like Thunderbird and want its changes on Windows, Mac or Linux
- Works for people who keep mail in a desktop client rather than a browser
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a phone or web app, as it's desktop only
- Watch out: it's a small project funded by donations, with no paid support
- Watch out: old release series reach end of life, and the site says not to run them
- Watch out: Mac builds are English only unless you add a language pack
- Not for you if Thunderbird bugs bother you, as they can carry over
Pick Mailspring if
- Fits if you're on Linux and want a desktop email app that takes several accounts
- Works for people who want read receipts and link tracking, at 5 a week free or unlimited on Pro
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you read mail on your phone too, as there's no iOS or Android version
- Not for you if your work account is Exchange only, because EWS and ActiveSync aren't supported
- Too light for anyone who needs a working calendar, since it's a read-only preview for Google accounts
- Tight if you stay free, at 15 snoozes, 5 send-later messages and 5 tracked messages a week
- Watch out: there's no lifetime license, and Pro at $8 a month doesn't include premium support
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABetterbirdVery good | 2.4GPAMailspringFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree to download and use, with donations optional. A program anyone can download and run counts as free and substantial. | CPro is $8 a month, or $85 a year, the $8.00 middle of this category. All it buys is the lifting of weekly caps on snooze, send later, reminders, receipts and tracking. No one-time or lifetime license is offered, and Pro doesn't include premium support. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no paid edition and no trial limits. | AThe free version is a full mail client with unlimited accounts, a unified inbox, search, mail rules, signatures and templates, and no cap on any of that. A free Mailspring ID adds weekly allowances of Pro: 15 snoozes, 5 send-later messages and 5 tracked ones. |
| Features | BA full mail client built on Thunderbird, with add-ons, several languages and installing beside Thunderbird. Nothing on the pages shows a gap in the core email work. | CThe basics: one inbox for several accounts, Gmail-style search across all of them, read receipts, link tracking, send later, snooze, reply reminders, translation and a grammar check. The holes are on its own pages: no Exchange or POP3, and a calendar that's a read-only preview for Google accounts. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a desktop client where you connect your own accounts first. | CNo rating on record. It's a desktop app with a familiar layout, but you add each account yourself and the free-plan allowances mean keeping track of how many snoozes and tracked messages you have left this week. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux desktop builds only. No phone or web version. | CComputers only: Mac, Windows and Linux, but there's no iOS, Android or web version and the docs say the team is focused on the desktop. Mail syncs over IMAP straight from your provider to your machine. |
| Best for | a Thunderbird fork for Windows, Mac and Linux | a free desktop inbox, Linux included |
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: Betterbird and Mailspring. How we grade
Price against what you get
Betterbird has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Mailspring starts at $7.08 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Betterbird scores higher and starts $7.08 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than Betterbird for less, and 34 score higher than Mailspring 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
- Betterbird also covers calendar.
- Mailspring also covers templates.
At a glance
| Betterbird | Mailspring | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $8 per month, or $85 per year (Mailspring Pro) |
| Free plan | Free to download and use; the project asks for donations by Stripe or PayPal. | Unlimited accounts, unified inbox, search, mail rules, signatures, templates and themes. A free Mailspring ID adds weekly allowances of Pro features, such as 15 snoozes and 5 send-later messages. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Betterbird project | Foundry376, LLC |
| Price read from | betterbird.eu | getmailspring.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Betterbird
- It is a small project funded by donations, and the site says Mac builds are English only unless a language pack is added.
- Old release series reach end of life, and the site advises against running them because of unpatched vulnerabilities.
- It follows Thunderbird's code, so some Thunderbird issues can carry over.
Mailspring
- There is no iOS, Android or web version; the docs say the team is focused on the desktop app.
- Exchange (EWS and ActiveSync) and POP3 are not supported. Microsoft 365 accounts connect over IMAP and SMTP.
- The calendar is a read-only preview for Google accounts; a full calendar is described as coming later.
- No one-time or lifetime license is offered, and Pro does not include premium support.
Key features
Betterbird
- Thunderbird base with changes
- Features and bug fixes exclusive to Betterbird, listed in a feature table on its home page, such as a multi-line message view.
- Install next to Thunderbird
- You can run it at the same time as Thunderbird on the same profile and go back if you do not like it.
- Windows, Mac and Linux builds
- A Windows installer and portable version, Mac disk images for Intel and Apple silicon, and a Linux archive.
- Languages
- Ships in English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Czech, Polish, Swedish and Ukrainian.
- Add-ons
- Has its own add-ons page, and uses its own release series based on Thunderbird's ESR versions.
Mailspring
- Unified inbox
- One inbox for Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, Fastmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo and other IMAP accounts. The free version puts no limit on the number of accounts.
- Advanced search
- Mailspring indexes mail so that Gmail-style search queries can look through message contents across every connected account.
- Read receipts and link tracking
- Notifies you when a recipient opens a message or clicks a link. A free Mailspring ID can track 5 messages a week of each kind, and Pro is unlimited.
- Send later, snooze and reminders
- Schedule a message, snooze a conversation, or get a reminder when nobody replies. The free allowance is 5 send-later messages, 5 reminders and 15 snoozes a week.
- Translation and grammar check
- Translates drafts and incoming messages and checks grammar in the composer with LanguageTool. Both have weekly caps, which are higher on Pro.
- Open source with direct sync
- The full codebase is published under the MIT license. Mail syncs over IMAP straight from the provider to your machine, not through Mailspring's servers.
Plans
Betterbird
Betterbird$0
Free download for Windows, macOS and Linux; paid support is not offered, and donations are optional.
Mailspring
Free$0
Complete email client with unlimited accounts and a unified inbox. Weekly allowances of Pro features: 15 snoozes, 5 send-later messages and 5 tracked messages.
Mailspring Pro$8
per month, or $85 per year
Unlimited snooze, send later, follow-up reminders, read receipts and link tracking, plus higher caps on translation, grammar check and contact profiles.
Ways to pay less
Betterbird
No public discounts listed.
Mailspring
- Annual discount
11% off with annual billing
Mailspring Pro is billed monthly at $8 by default. The subscription docs list an annual plan at $85 a year, which they describe as an 11% discount.
- Other savings
Multi-seat discounts for teams
The subscription docs say discounts on multi-seat licenses and annual team plans are available by contacting Foundry376's sales address.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Betterbird or Mailspring?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Betterbird is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $7.08 a month when paid by the year for Mailspring. Betterbird is free, and Mailspring starts at $8 per month, or $85 per year (Mailspring Pro).
Which has a free plan, Betterbird or Mailspring?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Betterbird and Mailspring have a free plan.
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.