Claws Mail vs Mailspring (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Claws Mail grades higher than Mailspring: 2.8 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
Claws Mail grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, 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 Claws Mail if
- Fits if you want a light mail client you can drive from the keyboard
- Works for people who use GnuPG and want plugins for extras
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a calendar built in, as that's a plugin
- Not for you if you use a Mac, since the downloads page mentions no macOS version
- Watch out: Windows is a separate port
- Too light on looks if you want a modern design: the interface is built on GTK and follows older desktop mail clients
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
| 2.8GPAClaws MailGood | 2.4GPAMailspringFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree under the GPL for anyone to download. 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, the whole app, with no paid edition. | 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 | CA keyboard-driven client with filtering, search, GnuPG, plugins, several protocols and MH storage. Gaps: calendar and RSS are plugins, not the base app. | 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. You install from a distro package or source, connect your accounts and add plugins for extras. | 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 | CLinux, plus a separate Windows port. No macOS version is mentioned and there's 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 lightweight keyboard-driven mail client | 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: Claws Mail and Mailspring. How we grade
Price against what you get
Claws Mail has no paid plan and scores 2.0 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.
They score the same, and Claws Mail starts $7.08 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than Claws Mail 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
- Claws Mail also covers inbox filtering.
- Mailspring also covers templates.
At a glance
| Claws Mail | Mailspring | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $8 per month, or $85 per year (Mailspring Pro) |
| Free plan | The whole application is free software under the GPL. | 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 | Claws Mail project | Foundry376, LLC |
| Price read from | claws-mail.org | getmailspring.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Claws Mail
- Calendar and RSS are plugins, not part of the base application.
- Windows is listed as a separate port; no macOS version is mentioned on the downloads page.
- The interface is built on GTK and follows the look of older desktop mail clients.
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
Claws Mail
- Keyboard-driven interface
- Almost all commands can be reached from the keyboard, in a layout meant to look familiar to people from other mail clients.
- Filtering and search
- Filtering, per-folder processing, message scoring, colour labels and a search function for sorting a busy mailbox.
- GnuPG support
- Encrypt and sign messages with GnuPG through GPGME, and switch the encryption type while composing.
- Plugins
- Extras such as an RSS aggregator and a calendar come as plugins, and the project lists them on a plugins page.
- Protocols and accounts
- Multiple accounts over POP3, IMAP4rev1 and SMTP with SSL, plus Usenet news reading and posting through NNTP.
- MH storage and import
- Messages are kept in the MH format, and mbox import and export lets you move mail in and out of other clients.
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
Claws Mail
Claws Mail$0
Free under the GPL; install from a distribution package or the source tarballs.
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
Claws Mail
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, Claws Mail or Mailspring?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Claws Mail is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $7.08 a month when paid by the year for Mailspring. Claws Mail is free, and Mailspring starts at $8 per month, or $85 per year (Mailspring Pro).
Which has a free plan, Claws Mail or Mailspring?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Claws Mail and Mailspring have a free plan.
Which platforms do Claws Mail and Mailspring run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Mailspring lists a macOS app. Both list Windows and Linux 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.