Edison Mail vs K-9 Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Edison Mail grades higher than K-9 Mail: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Edison Mail grades higher on ease of use and platforms. K-9 Mail grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Edison Mail
Free multi-account email app with one-tap unsubscribe
Which one is for you
Pick Edison Mail if
- Fits if you've got several email accounts and want one free inbox for all of them
- Works for people whose inbox is full of newsletters they want out of with one tap
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you'd rather not have data from your receipts used for research, even anonymized
- Not for you if you work on a Mac or in a browser: it's iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows, and the Mac app has no live listing
- Pricey if you only want the phishing warnings, at $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year
- Watch out: the Assistant's bills, travel and package folders only work in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India
Pick K-9 Mail if
- Fits if you read several mailboxes on one Android phone
- Works for people who want GPG and open-source code
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you use iPhone or a computer, as it is Android only
- Watch out: the site's banner says Thunderbird for Android is the future of K-9 Mail
- Skip it if you need a new address, since it is a client for existing mailboxes
- Tight if you want setup done for you, as you add your own account details
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAEdison MailVery good | 2.8GPAK-9 MailGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BThe app itself costs nothing, under what most of this category charges. What stops it going higher: the only paid plan is $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year for three security extras, and the free app is funded by anonymized data from your commercial mail. | AFree to download under the Apache 2.0 licence, with no paid plans, and a donate link. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree with unlimited accounts, a unified inbox, one-tap unsubscribe, Block Sender, snooze, Focused Inbox and tracking-pixel blocking. There's no cap a normal person would hit. Phishing warnings are the part held back for Mail+. | AThe full app is free from Google Play, F-Droid, GitHub or Amazon. |
| Features | CThe basics of a mail app: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Exchange, AOL and IMAP in one inbox, one-tap unsubscribe, domain blocking, snooze and Undo Send. The gaps are on its own pages: the Assistant's bills, travel and package folders only work in five countries. | BPush IMAP, GPG and PGP/MIME, a unified inbox, identities and message tools. The listing shows no gap in the core job of a mail client, though it provides no address of its own. |
| Ease of use | B4.5 from about 78,700 App Store ratings, a large crowd but short of the 4.7 an A needs. Tracking pixels are blocked by default and unsubscribing is a single tap. | CNo store rating on record. You add your accounts and server settings yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BiPhone, iPad, Android and Windows, so phone and computer are both covered, and it reads Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Exchange, AOL and any IMAP account. There's no web version, and the Mac app Edison's site mentions had no live store listing when we checked. | DAndroid only: no iPhone, desktop or web version is listed. |
| Best for | a free inbox for lots of accounts on your phone | an open-source Android email client |
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: Edison Mail and K-9 Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Edison Mail starts at $8.33 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. K-9 Mail has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Edison Mail scores higher, and starts $8.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, 8 score higher than Edison Mail for less, and none scores higher than K-9 Mail 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
- K-9 Mail is open source, according to its own site.
- Edison Mail also covers inbox filtering.
At a glance
| Edison Mail | K-9 Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $14.99 per month, or $99.99 per year (Edison Mail+) | Free |
| Free plan | The app is free with unlimited email accounts, a unified inbox, one-tap unsubscribe, Block Sender, snooze, Focused Inbox and tracking-pixel blocking. Edison Mail+ security features cost extra. | Free to download from Google Play, F-Droid, GitHub Releases or Amazon; no paid plans are listed. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Edison Software (YipitData) | K-9 Mail |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | k9mail.app |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Edison Mail
- The free app is funded by Edison's research business, which collects anonymized data from commercial emails such as receipts. You can opt out or delete stored data.
- Verify Sender phishing warnings, Validate Contacts and LinkedIn Discovery need Edison Mail+ at $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year.
- Edison's site still mentions a Mac app, but the Mac App Store link from its launch post returned no listing when checked, so Mac is not listed here.
- Assistant features for bills and receipts, entertainment, travel and package alerts are limited to the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India.
K-9 Mail
- Android only; no iOS, desktop or web version is listed.
- The site's banner says Thunderbird for Android is available now and calls it the future of K-9 Mail.
- It is a client for existing mailboxes and does not provide an email address.
Key features
Edison Mail
- Unified inbox
- Connect an unlimited number of accounts from Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Exchange, AOL and IMAP providers and read them in one inbox.
- One-tap unsubscribe and Block Sender
- Unsubscribe from a mailing list with one tap, see suggested unsubscribes, and block a sender or a whole domain from reaching the inbox again.
- Assistant smart folders
- Smart folders show travel, shopping, bills and receipts, events and subscriptions at a glance without moving any messages.
- Tracking pixel blocking
- Read receipts and tracking pixels are blocked by default, without turning off images in the message.
- Focused Inbox, snooze and Undo Send
- Focused Inbox separates important email from messages that can wait, custom snooze brings a message back at a time you choose, and Undo Send recalls a message seconds after sending.
- Verify Sender
- Checks incoming messages for signs of phishing and identity spoofing and shows a warning on suspicious senders. It is part of the paid Edison Mail+ subscription.
K-9 Mail
- Push IMAP
- The feature list names push IMAP support, so new messages can arrive without polling on servers that allow it.
- GPG and PGP/MIME
- The site lists GPG and PGP/MIME support for signing and encrypting messages.
- Unified inbox and identities
- A unified inbox, per-account notifications and multiple identities are listed, along with signatures and BCC to self.
- Message handling tools
- Listed tools include message flagging, keyboard shortcuts, attachment saving and emoji support.
- Several ways to install
- The download page offers the Play Store (with a beta channel), F-Droid, GitHub Releases and Amazon.
Plans
Edison Mail
Edison Mail$0
Free app with unlimited accounts, unified inbox, one-tap unsubscribe, Block Sender, custom snooze, Undo Send and the Assistant's smart folders.
Edison Mail+$14.99
per month, or $99.99 per year
Adds Verify Sender phishing warnings, Validate Contacts and LinkedIn Discovery, and can be shared with five other people through the Family Plan.
K-9 Mail
Free$0
Open source under the Apache License 2.0; the site has a donate link.
Ways to pay less
Edison Mail
- Annual discount
About 44% less with yearly billing
The App Store listing gives Edison Mail+ as $99.99 a year against $14.99 a month, which works out to about 44% less than twelve monthly payments.
- Other savings
Family Plan shares Edison Mail+ with five people
An Edison Mail+ subscriber can share the plan's premium features with five other people at no extra cost, for as long as the subscription stays active.
K-9 Mail
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Edison Mail or K-9 Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, K-9 Mail is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $8.33 a month when paid by the year for Edison Mail. Edison Mail starts at $14.99 per month, or $99.99 per year (Edison Mail+), and K-9 Mail is free.
Which has a free plan, Edison Mail or K-9 Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Edison Mail and K-9 Mail have a free plan.
Which platforms do Edison Mail and K-9 Mail run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Edison Mail lists Windows and iOS apps. Both list an Android app. 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.