MailMate vs Mailspring

MailMate

• Mac users who prefer writing email in plain text or Markdown
• People who want to run their inbox from the keyboard
• Building detailed smart mailboxes and saved searches

Mailspring

• Linux users who want a modern desktop email client
• People who want a free client with unlimited accounts
• Anyone who wants read receipts and link tracking built into email

MailMate

• It runs on macOS only and connects to email through IMAP accounts.
• The composer is plain text only: formatting comes from Markdown rather than from toolbar buttons.
• The recommended download is a 2.0 beta that needs macOS 10.12 or later; the last public release is more than 4 years old.
• Businesses are required to stay in Paid Mode, and the subscription does not guarantee a reply to support emails.

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.

MailMate

Markdown composing

Emails are written in a plain text editor. Optional Markdown is converted to HTML for lists, tables, code segments and inline images, with a preview of what recipients will see.

Keyboard control

The app is designed to be driven from the keyboard, with shortcuts for searching, moving messages to a mailbox and tagging, and support for custom key bindings.

Smart mailboxes and search

Smart mailboxes are built from conditions on any message header, with nested All/Any rules, and any search can be saved as one. Clicking a name or subject runs a related search.

OpenPGP and S/MIME

Messages can be encrypted and signed with either OpenPGP or S/MIME from within the client.

Bundles for other apps

Bundles connect MailMate to third-party task managers, calendar managers and external text editors. They are fetched and updated separately from the app itself.

Alternative layouts

Besides the standard view there is a widescreen layout, a Correspondence layout showing related messages, a Statistics layout that counts header values, and Thread Arcs.

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.

MailMate

• Paid Mode$10

  every 3 months, plus any VAT

  The MailMate Development subscription issues the license key and pays for ongoing development. All features are included, and business use requires it.

• Free Mode$0

  After a subscription ends, all features keep working for non-business use, and outgoing mail is labelled "MailMate Free Mode" in its headers.

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.

MailMate

• Nonprofit

  Non-profit use can stay in Free Mode

  The pricing page says non-profit use does not require Paid Mode, so the subscription can be cancelled and MailMate keeps all of its features in Free Mode.

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.