MailMate vs Thunderbird

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

Thunderbird

• People who want a free desktop email app without ads
• Linux users, and anyone moving between Windows, macOS and Linux
• Those who prefer open-source software for mail and calendar

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.

Thunderbird

• Thunderbird Mobile is listed for Android only, through Google Play and F-Droid. No iPhone or iPad app is listed.
• It is a mail client, not a mailbox: it connects to accounts hosted elsewhere. The team's own hosting service, Thundermail, is in beta behind a waitlist.
• Thundermail is a separate paid subscription. Its Early Bird Plan is shown at $6 per month, paid annually, with full launch expected in 2026.
• Support is community-based. Thunderbird states that donations do not buy individual technical 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.

Thunderbird

Unified inbox for several accounts

Keep every email account in one app and read them separately or together in a unified inbox, on desktop and on Android.

Calendar, contacts and tasks

The desktop app manages appointments, contacts and tasks alongside email, so scheduling does not need a separate program.

No ads or data mining

Thunderbird says it does not sell ads in the inbox, collect personal data or train AI on private conversations. It is funded by user donations.

Open source and extensible

The code is published under the MPL 2.0 license for anyone to inspect, modify and share, and add-ons extend what the desktop app can do.

OpenPGP encryption on Android

Advanced users can send and receive encrypted mail with the OpenPGP standard by pairing Thunderbird Mobile with the free OpenKeychain app.

Desktop-to-mobile setup

Desktop users can move their account settings to the Android app by scanning a QR code shown in the desktop app.

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.

Thunderbird

• Free$0

  Every feature of Thunderbird Desktop for Windows, macOS and Linux and of Thunderbird Mobile for Android.

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.

Thunderbird

No public discounts listed.