06.05.2020

Best Free Imap Email Client For Mac

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Best Free Imap Email Client For Mac Average ratng: 7,0/10 5871 votes

Email clients come in all shapes and sizes, but when it comes to the options available on the Mac, we feel that Airmail is the best email client for most people. Email clients come in all shapes and sizes, but when it comes to the options available on the Mac, we feel that Airmail is the best email client for most people. 5 of the Best Email Clients for Mac By Mahesh Makvana – Posted on Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014 in Mac Although all the email services available let you access your emails via a web based interface, it is a good idea to have an app that can manage all this for you. This app selected as one of the best email client for Mac that is ideal for those who have multiple email accounts. Airmail supports iCloud, MS Exchange, Gmail, Google Apps, IMAP, POP3, Yahoo!, AOL, Outlook.com, Live.com.

Feature

By Shane Cole
Thursday, December 26, 2013, 08:48 am PT (11:48 am ET)

For new Mac owners who feel OS X's built-in mail client is too complicated for their needs or who find it doesn't play nicely with their email provider, AppleInsider went hands-on to find the top alternatives.


Email clients have a long history as utilitarian bits of software; the category is not a particularly alluring one, and as a result it has traditionally seen relatively little innovation. That has begun to change as email proves more difficult to replace than some believed, and the focus has shifted toward adapting the decades-old technology for the future.
For this roundup, AppleInsider spent five days with each client, using them as our exclusive gateway to email on our desktop during that time. Each one was asked to handle three accounts— one personal Google Apps account, one AppleInsider Gmail account, and one cPanel-based IMAP account with 20,000 test messages in its inbox.

Unibox


Best overall

Unibox, from German developers eightloops, is a speedy IMAP-only client with a slick and well-thought-out user interface that is perhaps the most Apple-like we've seen.
After feeding Unibox the name, email address, and password associated with each account, our mail server settings were automatically detected and the accounts configured without any further intervention on our part, though it does offer the option to set server parameters manually. Importing messages went smoothly, with Unibox showing no sign of stress even with more than 35,000 emails in our combined inboxes.
By default, Unibox shows users a split-pane view with contacts on the left and their associated messages on the right. There is no master list of conversations here— messages are organized by contact, a departure from the traditional email paradigm but one that we grew to enjoy after an admittedly rocky acclimation period.
Unibox's slick interface and contact-centric design make it the best client we tried.
The contact list is reshuffled based on the date of your last communication with that person, beginning with the most recent. Clicking on a contact displays your entire conversation history in chronological order, and individual messages can be moved, replied to, or deleted from the thread with controls that are hidden until you begin to move your mouse pointer in their direction, a feature that helps keep the user interface uncluttered.
Attachments are shown alongside the message that they came with, but Unibox also provides a separate view that collects and displays all attachments exchanged with that contact. We found this, combined with OS X's QuickLook, to be an extremely useful feature that we would like to see other clients adopt.
There are some features we missed during our review— for instance, we occasionally wished for something akin to Apple's Smart Folders, and we would like a more robust method for dealing with conversations with more than one recipient. Overall, however, we found Unibox to be a breath of fresh air and a mail client that we can heartily recommend.
Unibox is available now for $9.99 on the Mac App Store.

Mailplane


Best for Gmail power users

For those who live and die with Gmail's web interface but want a more deeply integrated OS X experience than a web browser can provide, Mailplane is far and away the best option.
Configuring accounts is painless, and Mailplane handles Google's two-factor authentication easily without requiring users to create an application-specific password. Mailplane's ability to simultaneously access any number of Gmail accounts at once is a godsend for those— like most AppleInsider editors— who use Google's email service for both personal and professional reasons.
Mailplane's easy-to-understand user interface consists of a row of 'action buttons' for functions like refreshing the inbox, creating and replying to messages, and accessing the Safari-like downloads manager, which keeps track of downloaded attachments. Below that are tabbed browser windows for each account— switching between accounts is trivial, unlike Google's wonky web implementation.
Mailplane will win over Gmail diehards with its multi-account support alone.
Because Mailplane acts as a wrapper around Gmail's standard interface, users can avail themselves of Gmail's already impressive array of keyboard shortcuts or define new, customized shortcuts in the client's preferences. Drag-and-drop and QuickLook are both available for dealing with attachments, and like Mail.app, Mailplane will handily offer to resize attached images when composing a new message.
Mailplane provides the option to hide Gmail's advertisements as well as the widgets for Google Chat and Google+. In addition, Mailplane offers Notification Center integration for new mail and a menubar widget that shows the most recent mail for each account and allows users to temporarily silence notifications with a 'Do not Disturb' mode, which we found useful when looking for periods of uninterrupted concentration.
The $24.95 price tag may seem steep compared to some of this roundup's other options, especially in light of Mailplane's online-only nature, but Gmail power users will find it money well spent.
Mailplane is not available on the Mac App Store but can be purchased directly from its developers at www.mailplaneapp.com. A 15-day free trial is available.

Postbox


Best drop-in Apple Mail replacementFree

Postbox is not unlike a souped-up sleeper variant of Apple Mail: the facade is familiar, but a closer inspection reveals a powerful, feature-packed email client.
Longtime Apple Mail users will feel right at home in Postbox, as nearly every standard interaction— from adding accounts to searching to its threaded conversation view— recalls Apple's workflow. Where Postbox shines, however, is in extending those functions with small additions that make them faster or easier.
Postbox features heavy social integration, similar to Xobni's addon for Microsoft's Outlook. After signing in to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Dropbox, Postbox will pull photos for contacts, provide one-click access to their social profiles, and display metadata like employment information from LinkedIn in the app's 'Inspector pane.' We found Postbox's Dropbox integration particularly useful when sharing large attachments, as we could simply embed links to the files in Dropbox.
Postbox is like a souped-up version of Apple Mail for power users.
One of our favorite Postbox additions, the Inspector pane is also home to a function similar to Apple Mail's Data Detectors. Where Apple Mail recognizes strings like dates and tracking numbers within messages, Postbox identifies and collates them in the sidebar along with links, images, attachments, and the aforementioned social data. Enabling the Inspector does consume valuable horizontal screen space, but a keyboard shortcut is provided to quickly show and hide it.
We also became attached to Postbox's quick reply feature, which appends a small reply form at the end of each message. Quick reply is a lifesaver when working through large batches of emails at, for instance, the end of a long international flight.
On our testing machine, a Core i7- and SSD-equipped 15-inch MacBook Pro, searching through large mailboxes was fast, but Postbox was not particularly efficient: we often found it taxing our CPU and were forced to restart the app more than once. We also found Postbox's tabbed interface for mailboxes and messages difficult to use, and sometimes opened new tabs unintentionally.
In our opinion, Postbox's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, and it makes for a fine upgrade from Apple Mail for power users who want to work with their email locally.
Postbox is not available on the Mac App Store, but is a $9.95 purchase from its developers at www.postbox-inc.com. A 30-day free trial is available.

Others

Free Email Client For Mac


Mozilla Thunderbird - Thunderbird is one of the oldest still-maintained mail clients around, and it has begun to show its age. In our testing, it was much slower than its competition and the user interface is in desperate need of an overhaul. Other than its extensive add-on ecosystem, there is little reason for most users to choose Thunderbird over Apple Mail. Thunderbird is a free download from Mozilla.
Outlook for Mac - For users in corporate Microsoft Exchange environments, Outlook for Mac has traditionally been the option that provides the fewest headaches. Though we haven't had a chance to test Outlook 2011 ourselves, corporate IT administrators who support Macs on their networks confirmed that Outlook remained the preferred choice when asked. Outlook is included as part of Microsoft Office for Mac.
MailMate - MailMate is a robust, no frills mail client that is unabashedly designed for power users. MailMate features expansive keyboard shortcut support and a bevy of customization options, though its spartan user interface is often difficult to navigate. It handled our large mailboxes with aplomb, and its granular search functionality is second to none. MailMate can be purchased for $49.99 directly from its developer at www.freron.com, and a 30-day trial is available.

Apple Mail is a free, native email application that ships with every Mac, making it a solid default choice for most Mac users, especially those using iCloud only. Despite steady developments from the Apple stable, its email client hasn’t had a major design upgrade in years; it’s the same old-school design.

Although it’s a good, full-featured and trouble-`

free app, it may lose out to third-party alternatives for Mac because it doesn’t do anything further to help you rethink email.

If you are looking to switch to a better email client, here are the best free and paid Apple Mail alternatives for Mac users.

Related: 7 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Your Email Inbox

1. Spark

Spark is a free and impressive desktop email client for Mac that not only allows you to organize inboxes automatically, but also postpone emails and send one-click replies to your contacts.

Its Smart Inbox sorting feature uses buckets like Personal, Newsletters, and Notifications to bubble important messages at the top.

You can also schedule your emails like you would in Gmail at select times such as later today, in the evening, tomorrow, and more. Similarly, if you sent an email and didn’t receive a response for it, Spark nudges you with follow-up reminders just so you don’t forget.

The built-in Calendar tool comes in handy to help you organize your life.

For organizations, Spark for Teams is available as a collaborative email platform with unique features like collaborative composing and private commenting in small chat boxes. You can also invite teammates to collaborate and proofread your emails like in Google Sheets or Docs.

It also supports Yahoo, Google, iCloud, Outlook, Exchange, and IMAP accounts.

Why we like it Junos pulse client for mac.

  • Simple, clean, and modern interface
  • Smart inbox is useful for organizing emails
  • Supports multiple email accounts

What we don’t like

  • Lacks support for many services
  • Privacy policy is wanting
  • Tech support may be slow

2. Mozilla Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a full-featured, open-source email client substitute for Apple Mail.

Besides letting you handle mail efficiently and filtering away spam or junk mail, Thunderbird is secure and functional, though it seems to be getting old. The application does get security updates, but other than that, it’s no longer in active development.

However, its email management service is secure, being a Mozilla project, but you may not get fancy features like those in other email client apps on this list. Either way, its still a simple, non-cluttered way of managing your email.

If all you want is a free email client to use with your Mac, Thunderbird is a good alternative. You may miss out on some cool features, but will still save on cost.

Thunderbird is highly extensible and has the feel of the classic Outlook with useful features like sending large attachments through cloud storage, tabbed email, and the ability to change its look and feel.

Why we like it

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  • Simple
  • Open source
  • Secure
  • Easy configuration
  • Flexible filtering
  • Plenty of plugins available

What we don’t like

  • No unified interface
  • Not user friendly
  • Rudimentary design
  • Lacks modern email features
  • Lacks in constant improvement and development

3. CloudMagic (Newton)

CloudMagic is a free app you can use with Mac, though it came on the platform after a successful go on Android and iOS platforms.

It’s simple, fast, and has a transparent, clutter-free interface, which is actually good if you have a consistent stream of emails from multiple accounts every day.

Thunderbird

It supports Yahoo, Google Apps, iCloud, Gmail, Exchange and IMAP accounts, and you can get it from the Mac App Store.

Why we like it

  • Free
  • Supports multiple accounts
  • Simple
  • Fast
  • Clutter-free

What we don’t like

  • Lacks many modern email management features

Related: Eight Alternatives to Mailbox Email App on iOS

4. AirMail

AirMail is a paid app that isn’t just pretty to look at but is also “lightning-fast” and doesn’t bog you down with lots of features.

Unlike Apple Mail, this app has Split Screen support for OS X El Capitan and the ability to compose in HTML or Markdown.

You can also organize your tasks into To-Do, which require action or follow-up, Memo, which are for a later date, or Done, which are marked as completed. Like Gmail, you can also Snooze your emails and view them later.

AirMail is available for about $10 in Mac App Store and supports iCloud, Yahoo, Google, Outlook, IMAP, AOL, POP, and Exchange. It also integrates with third-party apps like Google Drive, Dropbox, Things, OmniFocus and more.

Why we like it

  • Easy email management
  • Intuitive interface
  • Customizable
  • Integrates with third-party apps

What we don’t like

  • Lacks smart inbox feature

Best Free Imap Email

5. Postbox

Postbox offers robust tools for more efficient email management and looks a lot better than Apple Mail.

Postbox lets you group your emails by topic, which is great with multiple email accounts. You can also divide your tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks for better organization.

Features like the pre-made responses make for easier and faster communication, though it lacks essential features like Send Later and Snooze.

The most unique feature is the Account Groups, which lets you combine your accounts into a unified box and separates or blends your work in an organized manner. There’s also a Focus Pane from which you can filter emails quickly to find what you want.

A nifty time tracker, which shows the length of time you took composing emails, and word count is included. And when you’re ready to hit send, domain fencing checks that you send emails to the appropriate recipients.

Best Free Imap Email Client

Postbox has a 30-day free trial and supports most popular email service providers and protocols like SMTP, POP3 and IMAP.

Why we like it

  • Regular and consistent updates from developers
  • Feature-rich
  • Free trial available
  • 60-day money back guarantee
  • Integrated account management
  • Simple interface

What we don’t like

  • Pricey compared to other alternatives
  • Interface may be cluttered
  • Navigation is wanting

Mozilla Thunderbird

Wrapping Up

If you’re content and satisfied with Apple Mail, you can continue using it. However, if you want more from an email client, something more reliable, stable, and modern, then consider one of these five alternatives.

Do you use a third-party email client for Mac? Tell us about it in a comment below.