Email Clients for Linux

Most individuals access their email accounts via a web browser. This however is an inefficient process, and so for Linux users, there are email clients available. An email client is used to both access and manage email accounts. Using an email client means being notified of new emails and being able to track multiple email accounts at once. There are in fact hundreds of email clients available for Linux, and though we can’t review them all, we can take a look at a few. In fact, there are two types of email clients: GUIs, and text based. In this tutorial, we will review a few of the GUI email clients available for Linux.

Email Clients for Linux

These are the email clients for linux:

ThunderBird

Thunderbird is a free email client that is available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, BSD, and Unix. Thunderbird is secure and private, and highly customizable. What this means is that there are approximately 1500 add-ons (extensions and themes) available, and so you can personalize it. This makes Thunderbird the most well known email client.

sudo apt-get install thunderbird -y

Once installed, thunderbird should be available in the Linux Launcher.

MailSpring

MailSpring is an email client that is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. With MailSpring, you can hold multiple accounts, and undo sends amongst others (advanced shortcuts, lightning fast search, unified inbox, translation services, spell check, extensive localization, etc…). Much like ThunderBird, there are themes and layouts available. However, there’s a Pro version of MailSpring as well which is not free!

sudo snap install mailspring

Once installed, MailSpring should be available in the Launcher. The set-up is easy, but they will push the paid services as well.

Evolution

Evolution is a free and open source email client that is available only for Linux, BSD and Unix. Evolution is the primary email client for GNOME desktop environments. It’s a combination of email client, calendar, address book, and notepad.

sudo apt-get install evolution -y

Once installed, it will be available on the Launcher. Further, there’s a set-up process that might take a few minutes.

KMail

KMail is a free and open source state-of-the-art email client that is available for Linux, BSD, and Unix. However, it does require KDE. KMail is secure, powerful, integrated, and standard compliant.

sudo apt-get install kmail -y

Claws-mail

Claws-mail is a free and open source email client that is lightweight, fast and user friendly. It is available for Windows, Linux, BSD, and Unix. It abounds with features (multiple accounts, threaded display, filtering, multiple MH folder support, automated mail checking, address book, printing, etc…)! Further, it does have a setup wizard.

sudo apt-get install claws-mail -y

Although there are thousands of email clients available, only a handful are very popular, Thunderbird being the most popular. Either way, you do have a big choice when opting for an email client, and most are installed simply via the terminal. In this tutorial, we reviewed five email clients that are in the repository, and as such easy to install. Most of them are GUIs, and as such accessible via the Launcher. Of these, my pick just might be Thunderbird because of the large number of plugins (1500 plugins) that comes with the application.

Happy Coding!

FAQs

Are all email clients graphical (GUIs) or are there text based ones too?

There are tons of text based email clients as well. An example is Mutt.

What is an email client?

An email client is used to both access and manage email accounts.

How many email clients are there?

There are hundreds of email clients out there! Some however are more popular than others.

What are some examples of email clients for Linux?

Thunderbird, MailSpring, Evolution, KMail, Claws mail, Geary, etc…