Betterbird vs Mailspring
Betterbird
betterbird.euMailspring
getmailspring.comSide by side
| Figure | Betterbird | Mailspring |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Email clients | 8.4 (#31) | 9.0 (#9) |
| App coverage | desktop | desktop |
| Calendar tools | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | The project says 98% of add-ons that run in Thunderbird will run in Betterbird, and add-ons can be installed from addons.thunderbird.net. | Mailspring syncs directly with mail providers using IMAP and with calendars and contacts using CalDAV and CardDAV. |
| Platforms | Downloads are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac; current Mac builds are not notarised. | Downloads are offered for Windows, macOS, and Linux, including Windows ARM64, Apple Silicon, and Linux ARM packages. |
| Product | Betterbird is a fine-tuned soft fork of Mozilla Thunderbird that follows Thunderbird Extended Support Releases. | Mailspring is a native desktop email client for people who take email seriously. |
| Search | Betterbird supports complex search terms and regular expressions in search terms. | Mailspring indexes email to support advanced Gmail-style searches across connected accounts. |
| Security | The project says no telemetry or crash reports are submitted, while add-on updates and blocklists are downloaded from Mozilla sites. | Email credentials are stored in the system keychain, and Mailspring says it does not transmit, store, or process email in the cloud. |
| Scheduled sending | Yes | Yes |
| Support | The team helps with bugs but says it cannot provide ordinary account setup, profile management, configuration, or individual troubleshooting support for free. | For security vulnerability reports, the maker gives [email protected] and says users can expect a response within a few hours. |
| Unified inbox | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Mailspring
- BasicPrice not published
- Mailspring Pro$8 a month
- FreeFree
- Mailspring Pro$8 a month
In their own words
Betterbird
Betterbird has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Mailspring
Mailspring is a desktop email client for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with support for multiple accounts in one inbox. It connects to Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, Fastmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP providers, and indexes email for advanced Gmail-style searches across connected accounts. The client works offline and supports scheduled sending. Its free features include undo send, spell and grammar checking, custom themes, dark mode, and localization. Pro adds read receipts, link tracking, send later, follow-up reminders, templates, contact profiles, snoozing, and mailbox insights. Mailspring connects to mail providers through IMAP and to calendars and contacts through CalDAV and CardDAV, though calendar tools are not included in the app. It can translate drafts into Spanish, Russian, simplified Chinese, French, and German, and offer to translate incoming messages. Mailspring says credentials are kept in the system keychain and email is not processed in the cloud. The free plan is available; Pro costs $8 a month, billed monthly.