Betterbird vs Spike
Betterbird
betterbird.eu
Spike
spikenow.comSide by side
| Figure | Betterbird | Spike |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $4/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 12 |
| Spec score · Email clients | 8.4 (#31) | 9.0 (#10) |
| App coverage | desktop | all |
| Calendar tools | Yes | Yes |
| 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. | Spike supports Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive for cloud attachments, and its calendar feature names Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar. |
| Limits | The project says profiles on network drives are only partly supported and profiles in Dropbox folders do not work. | The Email App Free plan limits search history to 60 days, storage to 1 GB, and uploads to 30 MB per file; the paid plan comparison lists 3 addresses for Pro and unlimited addresses for Ultimate. |
| Platforms | Downloads are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac; current Mac builds are not notarised. | Spike lists iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and web browser as supported devices. |
| Product | Betterbird is a fine-tuned soft fork of Mozilla Thunderbird that follows Thunderbird Extended Support Releases. | Spike describes itself as an AI-powered inbox that brings email, calls, notes, tasks, and to-dos into one hub and turns email threads into chat-like conversations. |
| Security | The project says no telemetry or crash reports are submitted, while add-on updates and blocklists are downloaded from Mozilla sites. | Spike says message data is encrypted with AES-256 using a per-message private key and that it has periodic external security audits. |
| 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. | The pricing page lists standard support for Starter, priority support for Team and Pro, and VIP support for Business and Ultimate. |
| Unified inbox | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Spike
- StarterFree
- Team$4 a month
- Business$8 a month
- FreeFree
- Pro$6 a month
- Ultimate$12 a month
- Email App FreeFree
- Teamspace StarterFree
- Teamspace Team$4 a month
- Email App Pro$6 a month
In their own words
Betterbird
Betterbird has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Spike
Spike combines email, calls, notes, tasks, and to-dos in a single hub, and presents email threads as chat-like conversations. It has a unified inbox, scheduled sending, and calendar tools, and runs on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. Spike AI can draft messages and replies, summarize conversations, and provide an assistant; free tiers list 10 queries for several AI features. Teamspace adds channels, shared inboxes, groups, collaborative documents and tasks, and audio and video meetings. Spike works with existing accounts such as Gmail, Office 365 or Outlook, Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo, and other IMAP accounts. Cloud attachments can use Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, and calendars can connect with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar. Spike says it encrypts messages with AES-256 using a per-message private key, and undergoes periodic external security audits. The Email App Free plan includes one address, 60 days of search history, 1 GB storage, and 30 MB file uploads. Email App Pro is $6 a month billed annually; Ultimate is $12 a month billed annually.