imap-migrate vs SysTools Email Migration Tool

imap-migrate is a free, open-source command-line tool for transferring the contents of one email folder between IMAP hosts. It can work with providers that support IMAP, including Gmail, Outlook, Fastmail, Yahoo and custom servers. The tool preserves original received dates and flags such as Seen and Flagged, and shows progress, transfer speed, success and error counts, plus estimated time remaining. It records actions in migration.log. Its README says interrupted migrations can be rerun without duplicating emails; the --dry-run option checks connection and settings without moving messages. Credentials can be supplied as command-line arguments or environment variables, with environment variables recommended by the README as the more secure option. Both accounts need IMAP access enabled, and the tool requires Python 3.12 or higher; uv is recommended for dependency management. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows and is licensed under MIT. It does not rebuild a full folder structure or migrate provider-specific features such as Gmail labels or categories. Bug reports and contributions are invited through GitHub issues and pull requests.

SysTools Email Migration Tool moves mailbox content between email platforms while retaining folder structure and message details. It can transfer emails, contacts, calendars, documents, and attachments; Office 365, Exchange, and G Suite are listed as example platforms. Users can filter by date range and choose which mailbox categories to transfer. The tool preserves email properties including read status, reply or forward flags, and sent or received timestamps. Bulk migration uses user fetching and CSV templates, with up to 20 transfers running in parallel. Retry and rerun options are available, along with downloadable summary and detailed CSV reports. The product page says transfers do not store data on intermediary servers, and supported Google and Microsoft platforms can use OAuth 2.0. A local database temporarily buffers data so a dropped internet connection can be restored without restarting the operation. The free demo fully migrates mailboxes for two user accounts. The Paid Version is listed at $35, paid once for five users; the page also notes pricing from $7/user.