Terminal Email: terminal email clients for every system

Read and send email from a terminal on Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD and Android. 19 maintained clients and 7 mail tools, each with install commands for every system and a config that works with Forward Email or any other provider.

The screenshots show Forward Email's terminal app, made by the team behind this site. It is the only client here with its own calendar, contact list and task list, alongside mail.

The forwardemail command runs the same application as Forward Email's webmail inside a terminal, drawn as text. Mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and settings all work, with keyboard shortcuts, mouse clicks and scrolling, and plain-text reading and writing by default. It installs as one standalone executable on Linux, macOS and Windows, or from npm anywhere Node.js 22 runs. It signs in to Forward Email accounts, including self-hosted servers.

A Forward Email account with a mailbox (paid plans start at $3 a month). forwardemail --demo opens a demo account with no sign-in.

Standalone builds for x64 and arm64 need glibc. On musl systems such as Alpine Linux, install with npm.

Standalone builds for Apple Silicon and Intel.

Signed standalone builds for x64 and arm64. Windows Terminal is recommended over the legacy console.

Through npm, which runs anywhere Node.js 22 or later does.

Through npm in Termux, which packages Node.js 24 and later. Not tested by the project.

All features and screenshotsUse another client with Forward Email

Programs you read and write mail in. Pick a system to see what runs there, or filter by name, language or protocol.

LNX nativeWIN through WSL, Termux or a source buildBSD not available

Programs that sync, send, fetch or index mail for the clients above. A Maildir client such as alot or mu4e needs a sync tool like isync, and many clients send through msmtp.

A program that reads and sends email inside a terminal window, with text instead of graphics. Full-screen ones (TUIs) such as NeoMutt, aerc and Forward Email work like an app inside the terminal. Command-line ones such as Himalaya and s-nail are commands you run and script.

Forward Email, Alpine, Gnus, Himalaya and Matcha run directly on Windows. 12 other clients run in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). meli and nmail are not available for Windows. See terminal email on Windows.

Yes, over IMAP and SMTP. Google and Microsoft require OAuth2 sign-in for most accounts: aerc, Alpine, Matcha and nmail handle it themselves, and Gnus, Himalaya, meli, mu4e, Mutt, NeoMutt, Notmuch Emacs interface, S-nail and Wanderlust need extra setup, such as a token helper script or an Emacs package.

Most show the plain-text part of a message and pass HTML to a text browser such as w3m or lynx, which turns it into readable text with numbered links. Images are not shown in the terminal; most clients can open a message in a graphical browser when needed.

aerc, Himalaya, Matcha and meli support JMAP, the JSON protocol some providers offer instead of IMAP. The other clients use IMAP, POP3 or local folders, and Forward Email's app uses Forward Email's own API.

Forward Email, aerc, alot, Alpine, Gnus, Matcha, meli, mu4e, Notmuch Emacs interface and Wanderlust respond to clicks and scrolling. The others are keyboard-only.

All of them except Forward Email, whose code is public under the Business Source License 1.1, a source-available license. Each page links to the project's repository and license.

Point the client at imap.forwardemail.net (port 993) and smtp.forwardemail.net (port 465), with your alias address as the username and a generated password. Every client page has a ready-made config, and the setup page collects them all. Forward Email's own terminal app needs no config: run forwardemail and sign in.