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Ask DN: Best Mac Email Clients?

5 years ago from , Owner of MagentoWizard.com

I spent 4 hours last night with the standard Mac mail trying to get it configured. I had it configured years ago and now it just fails to access pop settings at zoho even though everything is configured correctly. I also find it very funky how mail can be sent but it can take a really long time to access the mail or just disconnect from an account and ask me for my password again.

So I am wondering if anyone here has found a great mail program to replace Mac mail. I saw Mailbird, but that is only for Windows.

44 comments

  • Florian GrauFlorian Grau, 5 years ago (edited 5 years ago )

    +1 for Airmail.

    It may be a little rough around the edges visually (retweet icon used for refresh e.g.) but in terms of overall features I haven't found anything better. When you stumble upon stuff like separate server configuration for alias addresses (to solve the whole "sent via" situation in Gmail) you know that the people who built it really know their shit.

    Same for the iOS version - best mobile mail client I've used so far!

    11 points
  • Jonathan SimcoeJonathan Simcoe, 5 years ago

    Boxy is a good option too.

    7 points
    • Nathaniel PeralesNathaniel Perales, 5 years ago

      +1 for Boxy.

      I think it's the best solution until Polymail for Mac & iOS comes out of Beta. Then I think I will have finally found my home. <3

      1 point
    • Giulio MichelonGiulio Michelon, 5 years ago

      +1 and I love the flow of using mail as actionables

      0 points
  • Daniel SieradskiDaniel Sieradski, 5 years ago

    I have tried nearly every single option listed here thus far, and some that haven't been. Here's what I will tell you: They are all terrible. None of them works precisely as they're supposed to and all of them have stability and syncing issues with IMAP. Of them all, Airmail is definitely the most feature rich, but it's also quite buggy. The most stable and reliable is Mail.app, but it frequently gives me problems syncing my Exchange account. I absolutely love Nylas N1, but it's just not ready for prime time. It's lightning quick, but it's missing many essential features. Basic search doesn't even work at this point. Polymail is frankly underwhelming. Postbox is just a Thunderbird clone with cute but useless enhancements. Frankly, I'm putting my hopes on CanaryMail, the new Sparrow knock-off coming soon.

    http://canarymail.io/

    5 points
  • Pino CeniccolaPino Ceniccola, 5 years ago

    I still use Sparrow!

    3 points
  • Jody HeavenerJody Heavener, 5 years ago

    There are a lot of contenders these days. I currently use AirMail, but I would also recommend trying out Polymail or Nylas N1.

    3 points
    • Kris KimKris Kim, 5 years ago

      To make it easier to decide: Polymail - beautiful but currently no POP/IMAP support. Nylas N1 - also beautiful and extensibility is huge ++, but it can't search IMAP email :(. I'm currently sticking to Airmail too.

      1 point
    • Jordie SaenzJordie Saenz, 5 years ago

      I've been using Nylas N1 for a couple months now and I love it. I like that it's open-sourced, and that I can find easy ways to design my own color themes.

      1 point
    • Ben Gotow, over 3 years ago

      Nylas stopped maintaining Nylas N1 earlier this year, but it's been relaunched as Mailspring and has gotten a lot faster. Also has some great built-in themes!

      0 points
  • Chris Rosenau, 5 years ago

    Thank you everyone I really appreciate your suggestions.

    1 point
  • Account deleted 5 years ago

    I know I'm gonna get flamed for this... but real talk... Outlook. Nothing I've used - EVER - has done email as good as it does.

    1 point
    • Jono HerringtonJono Herrington, 5 years ago

      I have to agree here. I've used Airmail, I have used Polymail ... they dont come close to Outlook (at least for the business side of things ... use the others for your personal mail all you want). The reason I like Outlook is because it just works. I typically rage on Microsoft products but they do know how to do mail. I had to many buggy issues with Airmail and Polymail, especially around search. Go with Outlook!

      0 points
  • Jesse C.Jesse C., 5 years ago

    MailMate

    It just works, and does so brilliantly. Lots of useful shortcuts, great performance, active developer (there's a big new version in the works), etc.

    1 point
  • Brian Gonzalez, 5 years ago

    I used to use Kiwi, but I've now switched to WMail: https://github.com/Thomas101/wmail

    1 point
  • Max Paladii, 5 years ago

    I use CloudMagic for Mac. It is so sophisticated and clean.

    1 point
    • Napoleon WNapoleon W, 5 years ago

      What do you mean with it is so sophisticated?

      0 points
      • Max Paladii, 5 years ago

        Elegant. Not complicated. But to be honest i miss some features. Sparrow was the best mail client ever.

        0 points
  • John Jackson, 5 years ago

    I'm currently using Polymail and I am very satisfied. Though if you're looking for a feature-rich app, this won't be it; the app seems to be semi-early in development. But in terms of sending and receiving email, it does its job fine.

    1 point
  • Mark ProganoMark Progano, 5 years ago

    I love, LOVE, LOVE Airmail 2 and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone for both Mac and iOS.. http://airmailapp.com/

    1 point
  • Ben Gotow, over 3 years ago

    Mailspring! It's the new successor to Nylas Mail and is super fast. It also comes with some great built-in themes and a nice dark mode.

    0 points
  • Emma Breux, over 3 years ago

    We use Hiri at the office and I have no complaints whatsoever. So I suggest you check it out http://www.beautifullife.info/web-design/10-best-desktop-email-clients-mac-windows/. Hope this helps!

    0 points
  • Katharina H., 5 years ago

    Right now I'm really into Nylas N1 as well. Though it's kind of annoying that I can't create sublabels... or am I too dumb? :D

    0 points
  • David SimpsonDavid Simpson, 5 years ago (edited 5 years ago )

    Polymail or bust. It is important to point out that they are one of the newest players on the market so don't be surprised if they aren't as feature rich yet. They are improving the product with incredible velocity and have nearly met it not surpassed the feature set of Mailbox. The big thing they need to continue to hone in on is improving speed and infrastructure. I'm hoping they get their business model up off the ground soon and monetize as this isn't going to be a cheap race to run.

    Keep an eye on these guys, I predict Polymail will become a major player in the email client space with the team building it.

    0 points
  • Charles-Henry Vespierre, 5 years ago

    Currently I'm trying out Polymail. That's fit for me. Works perfectly with Google.

    0 points
  • Taurean BryantTaurean Bryant, 5 years ago

    I'm basically just using smart folders in mail.app until the desktop version of spark is released.

    0 points
  • Christopher Mansfield, 5 years ago

    I am really enjoying the Polymail Beta

    0 points
  • Jesse HoyosJesse Hoyos, 5 years ago

    Waiting for Spark on the Mac. I love their iOS apps, I've been using the iPad beta and I'm loving it so far. Currently using polymail, its fine, but it feels like a airmail clone.

    0 points
  • John MauroJohn Mauro, 5 years ago

    Been using polymail (still in beta). It's got some quirks but has potential.

    0 points
  • Robin RaszkaRobin Raszka, 5 years ago

    Get better internet connection.

    0 points
  • Billy CarlsonBilly Carlson, 5 years ago

    I miss Mailbox. Damn you Dropbox! I begrudgingly use Airmail 2 as well.

    0 points
  • Steven NgSteven Ng, 5 years ago

    You might want to try Postbox.

    That was the first app I used after I abandoned Mail. It's also a cross platform license, which comes in handy if you also use Windows.

    0 points
  • Marc Olivier LapierreMarc Olivier Lapierre, 5 years ago

    I've been using Polymail beta for the past few weeks. Works great, but like someone already said, they don't support Exchange yet.

    0 points
    • Jason Lawton, 5 years ago

      I wasn't a fan that I had to sign up to use it. Like creating an account to try to manage multiple accounts? I don't know, maybe I'm just tired of making new accounts everywhere. Their privacy policy was a little off-putting too.

      At this point I'm just sticking with mail.app. It's always there, it pretty much always works, and it isn't going away because it gets acquired by some other company.

      2 points
      • David SimpsonDavid Simpson, 5 years ago

        Hey Jason, i'm curious if there was anything specific in their PP that put you off or if it was more of a blanket dislike

        0 points
        • Jason Lawton, 5 years ago

          More like general 'meh'-ness about it all. But logging the search queries, location information (why do they need to know where i am?), contacts (specifically the line "we or our third-party partners will obtain.. information about your contacts... to enhance the service")

          I mean, I know you need to store some info to make the service useable, but it's like, do I really need a new mail client? Or am I just interested in the hunt for a new mail client?

          0 points
  • Tom WoodTom Wood, 5 years ago

    Worth doing a search, as this has been discussed quite recently if I recall.

    For me it's AirMail (although Polymail looked good, I need Exchange support) and CloudMagic on my phone.

    0 points
    • BAKA .kidBAKA .kid, 5 years ago

      this is my current setup (Polymail, no need for Exchange), as of yesterday. so far, so good. I'm also trying to trash my multiple emails and lock it down to one account...

      0 points