Best Mac email apps guide + comparison chart

Apple Mail is free and already on your Mac, and it's enough for many people. Pick another email app for one of four reasons: all your mail is Gmail, your job runs on Microsoft 365, your accounts are split across iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, or you want free and open source. Each app below is tagged with the one thing it does best, and the chart says what each one can't add and where it processes your mail.

Quick picks: what do you need?

• Best for iCloud, Gmail and Outlook in one inbox: Alrighty
• Best free, built-in choice: Apple Mail
• Best for a Microsoft 365 job: Outlook for Mac
• Best for Gmail users: Mimestream
• Best for the same app on your phone too: Spark or Canary Mail
• Best free and open source: Thunderbird

The best Mac email apps at a glance

App	Tag	Price (November 2026)	Can't add	Where your mail is processed	AI
Alrighty	All-in-one	14-day trial, then Free or Pro	Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail, other IMAP	Your Mac; AI sends only the emails it needs	Your own AI off until you connect it; reply drafts on
Apple Mail	Built-in	Comes with macOS	None listed	Not stated in Apple's Mail guide	Summaries show by default
Outlook for Mac	Work	Free with ads; Microsoft 365 extra	None listed; takes POP too	Not stated by Microsoft	Copilot for licensed users
Spark	Cross-platform	Free; Plus $99/yr, Pro $199/yr	None listed	Spark's servers for some features	Paid plans; free preview
Canary Mail	Every-device	Free; $36/yr or $100/yr	None listed	Your device, except push on phones	Paid plans
Mimestream	Gmail-only	$49.99/yr after a 14-day trial	Anything that isn't Google	Your Mac, straight to the Gmail API	Apple's Writing Tools
Superhuman	Teams	From $25 a month, billed yearly	Anything that isn't Gmail or Outlook	Its own pages disagree	In every plan
Mailspring	Direct	Free; Pro $8/mo or $85/yr	POP3, Exchange (EWS), Advanced Protection	Your Mac, except Pro metadata	None listed
Airmail	Customizable	Free; Pro $49.99/yr	None listed	Not stated	Paid add-on
Thunderbird	Open-source	Free	Not stated	Your Mac; sends usage telemetry	None listed
eM Client	Pay-once	Free for 2 accounts; $49.95/yr	Not stated	Your Mac; push uses your login	In paid subscriptions
MailMate	Keyboard	$10 every 3 months; Free Mode	Anything that isn't IMAP	Not stated	None listed

"None listed" means the vendor names no account it can't add. It doesn't promise that every provider works.

We read each app's own pricing, help and privacy pages on November 2, 3 and 4, 2026, and every fact links to its source. We did not rank the apps by a test or a score. Alrighty is our app, and it's listed first.

Alrighty: best for iCloud, Gmail and Outlook in one inbox

Tag: All-in-one. Best for: mail split across iCloud, Gmail and Outlook that you want searchable, free of junk, and open to your own AI.

Alrighty is a desktop mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux, for people whose mail is split across iCloud, Gmail and Outlook. Gmail connects with Sign in with Google, Outlook and Microsoft 365 with Sign in with Microsoft, and iCloud with an app-specific password. All of them land in one inbox, with one search across every account.

• Stop mail. One click ends a sender's mail. Alrighty unsubscribes in every way the message offers, archives their mail, and moves their new mail out as it arrives.
• Clean up. It lists the senders you probably don't want, such as scams, cold outreach and newsletters you never open, so you can stop them all at once. A sure phishing message goes to Junk, and a likely one stays with a warning.
• Search that finds what you remember. Search runs on your Mac and matches what you mean as well as the words you type, so "when is my flight" finds the airline's confirmation. Ask a question and get the answer, with the emails it came from.
• Your own AI works in your mail. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor, VS Code or a local model can read and search your mail. It can also work in a window you watch: open mail, write replies, file messages. Nothing sends until you click Send. Our guide on how to let Claude read your email has the steps.
• Suggested replies. A draft in your voice waits under the message, written from what you sent that person before. It's always a draft, and you send it.

Where your mail goes. Your mail stays with Apple, Google and Microsoft. Alrighty keeps its copy and its search index on your Mac. Your passwords and sign-ins stay on your Mac too, encrypted with a key from your system's keychain, and no Alrighty server holds them.

AI. Your own AI is off until you turn it on with Connect AI. When you're signed in, opening a reply starts a suggested draft, and Clean up sorts senders in the background. AI features send only the emails they need to Alrighty's server, which passes them to an AI model (OpenAI's for answers and replies).

Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro. The Free plan has a small monthly AI allowance.

What it can't do. On a Mac, it needs Apple silicon. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, so no Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail or other IMAP providers. There's no iPhone or web app, and it's a new app with no long track record yet. On first launch it downloads about 350 MB for its search model.

Apple Mail: best free email client for Mac

Tag: Built-in. Best for: anyone who wants free and built in, as long as search works.

Apple Mail comes with macOS and adds "iCloud, Gmail (Google), Exchange, school, work, or other" accounts (Apple). It sorts mail into Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions (Apple), and lets you unsubscribe from a list "directly in Mail" and block up to 3,000 senders (Apple).

AI. With Apple Intelligence on, "a short summary automatically appears under each unread email in your inbox," and you can turn summaries off (Apple). Apple says Apple Intelligence "is not available in all languages or regions," and categories aren't available everywhere either.

The catch. Search relies on your Mac's Spotlight index. When that index breaks, Mail can miss mail you can see. Our Apple Mail search guide has the fixes. Apple's Mail guide doesn't say where Apple Intelligence processes your mail. If you're leaving it, see our Apple Mail alternatives.

Outlook for Mac: best when your job runs on Microsoft 365

Tag: Work. Best for: a Microsoft 365 work account, with your mail next to the work calendar.

Outlook works with "Microsoft 365, Outlook.com (including Hotmail and MSN), Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, iCloud, IMAP, and POP accounts," and needs macOS 14 or later (Mac App Store). That's the widest account list here. It's free for personal accounts. A Microsoft 365 subscription gives "an ad-free experience, more storage, and advanced email security" (Microsoft).

What to know.

• Work and school accounts need "a license assigned by your IT administrator that includes the desktop versions of the Microsoft 365 apps."
• The free app shows ads. Its App Store privacy label lists "emails or text messages" as data used for "Developer's Advertising or Marketing," not linked to you.
• Microsoft's feature table lists Unsubscribe for new Outlook only, and "Search across all items" as "Under Investigation." It also says support for legacy Outlook for Mac ended in October 2026.
• Copilot features are for "Microsoft 365 Copilot–licensed users" (Microsoft).

More options are in our Outlook alternatives for Mac.

Spark: best for the same inbox on Mac, Windows and Android

Tag: Cross-platform. Best for: one app on your computer and your phone, iPhone or Android.

Spark's free plan lists "Unlimited Email Accounts," Smart Inbox and a calendar. Plus is $99 a year and Pro is $199 a year (pricing). It runs on Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android. Gatekeeper screens new senders so you can "either accept or block any future contact from this sender" (Spark).

Where your mail goes. Spark's privacy page says some features "require our server-side email processing to work," and push notifications need it too. For Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo it stores a token. For AOL, Exchange and custom IMAP accounts it stores your login and encrypts the password in its database.

AI. Spark +AI is in the paid plans, and free users get "a limited free preview" (pricing). It runs on the Azure OpenAI Service (Spark). See our Spark alternatives if the server side is a problem.

Canary Mail: best free plan with apps on every device

Tag: Every-device. Best for: a free unified inbox on every device you own.

Canary's free plan is "Free forever" with "Unlimited Mail Accounts" and a unified inbox. Growth is $36 a year and Pro+ is $100 a year, and its monthly prices are "a monthly equivalent of the yearly plan, not a monthly billing option" (pricing). It runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android, and offers 1-Click Unsubscribe (Canary).

Where your mail goes. Its privacy policy says your data is "stored on your device and is never transferred to our servers." For push on phones, Canary "will temporarily store your email address, credentials, sender, subject line."

AI. AI Copilot for writing and summaries starts on Growth. The policy says it uses "top-tier providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Google and others."

Mimestream: best if all your mail is Gmail

Tag: Gmail-only. Best for: anyone whose every account is Gmail.

Mimestream is a Mac app built on the Gmail API. It "only stores your data and tokens on your device" (Mimestream), has a unified inbox for several Google accounts, and blocks trackers from "75+ common services." It costs $49.99 a year or $4.99 a month, for up to 5 devices, after a 14-day trial with "no credit card required" (pricing).

What it can't do. Its pricing page lists "All your Google accounts" and no other provider, so iCloud and Outlook are out. There's no free plan. Search is "Gmail-backed," so it runs on Google's servers. The iPhone and iPad app is in beta. If one of your accounts isn't Gmail, see our Mimestream alternatives or the Gmail apps for Mac.

Superhuman: best for teams that pay for speed

Tag: Teams. Best for: a team that lives in Gmail or Outlook, when the company pays.

Superhuman is "Built for teams that use Gmail or Outlook" (Superhuman), with native apps for Mac and Windows, apps for iOS and Android, and a Chrome extension (Superhuman). Starter is $25 and Business $33 per member per month, billed annually (plans). The plans page shows no free plan or trial.

Where your mail goes. A Superhuman blog post says "your inbox is never stored on our servers." Its privacy policy says "We receive the content you upload or enable our products to access, such as emails and drafts." The two pages don't say how they fit together.

What it can't do. No iCloud, Yahoo or plain IMAP accounts. See our Superhuman alternatives.

Mailspring: best free app that skips the vendor's servers

Tag: Direct. Best for: a free app that takes your mail straight from your provider, with no vendor server in between.

Mailspring says "your email goes straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers" and supports "Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, FastMail, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP" (Mailspring). It's free on Mac, Windows and Linux, with "Lightning-fast search across all accounts." Pro is $8 a month or $85 a year (pricing).

What it can't do. Its FAQ says "POP3 support is not planned," Exchange Web Services and ActiveSync aren't supported, and Google's Advanced Protection blocks it. Pro features such as read receipts send metadata to Mailspring (data collection). It needs macOS 13 or later, and its pages list no AI features. Compare more in our Mailspring alternatives.

Airmail: best for Apple-only users who like to customize

Tag: Customizable. Best for: all-Apple users who want many settings and will pay for Pro.

Airmail runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, and says you can "Add as many email accounts of any type" (Airmail). The Mac app is free to download. Airmail Pro is $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year, and Ai Composer is a separate purchase, at $14.99 for the monthly option (Mac App Store). It takes POP3 as well as IMAP, and its listing names Exchange, iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and Outlook.com.

What to know. A privacy mode can "process all the data locally on your device," but Airmail's site doesn't say what happens with it off. It needs macOS 14.6 or later, and there's no Windows or Android app.

Thunderbird: best free, open-source email client

Tag: Open-source. Best for: open source and full control, at no cost.

Thunderbird is "Free forever," "funded by user donations," and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, with "all accounts separately or in a unified inbox" (Thunderbird). Its privacy notice says your messages "are stored and processed locally on your device." Version 159.0 came out on October 27, 2026 (release notes).

What to know. It "sends telemetry about your interactions with Thunderbird" to its makers. Its pages list no AI features. You may add iCloud by hand with its manual setup guide. Compare more in our Thunderbird alternatives.

eM Client: best one-time purchase

Tag: Pay-once. Best for: paying once, with apps for your phone too.

eM Client runs on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. Its free plan is "Home use on 1 device" with "2 email accounts" and no commercial use. Personal is $49.95 a year, or $74.95 once, for up to 3 devices and unlimited accounts (pricing). The yearly plan includes its AI Add-on; the one-time payment doesn't list it.

Where your mail goes. Its privacy policy says eM Client "never retrieves and has no access to the content of your emails." Push notifications use an "encrypted login and password or a special authorization token." Its AI uses OpenAI (eM Client). Compare more in our eM Client alternatives.

MailMate: best for keyboard-driven IMAP power users

Tag: Keyboard. Best for: a Mac-only app built for the keyboard, if you're fine running a beta.

MailMate is "an IMAP email client for macOS" with "advanced search and smart mailboxes" (MailMate). Paid Mode is "$10 every 3 months." Free Mode keeps every feature, but businesses must pay, and outgoing mail names the client "MailMate Free Mode" (pricing).

What to know. It takes IMAP accounts only. Its download page calls the stable version "The more than 4 year old public release," and new work ships as betas (download).

Apps that need a new email address

Two apps often appear on these lists, but they don't read the inbox you have now:

• HEY is its own email service with a @hey.com address. Its FAQ says "HEY does not import your existing email from Gmail, Outlook, iCloud" and "HEY doesn't support IMAP or POP" (HEY). HEY for You is $99 a year after a 30-day trial (pricing).
• Proton Mail's desktop app is for Proton accounts. "Anyone with a paid or trial Proton Mail plan can use the Proton Mail desktop app," and free users get a 14-day trial (Proton).

Pick one of these only if you're ready to move to a new address.

How to choose

• iCloud, Gmail and Outlook in one inbox, search that works, less junk, your own AI: Alrighty.
• Free and built in: Apple Mail.
• A Microsoft 365 job: Outlook.
• The same inbox on your phone too: Spark or Canary.
• Gmail only: Mimestream.
• A team on Gmail or Outlook that pays per seat: Superhuman.
• Free, with no vendor server between you and your mail: Mailspring or Thunderbird.
• Yahoo, AOL or POP accounts: Outlook or Airmail.
• Pay once: eM Client.
• Keyboard-driven IMAP: MailMate.

If you only want to spend nothing, our free email apps for Mac page compares what each free plan really includes. For several accounts, see our list for several accounts and our iCloud Mail list. For AI, see our AI email assistants list. If you're leaving Postbox or Edison Mail, see our Postbox alternatives and Edison Mail alternatives. More of our guides are on the blog.

Questions

What is the best email app for Mac?

For iCloud, Gmail and Outlook together, Alrighty puts them in one inbox with one search and one-click tools for junk. Apple Mail is the best free choice and comes with macOS. Outlook is best for a Microsoft 365 job, and Mimestream is best if all your mail is Gmail.

What is the best free email app for Mac?

The email app that comes with every Mac is Mail, often called Apple Mail, and it's the best free choice for most people. It adds iCloud, Gmail, Exchange and other accounts. Thunderbird and Mailspring are free and run on Windows and Linux too. Spark, Canary and Outlook have free plans, and Alrighty has a Free plan after its 14-day trial.

Is Mac Mail better than Outlook?

For personal accounts, Mac Mail is free with no ads, while the free Outlook app shows ads. Outlook is better when your job runs on Microsoft 365: it pairs mail with the work calendar, takes POP accounts, and has Copilot for licensed users. Work and school accounts in Outlook need a license from your IT administrator.

Is Mac Mail better than Gmail?

They do different jobs. Gmail is the email service, and Mac Mail is an app that can read your Gmail account next to iCloud and others. Gmail on the web has every Gmail feature, including Gemini where your plan has it. Mac Mail adds Apple's categories, summaries and a 3,000-sender block list. See our Gmail apps for Mac for the other ways to use Gmail on a Mac.