Best Mac email app for iCloud, Gmail and Outlook
Mac mail apps that put iCloud, Gmail and Outlook in one inbox, with how many accounts each free plan allows and whether search covers every account.
By Emmett Miller
The best Mac email app for several accounts is Alrighty if your accounts are iCloud, Gmail and Outlook and you want one inbox, one search across all of them, and less junk. Apple Mail and Outlook are free choices that take all three. Spark and Canary allow unlimited accounts on their free plans and run on Windows and Android too. Mailspring is a free, fast option for IMAP accounts. eM Client caps its free plan at two accounts.
Three questions decide it: does the app take every kind of account you have, does the free plan let you add them all, and can you search all of them at once. Most lists skip all three.
How we checked
We read each app's own pricing, help and privacy pages on November 2, 2026, and every fact links to its source. For each app we noted which account types it takes, how many accounts its free plan allows, whether it has a unified inbox, and what it says about searching across accounts. Alrighty is our app, and it's listed first.
The apps at a glance
| App | iCloud, Gmail and Outlook | Accounts on the free plan | Unified inbox | Search across accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alrighty | All three | All your iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts | Yes | Yes, on your Mac |
| Apple Mail | All three | Free app | "All of your email accounts in one location" | Any or all mailboxes |
| Outlook for Mac | All three | Free with ads | Not stated | Not stated |
| Spark | All three | "Unlimited Email Accounts" | Yes | "Smart Search" |
| Canary Mail | All three | "Unlimited Mail Accounts" | Yes | Not stated |
| Mailspring | All three, over IMAP and Microsoft 365 | Free app | Yes | "Across all accounts" |
| eM Client | Google, Microsoft, iCloud | 2 accounts | Not stated | Not stated |
| Thunderbird | Any IMAP account | Free app | Yes | Not stated |
Alrighty: best for iCloud, Gmail and Outlook together
Alrighty is a desktop mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux, made for exactly this mix. Each account connects the way its provider prefers: Gmail with Sign in with Google, Outlook with Sign in with Microsoft, and iCloud with an app-specific password. All of them land in one inbox.
- One search for every account. 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 in whichever account it landed in. Ask a question and you get the answer, with the emails it came from.
- Stop mail across every account. One click ends a sender's mail for good. Alrighty unsubscribes in every way the message offers, moves their mail out of the inbox, and keeps their new mail out.
- 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.
- Your AI works in your mail. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor or a local model can read and search all your accounts, and can work in a window you watch. Nothing sends until you click Send. This link to your AI is off until you turn it on with Connect AI.
Where your mail goes. Your mail stays with Apple, Google and Microsoft. Alrighty keeps its copy and search index on your Mac, and your sign-ins stay on your Mac, encrypted with a key from your system's keychain.
Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.
What it can't do. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, so no Yahoo or other IMAP providers. On a Mac, it needs Apple silicon, and there's no iPhone or web app.
Pick it if you juggle iCloud, Gmail and Outlook and want one place to read, search and clean them up.
Apple Mail: best free choice for Apple users
Apple Mail manages "all of your email accounts in one location" and adds "iCloud, Gmail (Google), Exchange, school, work, or other" accounts (Apple), and its search can cover any or all mailboxes (Apple). It's free, and it signs in to iCloud with your Apple Account, with no app-specific password.
The catch with several accounts. Search covers only the selected mailbox until you click "Search all mailboxes." When the Spotlight index behind it breaks, Mail misses mail you can see. Our Apple Mail search guide has the fixes.
Pick it if you want free and your search works.
Outlook for Mac: best when one account is Microsoft 365 at work
Outlook works with "Microsoft 365, Outlook.com (including Hotmail and MSN), Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, iCloud, IMAP, and POP accounts" (Mac App Store). It's free for personal accounts with ads, and work accounts need a license from your IT administrator (Microsoft).
Pick it if your work account is Microsoft 365 and you want personal accounts in the same app as your work calendar.
Spark: best for unlimited accounts on every device
Spark's free plan lists "Unlimited Email Accounts," a unified inbox and Smart Search, on Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android (pricing). Plus is $99 a year and Pro is $199 a year.
The catch. Some features run on Spark's servers. Its privacy page says they "require our server-side email processing to work," and for custom IMAP accounts the stored access token "is your email login and password" (Spark). The more accounts you add, the more logins Spark holds.
Pick it if you need every account on your phone too.
Canary Mail: best free plan for many accounts
Canary's free plan lists "Unlimited Mail Accounts" and a unified inbox (pricing), on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android. Growth is $36 a year and Pro+ is $100 a year. Its privacy policy says your data is "stored on your device and is never transferred to our servers," except for push notifications on phones (privacy policy).
Pick it if you want a free, cross-platform app for many accounts.
Mailspring: best free app for IMAP accounts
Mailspring supports "Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, FastMail, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP," with a unified inbox and "Lightning-fast search across all accounts" (Mailspring). Your mail "goes straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers." It's free on Mac, Windows and Linux. Pro is $8 a month or $85 a year (pricing).
What it can't do. Its FAQ says "Mailspring supports IMAP only; POP3 support is not planned," and Exchange Web Services and ActiveSync aren't supported, though Microsoft 365 is. Gmail accounts with Google's Advanced Protection can't connect.
Pick it if you have many IMAP accounts, including ones Alrighty doesn't take, such as Yahoo or Fastmail.
eM Client: best one-time purchase
eM Client runs on Windows and macOS. Its free plan is for "Home use on 1 device" with 2 email accounts. The Personal plan, with unlimited accounts, is $49.95 a year, or a one-time payment (pricing).
Pick it if you want to pay once instead of every year.
Thunderbird: best free, open-source choice
Thunderbird is free and open source on Mac, Windows and Linux, and lets you "manage all accounts separately or in a unified inbox" (Thunderbird). Add iCloud and other IMAP accounts by hand with its manual setup guide.
Pick it if you want free, open source, and full control.
Apps that don't fit several kinds of account
Some popular Mac mail apps take only one or two providers:
- Mimestream works only with Google accounts. Its pricing lists "All your Google accounts" (Mimestream). See our Mimestream alternatives.
- Superhuman "is only able to support Google or Microsoft 365-hosted accounts as of now" (Superhuman).
If one of your accounts is iCloud, our list of the best email apps for iCloud Mail shows which apps can add it. If you'd rather keep each account in its own web window, see our Wavebox alternatives. Spike and BlueMail also put many accounts in one inbox, and our Spike alternatives and BlueMail alternatives compare them.
How to choose
- iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, one search, less junk: Alrighty.
- Free, Apple devices only: Apple Mail.
- One account is Microsoft 365 at work: Outlook.
- Every account on your phone too: Spark or Canary.
- Yahoo, Fastmail or other IMAP accounts: Mailspring or Thunderbird.
- Pay once: eM Client.
Questions
Which Mac email app is best for multiple accounts?
For iCloud, Gmail and Outlook together, Alrighty puts them in one inbox with one search. Apple Mail and Outlook are free and take all three. Spark and Canary allow unlimited accounts on their free plans.
Can I see all my email accounts in one inbox on a Mac?
Yes. Alrighty, Spark, Canary, Mailspring and Thunderbird all show several accounts together in a unified inbox, and Apple Mail manages all your accounts in one place.
Which free email apps allow unlimited accounts?
Spark's free plan lists "Unlimited Email Accounts" and Canary's lists "Unlimited Mail Accounts." Apple Mail, Mailspring and Thunderbird are free apps. eM Client's free plan allows two accounts.
Can I search all my email accounts at once?
Alrighty searches every account at once on your Mac. Mailspring advertises search across all accounts. In Apple Mail, click "Search all mailboxes" below the search field to search beyond the selected mailbox.