MailMate alternatives for Mac

The best MailMate alternative is Alrighty if your accounts are iCloud, Gmail or Outlook and you want a Mac app that finds any email and stops unwanted mail. Thunderbird is the free pick that keeps MailMate's OpenPGP and S/MIME. Apple Mail is free and built in, with S/MIME. Mimestream is the choice if all your mail is Gmail. Mailspring and Airmail cover IMAP accounts from any provider, and Canary adds PGP across Mac and phone.

MailMate is a deep, keyboard-driven IMAP app, and people who like it tend to like it a lot. The reasons to look elsewhere come from MailMate's own pages: the stable version is old, new work ships as betas, and its maker has warned that Gmail sign-in might stop working. This page starts there, then maps each MailMate feature to the apps that have it.

How we checked

We read MailMate's own site, pricing page and blog, and each alternative's own pricing, help and privacy pages, on November 8, 2026. Every fact links to its source. We compared price, which accounts each app takes, encryption, AI, and where each app keeps your mail. Alrighty is our app, and it's listed first.

Why people look for a MailMate alternative

MailMate is "an IMAP email client for macOS featuring extensive keyboard control, Markdown integrated email composition, advanced search conditions," "equally advanced smart mailboxes," and "cryptographic encryption/signing (OpenPGP and S/MIME)" (MailMate). Here's what its maker says about where it stands.

• The stable version is old. The download page calls version 1.13.2 "The more than 4 year old public release" (download).
• New work ships as betas. MailMate 2.0 entered beta in December 2024, and "multiple betas have followed." The newest post on the MailMate blog is from July 2, 2025 (blog).
• Gmail sign-in may stop. That same post added OAuth2 for Fastmail and Yahoo, and says "it's unfortunately possible that the OAuth2 support for Gmail might cease to work." It gives no workaround.
• Old license keys moved to Free Mode. On July 1, 2025, "most of the existing regular license keys have switched to 'Free Mode'," which "doesn't really limit your use of MailMate" (blog). In Free Mode, "Outgoing emails show 'MailMate Free Mode' as the email client name," and a business that relies on MailMate must use Paid Mode, at "$10 every 3 months" (pricing).
• IMAP and Mac only. There's no iPhone app.

None of this means MailMate has stopped working. But if Gmail is one of your accounts, or you want an app that ships stable releases, it's reasonable to look.

MailMate alternatives at a glance

App	Price	Accounts	Encryption	AI	Runs on
Alrighty	14-day trial, then Free or Pro	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook	Neither PGP nor S/MIME	Yes, plus your own AI	Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux
Thunderbird	Free	Any IMAP	OpenPGP and S/MIME	None	Mac, Windows, Linux
Apple Mail	Comes with macOS	iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, other	S/MIME	Apple Intelligence, where offered	Mac (and Mail on iPhone)
Mimestream	$49.99/yr or $4.99/mo	Gmail only	Not mentioned	Apple's Writing Tools	Mac; iPhone and iPad in beta
Mailspring	Free; Pro $8/mo or $85/yr	Gmail, iCloud, Microsoft 365, IMAP	Not mentioned	None found	Mac, Windows, Linux
Canary Mail	Free; $36/yr or $100/yr	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, IMAP	PGP on Pro+ ($100/yr)	AI Copilot on paid plans	Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android
Airmail	Free; Pro $49.99/yr	Gmail, iCloud, Exchange, IMAP, POP3	Not stated	Ai Composer, paid extra	Apple devices
MailMate	$10 every 3 months	IMAP	OpenPGP and S/MIME	None listed	Mac

Which MailMate features does each alternative keep?

Match the alternative to the MailMate feature you'd miss most.

• OpenPGP and S/MIME: Thunderbird has both. Apple Mail has S/MIME. Canary has PGP on its Pro+ plan. Alrighty, Mimestream and Mailspring mention neither.
• Any IMAP account, including Fastmail and Yahoo: Thunderbird, Mailspring, Airmail and Canary. Alrighty and Mimestream don't take them.
• Advanced search: Alrighty searches by meaning on your Mac. Apple Mail also searches by meaning and takes from: style filters. Mailspring searches across all accounts. Mimestream uses Gmail's own search.
• No AI at all: Thunderbird, and Mailspring, whose pages mention none. Our email apps without AI page has more.
• Markdown composing: none of the alternatives' pages we read mention it.

Alrighty: best MailMate alternative for iCloud, Gmail and Outlook

Alrighty is a mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux that puts iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts in one inbox. It isn't a MailMate clone. It skips most of MailMate's power-user settings and focuses on two jobs: finding mail and keeping unwanted mail out.

• Gmail through Google's own sign-in. Gmail connects with Sign in with Google, or an app password, over the Gmail API. Outlook uses Sign in with Microsoft. iCloud uses an app-specific password.
• Search that finds what you remember. It runs on your Mac and matches what you mean as well as the words: "when is my flight" finds the airline's confirmation. Ask a question and get the answer, with the emails it came from. One search covers every account.
• Stop mail. One click on a sender unsubscribes in every way the message offers, archives their mail, and moves new mail from them out as it arrives.
• Clean up and Filters. Clean up lists the senders you probably don't want, such as scams, cold outreach and newsletters you never open. Filters stop a kind of mail that comes from a new sender each time, such as cold sales, by rules you set or a description in your words.
• Your own AI. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor or a local model can read and search your mail once you turn it on with Connect AI, and can work in a window you watch. Nothing sends until you click Send.

Where your mail goes. Your mail stays with iCloud, Google or Microsoft, and Alrighty keeps its copy and search index on your Mac. Passwords and tokens stay on your Mac, encrypted with a key from your system's keychain. AI features, such as suggested replies and Clean up, send the emails they need to Alrighty's server, which asks an AI model (OpenAI's for answers and replies). Signed in, opening a reply starts a suggested draft by itself. MailMate users who want none of that should look at Thunderbird.

Price. A 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.

What it can't do. It has no PGP or S/MIME. It takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook only, so no Fastmail, Yahoo or other IMAP. It has no iPhone app and no calendar. It's new, with no long track record yet.

Pick it if your MailMate accounts are iCloud, Gmail or Outlook, and you used MailMate's search and rules to fight noise rather than for encryption. For a side-by-side view, see Alrighty vs MailMate.

Thunderbird: best free alternative that keeps OpenPGP and S/MIME

Thunderbird is free and open source on Mac, Windows and Linux, and lets you "Manage all accounts separately or in a unified inbox" (Thunderbird). Version 159.0 was released on October 27, 2026 (release notes).

Encryption. OpenPGP is built in, "enabled by default" since version 78.2.1 (Thunderbird), and Mozilla says "Thunderbird has been offering built-in support for S/MIME, and will continue to do so" (Mozilla).

Where your mail goes. Its privacy notice says messages "are stored and processed locally on your device." It says it doesn't "secretly train AI with your private conversations." It does send "telemetry about your interactions with Thunderbird" to Mozilla until you opt out.

Pick it if you sign or encrypt mail, use IMAP from any provider, and want free with regular releases. Our Thunderbird alternatives page covers its downsides.

Apple Mail: best free alternative built into macOS

Apple Mail comes with macOS and adds "iCloud, Gmail (Google), Exchange, school, work, or other" accounts (Apple).

For MailMate users. Search "can provide search results based on what you mean, not just the words you type," and you can type a header name followed by a colon, "such as 'from: Ashley Rico'," with AND, OR and NOT (Apple). Mail signs and encrypts with S/MIME once you have a personal certificate in Keychain Access (Apple). Its Mail guide doesn't mention PGP. Rules "help you manage incoming email messages and automate tasks" (Apple).

What to know. Apple Intelligence summaries appear "under each unread email" once it's on, and you can turn them off (Apple). Search depends on Spotlight and can miss mail you can see; our Apple Mail search guide has the fixes.

Pick it if you want free, S/MIME, and an app that updates with macOS.

Mimestream: best if your MailMate accounts were all Gmail

If MailMate's Gmail warning is what worries you, Mimestream sidesteps it: it's built on "the Gmail API" and "establishes direct connections" to it, with no sync service in between. It "only stores your data and tokens on your device," supports multiple Gmail accounts in a unified inbox, and lists keyboard shortcuts among its Mac features (Mimestream).

Price. $49.99 a year or $4.99 a month, after a 14-day trial with no credit card (pricing).

What it can't do. It takes Google accounts only, and search runs on Gmail's servers. The home page mentions neither PGP nor S/MIME. If you also have iCloud or Outlook, see our Mimestream alternatives.

Pick it if every account you had in MailMate is Gmail.

Mailspring: best free alternative for IMAP accounts

Mailspring supports "Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, FastMail, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP," with "Lightning-fast search across all accounts." Pro "adds read receipts, link tracking, send later, follow-up reminders, and templates" (Mailspring). It's free on Mac, Windows and Linux, and Pro is $8 a month or $85 a year (pricing).

Where your mail goes. Your email "goes straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers." Pro features send message metadata to Mailspring (data collection).

What it can't do. "Mailspring supports IMAP only; POP3 support is not planned," and "Google's Advanced Protection blocks IMAP clients like Mailspring" (FAQ).

Pick it if you want free, keep Fastmail or another IMAP account, and don't need encryption.

Canary Mail: best for PGP on Mac and phone

Canary runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android. Its free plan lists "Unlimited Mail Accounts" and a unified inbox. PGP sits on Pro+, at $100 a year, and Growth is $36 a year with AI Copilot (pricing). There's no monthly billing.

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

Pick it if you want PGP and an app on your phone, which MailMate never had.

Airmail: best for POP accounts on Apple devices

Airmail lets you "Add as many email accounts of any type" and lists Gmail, iCloud Mail, Exchange, Office 365, IMAP and POP3 (Airmail). It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro. The app is free to download, and Airmail Pro is $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with Ai Composer sold separately (Mac App Store).

What to know. It needs macOS 14.6 or later. Its site doesn't list prices or say what Pro unlocks. See our Airmail alternatives for more.

Pick it if you have a POP account MailMate couldn't read, and you live on Apple devices.

How to choose

• iCloud, Gmail or Outlook, search that finds things, less junk: Alrighty.
• OpenPGP and S/MIME, free: Thunderbird.
• Free and built in, with S/MIME: Apple Mail.
• Every account is Gmail: Mimestream.
• Fastmail, Yahoo or other IMAP, free: Mailspring.
• PGP on your phone too: Canary.
• POP accounts on Apple devices: Airmail.
• Nothing broke and you like it: stay. MailMate still works, and Free Mode keeps every feature.

If you came to MailMate from Postbox, our Postbox alternatives map Postbox's features. For a ranking by how little an app gets in your way, see the best minimal email app, and for encryption and what each app sends to its own servers, the most private email app for Mac.

Questions

Is MailMate still being developed?

Yes, as betas. MailMate 2.0 entered beta in December 2024, and the newest post on its blog, from July 2, 2025, announced another beta. Its download page calls the stable 1.13.2 "The more than 4 year old public release."

Is MailMate free?

It has a Free Mode that keeps every feature, but outgoing mail shows "MailMate Free Mode" as the mail client, and businesses that rely on MailMate must pay. Paid Mode is $10 every 3 months. Most old license keys moved to Free Mode on July 1, 2025.

Will MailMate keep working with Gmail?

MailMate's maker wrote in July 2025 that "it's unfortunately possible that the OAuth2 support for Gmail might cease to work," with no date or workaround. Alrighty and Mimestream connect to Gmail through Google's Gmail API.

Which MailMate alternative supports PGP?

Thunderbird has OpenPGP built in, plus S/MIME, for free. Canary has PGP on its Pro+ plan. Apple Mail has S/MIME but not PGP. Alrighty has neither.

Is there a MailMate alternative for iPhone?

MailMate is Mac only. Canary and Airmail run on iPhone, Apple Mail has its iPhone version, and Mimestream's iPhone and iPad app is in beta. Alrighty has no iPhone app.