Mailspring alternatives that fill in what it leaves out

The best Mailspring alternative is Alrighty if your mail is iCloud, Gmail and Outlook and you want what Mailspring leaves out: a way to stop junk for good, search that matches what you mean, and your own AI working in your mail. Thunderbird is the free, open-source pick that takes any account. Apple Mail is free and has an iPhone app. eM Client is the pick for Exchange and a one-time price. Canary and Spark put the same inbox on your phone.

Mailspring does a lot right. It's free, it runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and it connects straight to your mail provider. People who look for a Mailspring alternative usually aren't leaving because of that. They leave for what Mailspring doesn't do: there's no phone app, no AI, no Exchange, and no tool to stop unwanted mail beyond marking it as spam. So this page starts with those gaps and names the app that fills each one.

How we checked

We read each app's own pricing, help, privacy and release pages on November 4, 2026, and every fact links to its source. We started from Mailspring's own FAQ, then checked each alternative for the things Mailspring's FAQ says it lacks. For each app we noted the price, where it runs, which accounts it takes, how it handles unwanted mail, and where it keeps your mail. Alrighty is our app, and it's listed first.

What Mailspring does well

Mailspring's pitch is a fast, free desktop app that keeps your mail between you and your provider.

• Free, with no account limit. Its free plan page says the free version has "unlimited accounts, unified inbox, search, mail rules, signatures, templates, themes, spellcheck, contacts, and every provider we support."
• Direct to your provider. Its data page says "your email goes straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers," and the FAQ says it "never sends your credentials to the cloud."
• Mac, Windows and Linux. It's one of the few polished mail apps on Linux.
• Still maintained. Version 1.26.2, a security fix, came out on October 22, 2026 (releases). It now needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.

If those are the reasons you picked Mailspring, keep them in mind. Not every alternative below keeps your mail off its servers.

What Mailspring leaves out

These are the gaps Mailspring's own pages describe. Each one is a common reason to switch.

• No phone app. Mailspring "is built on Electron" and "written in JavaScript," which "doesn't translate easily to mobile." It says it's "currently focused on shipping a best-in-class desktop product" (Mailspring).
• Pro features are rationed. Free users get a weekly allowance: 15 snoozes, 5 send-laters, 5 reminders and 5 read receipts a week, among others. "When you hit an allowance, Mailspring tells you ('You've reached your quota')." Pro is $8 a month or $85 a year (cost).
• Those features need a Mailspring ID. Snooze, send later, reminders, read receipts, translation and templates "need a Mailspring ID so that data can be associated with your account." Reading and sending mail work without one (Mailspring ID).
• Send later needs your computer on. "Scheduled messages are sent from your computer, not from the cloud" (FAQ).
• No Exchange or POP. "Exchange Web Services and ActiveSync aren't supported, but IMAP and Microsoft 365 OAuth are." POP3 "support is not planned." And "Google's Advanced Protection blocks IMAP clients like Mailspring."
• No AI. We found no AI writing, summaries or assistant on Mailspring's pages. It has translation and a grammar check powered by LanguageTool (Mailspring).
• Junk is up to your provider. Its mail help covers marking messages as spam. We found no unsubscribe or block-sender tool in its docs.
• No real calendar. A calendar preview opens "from the Developer menu," shows Google calendars read-only, and "is there for early feedback rather than daily use" (calendar).

Mailspring alternatives at a glance

App	Price	Runs on	Accounts	Stops unwanted mail	Where your mail is kept
Alrighty	14-day trial, then Free or Pro	Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook only	Stop mail, Clean up, Filters	Your Mac; AI features use its server
Thunderbird	Free	Mac, Windows, Linux, Android	Any account it can reach	Filters	Your Mac
Apple Mail	Comes with macOS	Mac, plus Mail on iPhone	iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, others	Block sender, unsubscribe	Your Mac
eM Client	Free for 2 accounts; $49.95/yr	Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android	Google, Microsoft 365, Exchange, iCloud	Not stated	Your device
Canary Mail	Free; $36/yr or $100/yr	Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android	Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Exchange, IMAP	1-Click Unsubscribe	Your device, except push on phones
Spark	Free; Plus $99/yr, Pro $199/yr	Mac, iPhone, Windows, Android	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, IMAP	Gatekeeper, block sender or domain	Spark's servers for some features
Mailspring	Free; Pro $8/mo or $85/yr	Mac, Windows, Linux	Gmail, iCloud, Microsoft 365, IMAP	Mark as spam	Your Mac, except Pro metadata

Alrighty: best Mailspring alternative for stopping junk and using your own AI

Alrighty is a mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux that puts iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts in one inbox. Like Mailspring, it connects straight to your provider. Your passwords and sign-ins stay on your computer, encrypted with a key from your system's keychain, and no Alrighty server holds them. Alrighty keeps its copy of your mail and its search index on your computer.

It's built for two of the gaps above: unwanted mail and AI.

• Stop mail. Where Mailspring can mark a message as spam, Alrighty ends the sender's mail in one click. It 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.
• Filters. Some mail comes from a new sender each time, like cold sales. Describe that kind of mail in your own words, or set rules, and new Inbox mail that fits moves to Archive. Mail from people you wrote to is never moved.
• Search that finds what you remember. It runs on your computer 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.
• The AI you choose. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor or a local model can read and search your mail through a connection on your computer. It stays off until you turn it on. That AI can also work in a window you watch, and nothing sends until you click Send.
• Replies in your voice. When you're signed in, opening a reply starts a suggested draft written from what you've sent that person before. It's always a draft. You send it.

Where your mail goes. This is the one real change from Mailspring. Alrighty's own AI features, such as suggested replies, answers and Clean up, send only the emails they need to Alrighty's server, which passes them to an AI model (OpenAI's for answers and replies). Clean up sends up to 3 of each sender's newest emails. Signed out, nothing goes to Alrighty's server. Search and phishing checks run on your computer.

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

What it can't do. Mailspring takes Yahoo, Fastmail and any IMAP account. Alrighty takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts only, and on a Mac it needs Apple silicon. It has no iPhone app and no calendar, so it doesn't fill those two gaps. It's a new app with no long track record.

Pick it if you use Mailspring for iCloud, Gmail or Outlook and you're tired of junk you can't stop, or you want Claude or ChatGPT in your mail.

Thunderbird: best free, open-source alternative

Thunderbird is the alternative that gives up the least of what Mailspring does well. It's "Free forever," open source, 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."

It also fills one of Mailspring's gaps for Android users: Thunderbird Mobile is on Google Play and F-Droid. Its download page lists no iPhone app.

What to know. It "sends telemetry about your interactions with Thunderbird to us," which you can turn off. Its home page advertises no AI, and says it doesn't "secretly train AI with your private conversations." For more choices in this family, see our Thunderbird alternatives.

Pick it if you chose Mailspring for free, direct and cross-platform, and want an open-source app with a long history.

Apple Mail: best free alternative with an iPhone app

Apple Mail comes with macOS, and Apple makes Mail for iPhone and iPad too. It adds "iCloud, Gmail (Google), Exchange, school, work, or other" accounts (Apple), so it takes Exchange, which Mailspring can't.

It also does more about junk than Mailspring. You can "unsubscribe from the list directly in Mail," block up to 3,000 senders, and train its junk filter (Apple). With Protect Mail Activity on, "your IP address is hidden from senders and remote content is privately downloaded in the background" (Apple).

What to know. With Apple Intelligence on, "a short summary automatically appears under each unread email," and you can turn summaries off. Apple Intelligence "is not available in all languages or regions." Search relies on your Mac's index and can miss mail you can see. Our Apple Mail search guide has the fixes.

Pick it if the missing phone app is your reason to leave, and you want free.

eM Client: best for Exchange and a one-time price

eM Client is the alternative for the account Mailspring can't add. It names Google Workspace, Office 365, Outlook and Exchange on its home page, and runs on "Windows, macOS, Android and iOS."

Price. The free plan is "Home use on 1 device" with 2 email accounts and no commercial use. Personal is $49.95 a year for up to 3 devices, or $74.95 once with "Lifetime Upgrades" to future major versions (pricing). Paid plans have a 30-day free trial.

AI. The yearly plan includes an AI add-on for replies, summaries, writing and "Natural language search." It uses OpenAI, and you can connect your own provider (eM Client AI). The one-time licence doesn't list the AI add-on. eM Client says it "never retrieves and has no access to the content of your emails" (privacy).

What to know. Its home page doesn't mention an unsubscribe tool. The Mac release notes and the Macs it supports weren't on the pages we read.

Pick it if you need Exchange, a calendar, or a licence you pay for once. Our eM Client alternatives page compares it further.

Canary Mail: best for a phone app that keeps mail on your device

Canary runs on "Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Android" (Canary). Its free plan lists "Unlimited Mail Accounts," a unified inbox and 1-Click Unsubscribe, which Mailspring doesn't have. Paid plans are $36 or $100 a year, with no monthly billing (pricing).

Where your mail goes. Canary's privacy policy says your account details and mail are "stored on your device and is never transferred to our servers." Push on phones is the exception, where it "will temporarily store your email address, credentials, sender, subject line."

What to know. AI Copilot comes with the paid plans. The free plan covers up to 2 devices.

Pick it if you want Mailspring's direct connection plus an app on your phone and a way to unsubscribe.

Spark: best for the same app on every device, if you accept its servers

Spark is free with unlimited accounts on Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android (pricing). Its Gatekeeper screens new senders, and you can "block a specific sender or domain" (Gatekeeper). AI comes with Plus at $99 a year and Pro at $199 a year.

What to know. Spark is the opposite of Mailspring on one point. Some features "require our server-side email processing to work," and for Exchange and custom IMAP accounts Spark stores "your email login and password," encrypted (privacy). Our Spark alternatives page covers this.

Pick it if an app on every device matters more to you than keeping mail off a vendor's servers.

How to choose

• iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, junk you can stop, your own AI: Alrighty.
• Free, open source, any account, an Android app: Thunderbird.
• Free, with an iPhone app: Apple Mail.
• Exchange, a calendar, or a one-time licence: eM Client.
• An app on your phone that keeps mail on the device: Canary.
• One app on every device, with its servers in the loop: Spark.
• Free, direct, and nothing above is missing for you: stay with Mailspring.

For more free choices, see free email apps for Mac. If keeping mail off servers is the main thing, see private email apps for Mac.

For a side-by-side of the two apps, see Alrighty vs Mailspring.

Questions

Does Mailspring have an iPhone or Android app?

No. Mailspring says it's built on Electron, which "doesn't translate easily to mobile," and that it's "currently focused on shipping a best-in-class desktop product." Apple Mail, Canary, eM Client and Spark have phone apps. Thunderbird has an Android app.

Is Mailspring still being updated?

Yes. Version 1.26.2, a security fix, came out on October 22, 2026, and 1.26.0 brought new notification behavior on macOS 27. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.

Does Mailspring send my email to its servers?

Mailspring says your mail goes "straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers." Pro features such as snooze, send later and read receipts store metadata with Mailspring, linked to your Mailspring ID. Its data page says that metadata "may contain encoded recipient email addresses."

Will I lose mail if I switch from Mailspring?

No. Mailspring syncs with your provider over IMAP, so your mail stays with Gmail, iCloud or Microsoft, and the new app downloads it again. Snoozed mail sits in a "Mailspring/Snoozed" folder on your mail server, so move it back to your Inbox before you switch.

What is the best free alternative to Mailspring?

Thunderbird is the closest: free, open source and on Mac, Windows and Linux. On a Mac, Apple Mail is free and built in. Alrighty has a Free plan after its 14-day trial, and Canary and Spark have free plans.

Which Mailspring alternative works with Exchange?

Apple Mail and eM Client both add Exchange accounts, and Canary and Spark list Exchange too. Mailspring supports Microsoft 365 but not Exchange Web Services or ActiveSync. Alrighty takes Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and Microsoft 365 accounts, through Sign in with Microsoft.