Outlook alternatives for Mac, free and paid

The best Outlook alternative for Mac is Alrighty if you want your Outlook, iCloud and Gmail accounts in one inbox with no ads, your mail kept on your Mac, and one-click ways to stop unwanted mail. Apple Mail is the free choice that comes with your Mac. Thunderbird and Mailspring are free and open source. Canary and Spark have free plans and run on phones too, and eM Client is the pick for a one-time price.

You don't have to give up your Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 address to leave the Outlook app. Every app below can add an Outlook or Microsoft account. What changes is the app you read it in.

How we checked

We read each app's own pricing, help and privacy pages on November 3, 2026, and every fact about another app links to the page it came from. For Outlook itself, we used only Microsoft's pages and its Mac App Store listing. For each alternative we noted what it costs, which accounts it adds, whether it shows ads, and where it processes your mail. Alrighty is our app, and it's listed first.

Why do people leave Outlook on Mac?

Most people leave for one of four reasons, and Microsoft states each of them on its own pages.

1. The free app shows ads. Outlook for Mac is free on the Mac App Store, and the listing says "Add a premium subscription to go ad-free" (Mac App Store). Microsoft says a Microsoft 365 subscription gives "an ad-free experience, more storage, and advanced email security" (Microsoft). In the App Store, Microsoft 365 Personal starts at $9.99 a month.

2. Your emails are listed for advertising use. In the App Store privacy labels, which Microsoft writes and Apple has not verified, "User Content (emails or text messages)" is listed among data used for "Developer's Advertising or Marketing" and "App Functionality," as data not linked to your identity (Mac App Store). Microsoft's pages don't say whether Gmail or iCloud mail added to Outlook passes through Microsoft's servers.

3. Legacy Outlook is gone. Microsoft's feature page says "Support for legacy Outlook for Mac will end in October 2026" (Microsoft). The new Outlook lists some features as not available, including "Compose in plaintext," "View sync errors," "View sync status," "Status bar," "Access Public Folders" and "Injection-based plug-in support." If you relied on one of those, the new Outlook can't give it back.

4. Work accounts need a license. For a work or school account, "you will need to have a license assigned by your IT administrator" that includes the desktop Microsoft 365 apps. If your license covers only "web and mobile app access," you get an error message when you try to add the account (Microsoft). Copilot features are for "Microsoft 365 Copilot–licensed users" (Microsoft). To let Claude or ChatGPT read your Outlook mail instead, see the best Outlook MCP servers.

To be fair to Outlook: personal Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo and IMAP accounts are free to use, and the new Outlook has a unified inbox, Block sender, Unsubscribe and Focused Inbox (Microsoft). It also keeps mail and calendar in one app, which most alternatives below don't. If spam is your only complaint, the best spam filters for Outlook may let you stay.

Outlook alternatives for Mac at a glance

App	Price	Outlook and Microsoft 365	iCloud and Gmail	Where your mail is processed
Alrighty	14-day trial, then Free or Pro	Yes, Sign in with Microsoft	Yes	Your Mac
Apple Mail	Comes with macOS	Exchange	Yes	Your Mac
Thunderbird	Free	Exchange, from version 145	Not named on its site	Your Mac
Mailspring	Free; Pro $8/mo or $85/yr	Outlook.com, Microsoft 365	Yes	Your Mac, except Pro metadata
Canary Mail	Free; $36/yr or $100/yr	Outlook, Exchange	Yes	Your device, except push on phones
Spark	Free; Plus $99/yr, Pro $199/yr	Outlook, Exchange	Yes	Spark's servers for some features
eM Client	Free for 2 accounts; $49.95/yr or $74.95 once	Outlook, Office 365, Exchange	Yes	Your device; push uses your encrypted login
Outlook for Mac	Free with ads	Yes, with a license for work	Yes	Not stated

Alrighty: best Outlook alternative for Mac with iCloud and Gmail too

Alrighty is a mail app for Mac, Windows and Linux that puts Outlook, iCloud and Gmail accounts in one inbox. Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and Microsoft 365 accounts sign in with Microsoft and connect through Microsoft Graph. Gmail signs in with Google, and iCloud uses an app-specific password. There are no ads.

• Stop mail. One click ends a sender's mail. Alrighty unsubscribes in every way the message offers, moves their mail out of your inbox, and keeps their new mail out. In Outlook, Block sender and Unsubscribe are separate features. See how Stop mail works.
• 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.
• Phishing checks. A message that is sure to be phishing goes to Junk. A likely one stays in your inbox with a warning.
• Search that finds what you remember. Type it in your own words. "When is my flight" finds the airline's confirmation even though it never says "flight". Search runs on your Mac, across every account at once. Ask a question and get the answer with the emails it came from.
• AI you choose. Outlook's AI is Copilot, for licensed users. Alrighty lets the AI you already use, such as Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor or a local model, read and search your mail and work in a window you watch. Nothing sends until you click Send. Our guide on letting Claude read your email shows the setup.
• Suggested replies. A draft in your voice, written from what you sent that person before. It's always a draft. You send it.

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

What it can't do. It's mail only, with no calendar, so keep Outlook or Calendar for meetings. There's no iPhone or web app. It adds Outlook, iCloud and Gmail accounts only, so Yahoo, Fastmail and other IMAP accounts are out. It's a new app, without a long track record.

Pick it if you want your Outlook account in an app with no ads, next to your iCloud or Gmail, with your mail kept on your Mac.

Apple Mail: best free Outlook alternative for Mac

Apple Mail comes with macOS and adds "iCloud, Gmail (Google), Exchange, school, work, or other" accounts. You choose Mail > Add Account, then enter your email address (Apple).

On macOS 27 it covers most of what people use Outlook's inbox for:

• Categories. Mail sorts messages into Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, though this is "not available in all countries or regions" (Apple).
• Unwanted mail. You can unsubscribe from a list "directly in Mail" and block up to 3,000 senders (Apple).
• Rules. "You can create rules that help you manage incoming email messages and automate tasks" (Apple).
• Search. "Mail can provide search results based on what you mean, not just the words you type" (Apple).
• AI. Apple Intelligence can summarize mail and suggest replies, but it "is not available in all languages or regions" (Apple).

What it can't do. Mail is a separate app from Calendar, so it doesn't keep mail and meetings in one window the way Outlook does. Its search relies on your Mac's Spotlight index, and when that breaks, Mail misses messages you can see. Our Apple Mail search guide has the fixes. If Mail isn't working for you either, see our Apple Mail alternatives.

Pick it if you want free, built in and no ads.

Thunderbird: best free, open-source Outlook alternative

Thunderbird is "free forever," open source, and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, with "all accounts separately or in a unified inbox" (Thunderbird). Version 145 added "support for Microsoft Exchange via Exchange Web Services" (release notes). Its privacy notice says your messages "are stored and processed locally on your device," and that sign-ins are "exchanged for OAuth tokens." It also says "we don't collect personal data, sell ads in your inbox, or secretly train AI with your private conversations."

What it can't do. It sends telemetry: "Thunderbird sends telemetry about your interactions with Thunderbird to us." Its home page names no AI features and no unsubscribe or block tools. Its site doesn't name which mail providers it takes, so add your Microsoft account and check it before you remove Outlook.

Pick it if you want free and open source, with filters you set up yourself. Our Thunderbird alternatives page compares it with other free apps.

Mailspring: best free Outlook alternative for Mac, Windows and Linux

Mailspring is free "for Mac, Windows, and Linux" and supports "Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, FastMail, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP" (Mailspring). It says "your email goes straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers." Pro is $8 a month or $85 a year, and adds read receipts, link tracking, send later, follow-up reminders and templates (pricing).

What it can't do. Its FAQ says "Exchange Web Services and ActiveSync aren't supported, but IMAP and Microsoft 365 OAuth are," and "POP3 support is not planned." Pro features send message metadata to Mailspring's servers (Mailspring). We found no AI, unsubscribe or block tools on its pages. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.

Pick it if your Outlook account is Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 and you want a free, fast app on every desktop.

Canary Mail: best free Outlook alternative across devices

Canary runs on "Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Android" (Canary) and works with "Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Exchange, and IMAP accounts" (Canary). Its version 5.28.1 notes say "Microsoft 365 accounts now sync through Microsoft Graph" (Mac App Store). The free plan lists "Unlimited Mail Accounts" and a unified inbox. Growth is $36 a year and adds AI Copilot. Pro+ is $100 a year (pricing). Canary also offers 1-Click Unsubscribe.

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

What it can't do. Bill monthly. Paid plans are yearly or lifetime, and AI needs a paid plan.

Pick it if you want a free app for your Outlook account on your Mac and your phone.

Spark: best Outlook alternative for teams on every platform

Spark runs on Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android, and takes IMAP, iCloud, Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo and Google accounts (Spark). The free plan has unlimited accounts and a calendar. Plus is $99 a year and Pro is $199 a year, and those plans hold the AI features (pricing). Gatekeeper screens new senders so you can accept or block them (Spark).

Where your mail goes. For Outlook accounts, Spark says "we store an application-specific token." For Exchange accounts, it stores your login and says "we additionally encrypt your password in the database." Some features "require our server-side email processing to work" (Spark).

What it can't do. Keep everything on your Mac. If that matters, our Spark alternatives page covers apps that do.

Pick it if you want a free app with mail and calendar on every platform, and you're fine with Spark's servers handling some of your mail.

eM Client: best Outlook alternative with a one-time price

eM Client runs on "Windows, macOS, Android and iOS" and names Google Workspace, Office 365, Outlook and Exchange among the services it connects to (eM Client). Like Outlook, it has a calendar, contacts and tasks. Its AI includes "Reply with AI," "AI Summarize" and "Natural language search," and you can turn it off in Settings > Artificial Intelligence (eM Client).

Price. Free is "Home use on 1 device" with 2 email accounts and no commercial use. Personal is $49.95 a year with the AI add-on, or $74.95 once without it. Paid plans have a "30-day free trial & 30-day money-back guarantee" (pricing).

Where your mail goes. eM Client says it "never retrieves and has no access to the content of your emails," and your cached mail stays on your device. Push notifications use an "encrypted login and password or a special authorization token" (privacy policy). AI features send the message you're viewing to its AI provider, OpenAI, unless you connect your own.

What it can't do. The free plan stops at two accounts on one device. Its pages don't say which Macs or macOS versions it supports, so check before you buy.

Pick it if you want an Outlook-style app with mail, calendar and tasks, and you'd rather pay once. Our eM Client alternatives compare it further.

What about Superhuman and Mimestream?

Two other Mac apps come up in Outlook searches, but each fits only one kind of account mix.

• Superhuman is "built for teams that use Gmail or Outlook" (Superhuman) and runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Starter is $25 per member a month, billed yearly (plans). It doesn't add iCloud or IMAP accounts. See our Superhuman alternatives.
• Mimestream works only with Gmail, so it can't add an Outlook account at all (Mimestream).

How to choose an Outlook alternative for Mac

Start from what you used Outlook for:

• Outlook, iCloud and Gmail in one inbox with no ads, mail kept on your Mac, less junk: Alrighty.
• Free and built in: Apple Mail.
• Free and open source, with Exchange support: Thunderbird.
• Free and fast for Outlook.com or Microsoft 365: Mailspring.
• Free on your Mac and your phone: Canary.
• Mail and calendar on every platform: Spark.
• Mail, calendar and tasks for a one-time price: eM Client.
• A Microsoft 365 work account your company pays for, with a calendar: stay with Outlook.

For a wider list that isn't only about Outlook, see the best email app for Mac and the best free email app for Mac. If you run several accounts, see the best email app for multiple accounts.

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

Questions

Is Outlook for Mac free?

Yes, for personal accounts. Microsoft says Outlook "is free to use with your personal Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, and IMAP accounts," and the free app shows ads. Work and school accounts need a license from your IT administrator that includes the desktop apps.

Can I keep my Outlook.com address and use a different app?

Yes. Your address and your mail stay with Microsoft. Alrighty, Apple Mail, Mailspring, Canary, Spark and eM Client can all add an Outlook or Microsoft account, so you change the app, not the address.

What is the best free Outlook alternative for Mac?

Apple Mail is free, built in and has no ads. Thunderbird and Mailspring are free and open source. Canary and Spark have free plans with unlimited accounts. Alrighty has a Free plan after its 14-day trial.

Can I still use legacy Outlook for Mac?

Microsoft says "Support for legacy Outlook for Mac will end in October 2026," and that continued support depends on your license. Some features, such as composing in plain text and viewing sync errors, are listed as not available in the new Outlook.