Alrighty vs Mailspring for Mac

Pick Mailspring if you want a free, open-source app with unlimited accounts of any IMAP kind, read receipts and send later. Pick Alrighty if you have iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts, and you want junk stopped for good, search that matches what you mean, and Claude or ChatGPT working in your mail. Both run on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Both connect your computer straight to your mail provider, and neither has a phone app. Where they differ is what each does with your mail once it's there. This page compares them for a Mac user, from Mailspring's own home, FAQ, pricing, data and release pages, as of November 2026. Alrighty is our app.

Alrighty vs Mailspring at a glance

	Alrighty	Mailspring
Macs	Apple silicon	macOS 13 or later, with a separate Apple silicon build
Other platforms	Windows, Linux	Windows, Linux
Accounts	iCloud, Gmail, Outlook and Microsoft 365 only	Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, FastMail, Outlook.com, Yahoo, any IMAP; no POP3 or Exchange EWS
Price	14-day trial with no card, then Free plan or Pro	Free; Pro $8/mo or $85/yr
Where mail is kept and searched	Your computer	Your Mac; Pro features store metadata with Mailspring
Unwanted mail	Stop mail, Clean up, Filters, phishing checks	Mail rules, your provider's spam folder
AI	Your own AI off until you connect it; reply drafts and Clean up run when signed in	None stated
Open source	No	Yes, GPL-3.0

Does Mailspring run on Apple silicon Macs?

Yes. Mailspring's newest release, 1.26.2 from October 22, 2026, ships a separate Apple silicon build next to the standard Mac build (releases). Since version 1.24.0, "Mailspring now requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or later."

On a Mac, Alrighty needs Apple silicon. It downloads a search model of about 350 MB the first time it opens. Neither has a phone app. Mailspring's FAQ says "mobile versions aren't currently planned," and Alrighty has no iPhone app.

Is Mailspring free? Which costs less?

Mailspring's free version is generous. Its free plan page lists "unlimited accounts, unified inbox, search, mail rules, signatures, templates, themes, spellcheck, contacts" with no Mailspring ID needed. With a free Mailspring ID you get weekly allowances: 15 snoozes, 5 send-laters, 5 reminders, 5 read receipts, 5 tracked links, 50 translations and 5 grammar checks. Past that, "You've reached your quota" until next week.

Pro removes the limits. "Mailspring Pro costs $8/mo (or $85/yr if you prefer)" (cost).

Alrighty has a 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro. The Free plan has a small monthly AI allowance and no sorting into groups. Pro adds both. Pro's price isn't set yet, so we can't compare it with Mailspring's $85.

Which accounts does each support?

Mailspring supports more providers. Its home page names "Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, FastMail, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, and IMAP/SMTP." Its FAQ sets the limits: "Mailspring supports IMAP only; POP3 support is not planned," "Exchange Web Services and ActiveSync aren't supported, but IMAP and Microsoft 365 OAuth are," and "Google's Advanced Protection blocks IMAP clients like Mailspring."

Alrighty takes iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, and connects each through the provider's own route. Gmail uses Sign in with Google or an app password, through the Gmail API rather than IMAP. Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and Microsoft 365 use Sign in with Microsoft, through Microsoft Graph. iCloud uses an app-specific password over IMAP. It can't add Yahoo, AOL, Fastmail or any other IMAP account.

If you have a Fastmail or Yahoo address, Mailspring takes it and Alrighty doesn't.

How does each stop spam and newsletters?

Mailspring leaves junk to your provider. Its FAQ covers emptying the spam folder, and its home page lists no unsubscribe or block-sender tool. You can write mail rules, which the free version includes.

Alrighty is built around ending mail you didn't ask for:

• Stop mail. One action ends a sender's mail. It unsubscribes in every way the message offers, archives their mail, and moves their new mail out as it arrives. If the only way out is a web page, Alrighty finishes it in a browser on its server, so the sender never sees your computer.
• 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. For mail that comes from a new sender each time, like cold sales, describe it in your words or set rules. New Inbox mail that fits moves to Archive. Mail from people you wrote to is never moved.
• Phishing checks. A sure phishing message goes to Junk. A likely one stays with a warning. These run on your computer.

Alrighty doesn't screen first-time senders. A new sender's mail lands in the Inbox until you stop them, and stopped mail goes to Archive, not Junk. The best email unsubscribe app page compares more tools for this.

Which has better search?

Both search every account at once, in different ways. Mailspring's home page says it indexes your mail so you can use Gmail-style advanced queries, and offers "Lightning-fast search across all accounts." That suits you if you remember the sender or the exact words.

Alrighty's search runs on your computer and matches meaning as well as words: "when is my flight" finds the airline's confirmation. You can also ask a question and get the answer with the emails it came from. That answer goes through Alrighty's server to OpenAI, with the emails it read.

Does Mailspring have AI? Is Alrighty's AI on by default?

Mailspring lists no AI on the pages we read. It has translation into five languages and a grammar check "powered by LanguageTool," both inside the weekly free allowance.

Alrighty has AI, and some of it runs without you asking:

• Your own AI. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex, Cursor or a local model can read and search your mail through a server on your computer. It's off until you turn it on with Connect AI. That AI can work in a window you watch, and nothing sends until you click Send. See our email app for Claude and ChatGPT page.
• Suggested replies. When you're signed in, opening a reply starts a draft in your voice by itself, written from what you sent that person before. Ask for a change in your words, or click Shorten, Warmer or Formalize.
• Clean up. When you're signed in, it sorts senders in the background.

These send the emails they read through Alrighty's server to OpenAI and other model companies. Signed out, nothing goes to Alrighty's server.

Is Mailspring safe? Where does each send your mail?

Both connect straight to your provider, and both send something to their own servers for some features. Mailspring says "your email goes straight from your mail provider to your machine, not through our servers," and that it "never sends your credentials to the cloud." Its data page explains that Pro features store metadata such as read receipts and snooze dates, keyed to a hash of each message's headers. For tracking, that data "may contain encoded recipient email addresses." Thread Sharing, if you turn it on, syncs that thread's messages to the cloud.

Alrighty keeps its copy of your mail and its search index on your computer. Passwords and tokens stay there, encrypted with a key from your system's keychain, and no Alrighty server holds them. Its AI features and Clean up send the emails they need to its server: Clean up sends each sender's address and up to 3 of their newest emails. Usage data goes to PostHog by default, never mail content, and Share usage data in Settings turns it off.

What does Mailspring do better?

• It's free with unlimited accounts, and open source under GPL-3.0.
• It takes Yahoo, Fastmail and any IMAP account.
• It has read receipts, link tracking, templates and send later. Its send later goes "from your computer, not from the cloud," so your computer must be on.
• It has themes, translation and a grammar check.
• It has years of releases, where Alrighty is a new app with no long track record.

Which should you pick?

• iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, with junk stopped for good: Alrighty.
• Search by what an email is about, or a question answered from your mail: Alrighty.
• Claude or ChatGPT in your mail, with Send left to you: Alrighty.
• Free with unlimited accounts: Mailspring.
• Yahoo, Fastmail or other IMAP accounts: Mailspring.
• An open-source app: Mailspring.
• Read receipts, link tracking and send later: Mailspring Pro.

For more choices, see our Mailspring alternatives, or the private email apps for Mac if keeping mail off servers matters most. See everything Alrighty does.

Questions

Can I use Mailspring and Alrighty side by side?

Yes, for iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts. Both read the same mailbox from your provider, so a message you archive in one is archived in the other. Keep Mailspring for a Yahoo or Fastmail account, and add your iCloud, Gmail and Outlook accounts to Alrighty.

Does Mailspring work with Outlook and Microsoft 365?

Yes, through IMAP with Microsoft 365 sign-in. It doesn't support Exchange Web Services or ActiveSync. Alrighty connects Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 with Sign in with Microsoft, through Microsoft Graph.

Does Mailspring need an account to use?

Not for the basics. "Reading, sending, searching, and organizing mail works without one" (Mailspring ID). Snooze, send later, reminders, read receipts, link tracking, translation and templates need a free Mailspring ID, because they store data in the cloud. Alrighty works signed out, but its AI features and Clean up need you to sign in.

Does Mailspring have an iPhone app?

No. Mailspring says it's a desktop app and mobile versions "aren't currently planned." Alrighty has no iPhone app either.