Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source emailing client that has a loyal fan base. However, once its commercial development was suspended, the users’ started complaining about issues related to software glitches, email sending/receiving errors, obsolete interface, and common bugs. Since then, users have been looking for an alternative to Thunderbird.
Over the years, several email clients have emerged which are offering features that have outrun the Thunderbird’s features. In this article, we’ll review some of these email clients and services that can become your Thunderbird alternative.
5 Best Mozilla Thunderbird Alternatives
We’ve prepared a list of 5 email clients for Windows that can serve as the best Mozilla Thunderbird alternatives (in no particular order):
1. Postbox
Postbox is one of the easiest email clients to use. It supports all POP/IMAP accounts, including Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and more. To keep your emails organized, the application allows you to sort the accounts into groups and provides features, like filtering and tagging of emails. It has a very easy-to-use user interface. You also get business emoji support, 25 email signature templates, and 70 professional email response templates.
Key Features:
- Search options
- Message editing
- Unified email accounts
- Quick bar
- Custom email replies
Pros:
- Unified Inbox
- Supports IMAP, POP, SMTP, and Microsoft Exchange
- Simple user interface
- HTML templates
- Wide range of useful email features
Cons:
- Customization options need improvement
- Performance is slow
- The feature development process is not consistent
- No free customer support
Pricing:
The yearly plan for a Postbox license is $49/user and requires a one-time payment. There’s no monthly plan as of now.
2. Mailbird
Mailbird is one such email client that can boost your productivity. It helps you manage all your work from one unified dashboard, including emails, calendars, apps, and tools. Thanks to Mailbird’s clean interface, you can master it within minutes. Mailbird offers some unique features, like built-in speed reader and snooze email.
Key Features:
- Unified Inbox
- Unified calendar
- Speed reader
- Snooze email
- Undo send
- Contacts management
- Email tracking
Pros:
- Regular updates as per users’ requests
- High uptime and optimized performance
- Minimalistic dashboard
- Multiple customization options
- Easy onboarding
- Powerful unified calendar features
- Variety of integrations
Cons:
- Currently not available for Mac and smartphones.
Pricing:
- For home use, the Standard plan costs $39/year, while the Premium plan costs $59. You can make a lifetime purchase for $99.
- For businesses, the Standard plan costs up to $59/year, while the Premium plan costs $79. You can make a lifetime purchase for $399.
3. Spark
Spark Mail is an email application that has about 14 million users worldwide. It has a modern and sleek user interface. The application, primarily dedicated to iOS users, is now available for Windows. With Spark, you can connect multiple email accounts and use them from one place.
Key Features:
- Smart unified Inbox
- Smart search
- Newsletters and notifications
- Data encryption through Google Cloud service
Pros:
- Can merge unlimited accounts from different email providers into one single account
- Modern and sleek user interface
- Supports several useful integrations
Cons:
- Doesn’t support POP
- The NLP-powered search tool isn’t up to the mark
Pricing:
- Monthly premium plans start from $4.99/month and offer a 7-day free trial period.
- A free version is available but it lacks important functionalities, like priority email, gatekeeper and block sender, group by the sender, and the option to mute threads.
4. eM Client
eM Client is another email client that can serve as an alternative to Thunderbird. It is known for its simple design and user-friendly interface. You can either pay for the Pro version or use the free one. The free version allows you to connect two email accounts, whereas the Pro version has no such limits and comes with VIP tech support.
Key Features:
- Unified accounts
- Integrated calendar
- Message encryption
- Snooze function
- Functional sidebar
- Custom themes
- Localization
Pros:
- User-friendly layout
- Loads of customization options
- Email translation in 20 languages
- Easy onboarding
- Easy to manage calendars
Cons:
- Visible lag in performance
- Offers only basic integration
5. Microsoft Outlook
Available across Windows, Mac, and Android, Microsoft Outlook is one of the best alternatives to Thunderbird. Outlook can be set up with IMAP, POP, and Exchange Server. It comes as a part of Microsoft Office Suite and offers a wide range of useful features, such as contact management, calendar, etc. Unlike the business version, Outlook’s free webmail version doesn’t allow you to handle multiple accounts from different providers. Instead, you can only manage Outlook and Hotmail accounts.
Key Features:
- Calendar sharing
- Efficient task management
- Smart alerts
- Keyboard shortcuts
Pros:
- Strong security features including spam filtering
- Allows lots of add-ons and integrations
- Robust calendar options
- Good search options
Cons:
- Doesn’t offer a unified workspace dashboard
- Interface can be inconvenient at times
- Doesn’t connect accounts other than Outlook
Pricing:
You can purchase Microsoft Outlook as an individual or business user with a Microsoft 365 subscription. The personal user plan costs $59.99/year or $5.99 monthly, whereas the monthly business plans start from $6 per user. For PC usage, you can buy the solo Outlook application for $159.99.
Note: If you want to migrate from Thunderbird to Outlook, then you can use an advanced MBOX to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for MBOX. The tool helps you migrate Thunderbird data (MBOX file) to Outlook supported PST format. And, not just Thunderbird, this robust tool supports other MBOX email clients, like Spicebird, Eudora, Netscape, Evolution, Entourage, and more. It also converts MBOX file data into various other formats, such as RTF, PDF, Office 365, and HTML (Technician version). You can also convert multiple MBOX files at once using this software.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for an alternative to Thunderbird, then there are many email clients to choose from. However, finding the right email client that can serve as the best alternative to Thunderbird is not an easy task. To help you to decide, we have mentioned above some email clients, along with their features and pros and cons. You can go through the details of these email clients and choose the one that best suits your needs.
