Betterbird vs BlueMail
Two of the top three email clients, compared rule by rule on published facts.
In short
- Betterbird and BlueMail tie on 78 points out of 100; Betterbird ranks higher on price.
- Betterbird earns more on privacy and encryption and price; BlueMail earns more on mail and accounts and systems and upkeep.
- Cost of a year: Betterbird $0, BlueMail $0.
- Only Betterbird meets: filters and rules, s/mime, open-source apps and no ads in the app.
- Only BlueMail meets: blocks tracking pixels.
Betterbird78/100 #2 of 10
Best for: Thunderbird users who want more control over how mail is listed, sorted and searched.
Points by group
| Group | Betterbird | BlueMail |
|---|---|---|
| Mail and accounts of 27 | 15 | 22 |
| Calendar and contacts of 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Privacy and encryption of 28 | 24 | 16 |
| Systems and upkeep of 15 | 9 | 13 |
| Price of 21 | 21 | 18 |
| Total | 78 | 78 |
Rule by rule
What each vendor publishes, and the points it earns. Sources are on each product page.
| Rule (points) | Betterbird | BlueMail |
|---|---|---|
| Account types (12) | IMAP, POP3 6 | IMAP, POP3, Exchange, Gmail and Microsoft 365 sign-in 12 |
| Unified inbox (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Mail tools (8) | Templates 2 | Snooze, Undo send, Templates 6 |
| Filters and rules (3) | Yes 3 | Not published 0 |
| Built-in calendar (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| CalDAV and CardDAV (3) | Yes 3 | Yes 3 |
| OpenPGP (7) | Yes 7 | Yes 7 |
| S/MIME (6) | Yes 6 | No 0 |
| Blocks tracking pixels (4) | Not published 0 | Yes 4 |
| Open-source apps (6) | Yes 6 | Not published 0 |
| Mail stays on your device (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Other systems (10) | macOS, Linux 4 | macOS, Linux, iOS, Android 8 |
| Released in the last year (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| No ads in the app (3) | Yes 3 | Not published 0 |
| Free plan (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Cost of a year (12) | $0 12 | $0 12 |
Betterbird
Betterbird suits people who like Thunderbird and want extra list, search and layout options without paying anything. It is open source and says it collects no telemetry. The catch: its own pages say little about account types, Gmail or Microsoft sign-in, and Exchange, which are inherited from Thunderbird, and it has no phone app.
BlueMail
BlueMail suits people who want a free app on every system, with a unified inbox, calendar, PGP and CalDAV. It says mail is not stored on its servers and tracking pixels are blocked by default. The catch: S/MIME is limited to Enterprise licences, and the pages show no scheduled send or rules.
Both products are scored by the same rules: how we score email clients.