Mozilla Thunderbird vs BlueMail
Two of the top three email clients, compared rule by rule on published facts.
In short
- Mozilla Thunderbird has 88 points and BlueMail 78, 10 apart on our email clients rules.
- Mozilla Thunderbird earns more on mail and accounts, privacy and encryption and price; BlueMail earns more on systems and upkeep.
- Cost of a year: Mozilla Thunderbird $0, BlueMail $0.
- Only Mozilla Thunderbird meets: filters and rules, s/mime, open-source apps and no ads in the app.
- Only BlueMail meets: blocks tracking pixels.
Mozilla Thunderbird88/100 #1 of 10
Best for: People who want a free, open-source client with built-in encryption.
Points by group
| Group | Mozilla Thunderbird | BlueMail |
|---|---|---|
| Mail and accounts of 27 | 23 | 22 |
| Calendar and contacts of 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Privacy and encryption of 28 | 24 | 16 |
| Systems and upkeep of 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Price of 21 | 21 | 18 |
| Total | 88 | 78 |
Rule by rule
What each vendor publishes, and the points it earns. Sources are on each product page.
| Rule (points) | Mozilla Thunderbird | BlueMail |
|---|---|---|
| Account types (12) | IMAP, POP3, Exchange, Gmail and Microsoft 365 sign-in 12 | IMAP, POP3, Exchange, Gmail and Microsoft 365 sign-in 12 |
| Unified inbox (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Mail tools (8) | Scheduled send, Templates 4 | 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, Android 6 | 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 |
Mozilla Thunderbird
Thunderbird suits people who want a free client with a unified inbox, calendar and built-in OpenPGP and S/MIME. Mail stays on your device, per its privacy policy. The catch: Exchange access covers email only, and the vendor pages do not list snooze or undo send.
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.