Top 9 Alternatives to Nine Email for Android and iOS

Top 9 Alternatives to Nine Email for Android and iOS

Nine Email is a reliable email client with a unified inbox and a clean interface. However, users have expressed concerns about the lack of AI capabilities.

Phoebe Brown

Phoebe Brown | Dec 31, 2023 | 12 mins read

For Android and iOS users, the Nine Email app has long been a go-to choice, known for its robust features and user-friendly interface. However, in recent years, the quality of Nine Email has decreased, and many users are moving away from using this app.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely looking for a more versatile and better-equipped Nine Email alternative for Android or iPhone. In this article, we’ve reviewed some of the top alternatives to Nine Email that offer modern features and a swift interface.

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Why Do You Need a Nine Email Alternative?

(Hint: Instability 🌀)

nine email alternatives

Nine Email & Calendar, developed by a Korean company called 9Folders Inc., is an email application designed for Android and iOS platforms. The Nine Email & Calendar app offers seamless integration and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, making it an ideal choice for business users who rely on Exchange for email, calendars, and contacts. 

Although Nine Email is a reliable email app with handy features and a clean interface, some users realize that it doesn’t fulfill their needs. 

Here are a few reasons why you may need a Nine Mail alternative:

  • Nine doesn’t have AI capabilities: Although Nine Mail offers some pretty email management features, it lacks AI capabilities that other email clients already provide. 
  • Nine Calendar doesn’t integrate well with Gmail: Although Nine Email works with and synchronizes well with all IMAP servers (such as Gmail), the other apps offered by Nine, such as the calendar, contacts, and notes, only work on accounts supporting ActiveSync. 
  • Nine can be slow and unstable: Some users have reported that Nine Mail can be unstable and slow, leading to regular reinstallations and issues with email synchronization, calendar appointments, and contacts. 
  • Nine works only on mobile: If you’re looking for a web-based or desktop-based email client, Nine isn’t suitable for you since it’s designed to work only on mobile devices with Android or iOS operating systems. 

🛠️ Nine Email Features

Nine gives your mobile devices a secure, wireless connection to your company servers or email hosting services. This means you can access your emails, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes wherever you are, whether you’re out of the office or away from home, and everything stays updated in real-time. 

Here are some of its main features:  

  • Direct push synchronization with Exchange ActiveSync
  • Multiple email accounts
  • Calendar, notes, tasks, and contacts
  • Rich-text editor
  • Global address list (GAL)
  • Select folders for push notifications
  • Automatic setup for Office 365, Exchange Online, Hotmail, Live.com, Outlook, MSN, or GSuite
  • Full HTML (inbound, outbound)
  • Hybrid email search
  • Conversation mode
  • Modern authentication for Office 365

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Easy to sync with your Exchange email, calendar, notes, tasks, and contacts
  • Integrates with various MDM solutions to protect corporate data
  • Great user experience & beautiful GUI
  • Free 14-day trial

👎🏻 Cons:

  • The interface can be slow and clunky, with numerous bugs
  • It integrates almost exclusively with Microsoft Exchange
  • No AI capabilities 

💰 Nine Email Pricing

Nine Email is free to download, but in order to use it, you’ll need to purchase a premium membership. The subscription plans start at $1.99 for 3 months or $2.99 for 6 months. You can also purchase a lifetime membership for $14.99. 

💬 Nine Email Reviews

Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: N/A

9 Best Nine Email Alternatives for Android & iOS

If you’re using Nine Email & Calendar as your main email application, you might have chosen it because you’re using Microsoft Exchange for all your email and calendar needs. However, if you’re not a Microsoft Exchange user, Nine Email may not be as useful to you as it lacks the versatility to integrate well with other tools and platforms. 

Here are the 9 best Nine Email alternatives for Android and iOS. If you don’t want to or don’t have the time to read it all, skip ahead to the comparative table at the bottom of the article.

1. Canary Mail – Best Nine Email Alternative Overall

alternatives to nine email

Canary Mail is the most advanced email client on the market. It focuses on email productivity and management with modern features, such as an AI-powered email assistant that helps users write better emails in less time and streamline their email workflows. 

Unlike Nine Email, Canary Mail is very versatile, as it’s available to use on multiple platforms and operating systems. You can use Canary Mail as a desktop app for macOS and Windows, a mobile app for iOS and Android, or even a Chrome extension

Moreover, it offers a unified inbox and allows you to sync all your email accounts from various platforms, like Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo, and ProtonMail, into one place.

🛠️ Canary Mail Features

All in all, Canary Mail, as an app for all email accounts, helps you stay organized and productive while ensuring that no critical updates go unseen, thanks to the list of its unique features, such as: 

👍🏻 Pros:

👎🏻 Cons:

  • It may take time to learn
  • Some might find the AI suggestions either too intrusive or unnecessary

💰 Canary Mail Pricing

Canary Mail offers a free forever plan for personal use. Our paid plans start at $49 per year. 

💬 Canary Mail Reviews

Capterra Rating: 4.7/5

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

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Supercharge your email productivity and focus on what really matters.

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2. Aqua Mail – Best for Inbox Customization

alternatives to nine email

Aqua Mail is a highly customizable email app for Android and iOS that focuses on creating a smart, customizable, and secure email experience for mobile devices. Essentially, Aqua Mail allows you to connect and manage all your email accounts from any provider in one universal mobile email app

Unlike Nine Email, Aqua Mail supports any major email provider and IMAP or POP3-enabled mailbox. Moreover, with its privacy-first approach, Aqua Mail doesn’t collect or store your personal data, email content, or passwords.  

🛠️ Aqua Mail Features

ProtonMail’s main focus lies on the security and privacy of your emails. But aside from its excellent security features, it also comes with other benefits, such as:

  • Multiple email accounts 
  • Sync contacts and calendar
  • Push mail
  • Open and save EML files
  • Rich-text editor
  • Intuitive home screen widgets
  • Priority notifications
  • Save as PDF
  • Custom file picker
  • Access control

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Automatic setup for Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, FastMail, Apple, GMX, EWS, and AOL
  • Customizable with over 300 settings
  • Available in 20 languages
  • Strong email privacy and security features

👎🏻 Cons:

  • Only one signature per account
  • Some users report bugs 

💰 Aqua Mail Pricing

Aqua Mail is free to download and use on Android and iOS. If you want to unlock premium features, you can purchase Aqua Mail Pro for a one-time fee of $19.99. 

💬 Aqua Mail Reviews

Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: N/A

3. Newton Mail – Best for a Focused Inbox

nine email alternative

Newton Mail simplifies email management across multiple accounts with its intuitive interface. It’s an ideal platform for users juggling various email addresses, providing seamless organization and quick access to important messages.

Newton Mail works on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux and supports various email providers, such as Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Office 365, Yahoo! Mail, and any IMAP provider.  

🛠️ Newton Mail Features

Newton Mail’s main feature is its Tidy Inbox, which automatically removes distractions, such as newsletters and unwanted emails. Here are some of Newton Mail’s features:

  • Read receipts
  • Automatic message recap
  • Set reminders and due dates
  • Integration with Asana, Trello, Todoist, EverNote, and OneNote
  • Snooze emails
  • Send later
  • Zenbox (filters out unnecessary emails)
  • Templates and snippets
  • Share emails with a link
  • True dark mode

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Focused inbox modalities
  • Fast and intuitive interface
  • Free 14-day trial

👎🏻 Cons:

  • Can be too basic and minimalistic for some users
  • No AI capabilities

💰 Newton Mail Pricing

Newton Mail offers a free 14-day trial and just one pricing plan that costs $49 per year.

💬 Newton Mail Reviews

Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: 4.5/5

4. ProtonMail – Best for Advanced Email Security

alternative nine email

ProtonMail is a business email provider based in Switzerland. It is known for its strong privacy focus. ProtonMail offers advanced end-to-end and zero-access encryption for your emails and keeps them secure from cyberattacks. 

Although Nine Email provides wireless synchronized, encrypted connection to your company servers or email hosting services, ProtonMail offers better email security and a cleaner, more stable interface. 

🛠️ ProtonMail Features

ProtonMail’s main focus lies on the security and privacy of your emails. But aside from its excellent security features, it also comes with other benefits, such as:

  • Intuitive web app
  • Inbox customization
  • Email organization with labels, filters, and folders
  • Create multiple alias email addresses
  • Advanced inbox search
  • Access to ProtonDrive, ProtonCalendar, and ProtonVPN 

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Advanced security and privacy for your emails
  • Mobile app for Android and iOS
  • Access to other Proton apps

👎🏻 Cons:

  • Limited storage on the free version
  • Questionable amount of emails you can send
  • Loading time may be slow

💰 ProtonMail Pricing

ProtonMail offers a free forever plan with limited features. Its pricing plans for individuals start at €3.99 per user/month (billed annually), and the pricing plans for businesses start at €6.99 per user/month (billed annually).

💬 ProtonMail Reviews

Capterra Rating: 4.6/5
G2 Rating: 4.4/5

5. Spark – Best for a Smart & Collaborative Email Experience

nine mail other options

Spark is a collaborative email app that offers a modern and intuitive approach to email management. It’s designed to simplify your experience with features like a smart inbox, email follow-up reminders, and integrations with the third-party app you might already be using. 

Spark’s core strengths are its collaborative nature, AI capabilities, and a smart and fast interface. Although it’s great for individual use, it also offers a collaborative inbox that can be used by multiple team members. 

🛠️ Spark Features

Spark’s core feature is its smart inbox that automatically places new emails into personal, newsletter, and notification categories. Here are some of Spark’s main features for easy email management: 

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Easy to use and intuitive interface
  • Handy features for email organization and management
  • Integrates with task management tools like Asana and Slack
  • Includes features for team collaboration, such as shared drafts and comments.

👎🏻 Cons:

  • Slow loading at times
  • The app may be confusing to navigate
  • May not be suitable for individual use

💰 Spark Pricing

Spark is free for personal use with limited features. Its paid plans start at $4.99 per month (billed annually).

💬 Spark Reviews

Capterra Rating: 5/5

G2 Rating: N/A

6. Thunderbird – Best Open-Source Email Client

other tools than nine email

Thunderbird is a free, open-source email client developed by Mozilla. Although its interface looks a bit outdated, Thunderbird can be a great alternative to Nine Email due to the high level of customization and the option of adding unlimited email accounts

Developed by a community of volunteers, Thunderbird provides a range of add-ons and customization options to adapt to your specific email management requirements.

Thunderbird is available for download in multiple languages on all operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and Linux. 

🛠️ Thunderbird Features

Thunderbird offers a range of features, such as: 

  • An integrated calendar
  • Task management options
  • A large library of add-ons for additional functionality
  • Tag feature for easy organization
  • A unified inbox to manage multiple email accounts

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Open-source and fully customizable with a wide range of add-ons
  • Integrated calendar and task management features
  • Strong privacy and security features, including automatic encryption
  • It supports POP and IMAP protocols
  • Available to download for Windows, Mac, and Linux

👎🏻 Cons:

  • The interface can feel outdated compared to other modern email clients
  • Some users report that it can be slow and resource-intensive
  • No mobile app
  • Can’t be used as a web app

💰 Thunderbird Pricing

Thunderbird is free to download and use, being an open-source project. While the app is free forever, users can donate a desired amount to its creators.

💬 Thunderbird Reviews

Capterra Rating: 4.5/5

G2 Rating: 4.3/5 

7. BlueMail – Best All-in-One Messaging Platform

tools better than nine mail

BlueMail is a cross-platform email client that offers a unified inbox experience across various email services and accounts, making it an excellent alternative for users who juggle multiple email addresses

With BlueMail, users can connect unlimited email accounts in one place, making it easier to stay organized and improve productivity. What’s more, BlueMail comes with an AI email assistant (GemAI) to help users write and summarize emails faster.

BlueMail is compatible and available for download on any operating system, including macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and Huawei.

🛠️ BlueMail Features

BlueMail focuses on helping users improve their productivity and efficiency when managing their inboxes. Here are some of its core features

  • GemAI email assistant 
  • Integrated calendar
  • Smart push notifications
  • Unified folders
  • Smart email clusters
  • Unified inbox for unlimited accounts
  • MagicSync (backup, restore, and transfer accounts between devices)
  • Task board for your emails 
  • One-click unsubscribe

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Ad-free, even on the free plan
  • Support any protocol, including IMAP, SMTP, Exchange ActiveSync, EWS, and POP3
  • Solid privacy and security features
  • Compatible with Android Wear and Apple Watch

👎🏻 Cons:

  • Third-party integrations available only on paid plans
  • Priority support available only on paid plans
  • AI-driven features available only on paid plans

💰 BlueMail Pricing

Bluemail offers a free forever plan. Its paid plans start at $5 per user per month or $49 per user per year. 

💬 BlueMail Reviews

Capterra Rating: 4.4/5

G2 Rating: 4.3/5

8. K-9 Mail – Open-Source Simplicity

alternatives to nine mail

K-9 Mail is an open-source email app for Android users designed to make it easy to receive and send large amounts of emails. It allows users to configure and manage multiple email accounts from any IMAP provider.

K-9 Mail is known for its simplicity and reliability. As an open-source app, it offers transparency, and its code is accessible for community-driven improvements. Plus, the app is completely free to use. 

🛠️ K-9 Mail Features

K-9 Mail focuses on providing a simple and minimalistic yet powerful interface for Android users to manage a large number of emails from multiple email accounts. Here are some of K-9 Mail’s core features

  • Unified inbox
  • Push IMAP support
  • GPG & PGP/MIME support
  • Per account notifications 
  • Signatures
  • BCC to self
  • Message flagging
  • Multiple identities
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Attachment saving
  • Emoji support
  • White and dark theme

👍🏻 Pros:

  • One of the few email apps that work with IMAP
  • Clean, minimalistic design and user interface
  • Robust email security protocols
  • Easy to use 

👎🏻 Cons:

  • The app can be slow and clunky
  • The interface isn’t very intuitive
  • Not available on iOS

💰 K-9 Mail Pricing

K-9 Mail is completely free to download and use on Android. 

💬 K-9 Mail Reviews

Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: 4.5/5

9. MailDroid – Feature-Rich Email Client

nine mail alternatives

MailDroid is an email app for iOS and Android that prioritizes user privacy by staying away from a back-end server that scrutinizes email content. MailDroid allows users to configure any POP, IMAP, or Exchange email accounts, enabling direct communication between the client and the server. 

With MailDroid, you can personalize your experience by toggling features such as PGP or sMIME encryption and customizing your entire interface with fun features like font size, colors, and ring tones. 

🛠️ MailDroid Features

MailDroid focuses on simplicity and email privacy with strong security protocols such as PGP and sMIME encryption. Here are some of MailDroid’s core features:

  • Custom mail rules
  • Spell check
  • Offline email search
  • Full WYSIWYG editor
  • Split screen for tablets
  • Calendar integration 
  • Cloud storage integration with Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive
  • Spam filter plugin
  • Email threaded mode
  • Multiple identities and aliases

👍🏻 Pros:

  • Simple, clean, and distraction-free interface
  • Customizable interface with font sizes, ring tones, colors, icons, etc.
  • Completely free to use

👎🏻 Cons:

  • ActiveSync not supported
  • Can be quite complex to use
  • Syncing issues
  • Not available on iOS

💰 MailDroid Pricing

MailDroid is completely free to download and use on Android. 

💬 MailDroid Reviews

Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: N/A

Alternatives to Nine Email, A Comparative Table

Features Canary Mail Aqua Mail Newton Mail Proton Mail Spark Thunderbird Blue Mail K-9 Mail MailDroid
Free Version
Storage 1GB 5GB
Pricing Canary mail pricing page $19.99/lifetime $49/year $3.99/month $4.99/month Free $5/month Free Free
AI    
Read Receipts    
Snooze Option
Biometric App Lock    
Push Notification for Important Email

Best Nine Mail Alternatives, the Bottom Line

Nine Email used to be a great email app for Android and iOS, but recently, its quality has declined. If you were a Nine Email user, you may have noticed that the app has become slower and more clunky over the last updates. 

What’s more, you may find that Nine Email doesn’t fulfill your growing email needs as it’s pretty basic and lacks modern features and integrations. 

Luckily, there are many excellent alternatives to Nine Email you can choose from. Whether you prioritize security, user experience, or advanced features like AI integration, there’s an alternative to Nine Email that’s perfect for you. Explore these options and find the email client that best suits your needs.

Nine Mail Competitors, the FAQs

❓What is Nine for Android?

Nine Email, developed by 9Folders Inc., is an email management app designed for Android and iOS. Nine Email offers seamless integration with Microsoft Exchange, making it an ideal choice for business users who rely on Exchange for email, calendars, and contacts.

❓Is Nine Email free?

No, Nine Email isn’t free. You can download and try it out for free for 14 days. However, if you want to use it after that, you’ll need to purchase a premium membership. The subscription plans start at $1.99 for 3 months or $2.99 for 6 months. You can also purchase a lifetime membership for $14.99. 

❓Is Nine Email compatible with IMAP email providers?

Yes, Nine Email supports IMAP. However, other Nine apps, such as Calendar or Contacts, don’t sync well with IMAP providers and only work with Exchange ActiveSync.  

Phoebe Brown
Phoebe Brown

As a British writer and productivity coach, I’m passionate about unraveling the intricacies of email, SaaS, and artificial intelligence. With a knack for making the complex simple, my work empowers individuals and teams to harness these tools for maximum impact.

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