The Best Email Client for Mac in 2026: 10 Apps Compared

Short answer: if Apple Mail already handles your accounts, it's a good free default, and on an Apple silicon Mac it now has Apple Intelligence built in. Pick Outlook if your work runs on Microsoft 365, Mimestream if every account is Gmail, and Thunderbird if you want a free, open-source app with PGP. Canary Mail is our pick if you want AI, read receipts and encryption across Gmail, Outlook, iCloud and any other account in one app, on Mac and iPhone.

Disclosure: we make Canary Mail, the first app on this list. We've listed its downsides too. Every price and feature below was checked on the vendor's own site or Mac App Store listing on October 8, 2026.

This guide covers Mac apps only. If you use an iPhone too, see our guide to the best email app for iPhone; if you just want to replace Apple Mail, our Apple Mail alternatives guide is shorter.

Quick picks: the best email client for Mac by need

• Best overall for AI and encryption across any provider: Canary Mail
• Best free, built-in option: Apple Mail
• Best for Microsoft 365 and Exchange: Microsoft Outlook
• Best for a smart inbox and small teams: Spark
• Best for Gmail and Google Workspace: Mimestream
• Best free, open-source option: Thunderbird
• Best for customizing every action: Airmail
• Best for keyboard-first speed: Superhuman Mail
• Best simple, free app that also runs on Windows and Linux: Mailspring
• Best for power users who live in the keyboard and Markdown: MailMate

Mac email clients compared

"Accounts" is the mail the app can manage. Mimestream and Superhuman only work with some providers, which matters if you have an iCloud or work IMAP address as well.

The 10 best email clients for Mac in 2026

1. Canary Mail: Best for AI and encryption across all your accounts

Disclosure: we make Canary Mail. We've tried to give it the same treatment as the other apps here, downsides included.

Canary works with Gmail, Outlook and Microsoft 365, Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo and any IMAP account, and the free plan doesn't cap how many you add. Its AI drafts replies, summarizes long threads and sorts incoming mail. Tracker blocking is on by default, and it's one of the few Mac apps with read receipts and PGP encryption built in. More than 2 million people use it, and Apple has featured it on the App Store and the Mac App Store.

• Who it's for: people with accounts at more than one provider who want AI, read receipts and encryption in one app on Mac and iPhone
• Price: free for unlimited accounts on up to 2 devices. Growth is $36/year (AI writing and summaries, read receipts, send later, calendar, 5 devices). Pro+ is $100/year and adds PGP, SecureSend encrypted email, and phishing and impersonation detection. Both have a 7-day trial and are also sold as lifetime licenses ($100 and $300).
• Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android
• Standout features: AI drafting and summaries, a unified inbox, read receipts, snooze, send later, and PGP without plug-ins
• Downside: AI writing and the advanced features are on paid plans, which are billed yearly or as a lifetime license, with no monthly option. The free plan covers two devices, so a Mac, an iPhone and an iPad need Growth.

More on privacy: our guide to a secure email client for Mac.

2. Apple Mail: Best free, built-in option

Apple Mail comes with every Mac, works with any provider, and covers most of what people used to need a third-party app for. It sorts mail into Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, can schedule a message, gives you 10 seconds to undo a send by default, and resurfaces sent mail that hasn't had a reply. Mail Privacy Protection hides your IP address and stops senders from seeing when you open their mail.

On a Mac with Apple silicon, Apple Intelligence adds Writing Tools, email summaries, Smart Reply and Priority Messages. macOS 27 adds Personalized Writing, which drafts replies in your own style, and search that finds results based on what you mean, not only the words you type. See AI in Apple Mail for how these work.

• Who it's for: most people, especially if your mail is on iCloud or one provider and you don't need extras
• Price: free
• Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro
• Standout features: categories, Send Later, Undo Send, Mail Privacy Protection, Apple Intelligence
• Downside: Apple Intelligence needs an Apple silicon Mac and a supported language, and Intel Macs can't run macOS 27. There are no read receipts (see read receipts in Apple Mail), no templates and no shared inbox, and encryption is S/MIME only, with no PGP. It's Apple-only, so it can't follow you to a Windows PC or Android phone.

3. Microsoft Outlook: Best for Microsoft 365 and Exchange

The new Outlook for Mac is a native app that Microsoft says was rebuilt from the ground up for the Mac. It's the natural choice if your work email, calendar and contacts are on Microsoft 365: shared calendars, Focused Inbox and rules all behave the way your company set them up. It's also free for Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo and IMAP accounts.

With a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium plan, Copilot can summarize threads and draft replies, including for Gmail and iCloud accounts added to Outlook. If you still use legacy Outlook for Mac, Microsoft says it stops working with Exchange Online mailboxes from October 2026.

• Who it's for: anyone whose work runs on Microsoft 365 or Exchange
• Price: free with ads. Microsoft 365 Basic ($19.99/year) removes the ads; Copilot needs Personal ($99.99/year) or higher
• Platforms: Mac (macOS 14 or later), Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, web
• Standout features: calendar and contacts in one app, Focused Inbox, rules, S/MIME, Copilot on paid plans
• Downside: the free version shows ads, and send later, read receipts and Copilot all need a Microsoft 365 plan. Some features for Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud accounts work by syncing them through Microsoft's cloud.

Choosing between the two built-in options? See Apple Mail vs Outlook, or our list of Outlook alternatives for Mac.

4. Spark: Best for a smart inbox and small teams

Spark's Smart Inbox puts mail from people above newsletters and notifications, and Gatekeeper lets you approve new senders before they reach your inbox. Teams can write shared drafts and comment on emails privately. The paid plans add Spark +AI for writing and summaries, plus AI meeting notes.

One Mac-specific detail: Readdle built the current Spark for Mac with Electron, so the same app runs on Windows. Readdle itself says the interface might be a bit slower than a native one.

• Who it's for: people who want an inbox sorted for them, and small teams that share email
• Price: free for unlimited accounts. Plus is $10/month or $99/year and Pro $20/month or $199/year, per user, with a 7-day trial
• Platforms: Mac (macOS 12 or later), iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android
• Standout features: Smart Inbox, Gatekeeper, send later, shared drafts and private comments, Spark +AI
• Downside: the AI and team features are on per-user paid plans, the Mac app isn't native, and some mail data (such as scheduled and shared messages) passes through Readdle's servers.

More: Apple Mail vs Spark and Spark alternatives.

5. Mimestream: Best for Gmail and Google Workspace

Google doesn't make a Gmail app for Mac, and Mimestream is the closest thing to one. It's a native Mac app built on the Gmail API, so labels, filters, categories and Gmail search work the way they do in Gmail. You also get a unified inbox for several Google accounts, profiles, aliases, templates, snooze and tracker blocking, and your data stays on your Mac.

• Who it's for: people whose accounts are all Gmail or Google Workspace and who want a Mac app instead of a browser tab
• Price: $4.99/month or $49.99/year after a 14-day trial with no card
• Platforms: Mac only (macOS 12 or later; Mimestream says future versions will need macOS 14)
• Standout features: Gmail labels and categories, unified inbox, profiles, aliases, keyboard shortcuts
• Downside: it only works with Gmail and Google Workspace, there's no iPhone app yet, and there's no free plan.

More: Apple Mail vs Mimestream and the best Gmail app for Mac and iPhone.

6. Mozilla Thunderbird: Best free, open-source option

Thunderbird is free, open source and funded by donations. It handles IMAP and POP accounts, has a calendar, contacts, tasks and an RSS reader built in, and supports OpenPGP and S/MIME encryption without plug-ins. Recent versions added native Microsoft Exchange email over Exchange Web Services (version 145) and Microsoft Graph (version 154).

• Who it's for: people who want a full-featured free client with PGP and don't mind a less Mac-like look
• Price: free
• Platforms: Mac (macOS 10.15 or later, Intel or Apple silicon), Windows, Linux, Android; an iPhone app is in development
• Standout features: OpenPGP and S/MIME, calendar, add-ons, unified folders
• Downside: it's built on Mozilla's own platform, so it doesn't look or feel like a Mac app. Exchange support covers email only, not Exchange calendars or contacts yet.

More: Apple Mail vs Thunderbird.

7. Airmail: Best for customizing every action

Airmail won an Apple Design Award in 2017 and is still one of the most configurable Mac mail apps. You can build custom actions and swipe gestures, use smart folders, write in Markdown, script it with AppleScript, and send emails to apps like Fantastical and OmniFocus. In 2026 it added a way to connect your mail to AI assistants, which runs on your Mac.

• Who it's for: people who like to set up every button and shortcut themselves
• Price: free for one account. Pro is $7.99/month or $49.99/year on the Mac App Store (the iPhone App Store lists $39.99/year)
• Platforms: Mac (macOS 14.6 or later), iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro
• Standout features: custom actions, smart folders, Markdown, AppleScript, app integrations
• Downside: the free version handles only one account, and setting it up the way you want takes time. There's no Windows or Android app.

More: Airmail alternatives.

8. Superhuman Mail: Best for keyboard-first speed

Superhuman is built around keyboard shortcuts and Split Inbox, which divides mail into streams like Important, Calendar and Other. AI writes and summarizes email and applies labels automatically, and the Business plan adds AI drafts that match your tone. Grammarly bought Superhuman in 2025 and later renamed the whole company Superhuman, so the email app is now called Superhuman Mail.

• Who it's for: people who handle a lot of email, use Gmail or Microsoft 365, and will pay for speed
• Price: Starter $25/month billed yearly or $30 monthly; Business $33/month billed yearly or $40 monthly; no free plan
• Platforms: Mac, Windows, web, iPhone, iPad, Android
• Standout features: keyboard shortcuts, Split Inbox, AI writing and summaries, reminders, send later
• Downside: it's the most expensive app here, it only works with Gmail and Microsoft 365, and it isn't a native Mac app (its team has said the desktop app is built on Electron). There's no PGP.

More: Superhuman alternatives.

9. Mailspring: Best simple, free app that also runs on Windows and Linux

Mailspring is a free, open-source client (GPL-3.0) with a clean unified inbox, fast search, signatures, undo send and themes. It connects Gmail, Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com, iCloud, Yahoo and any IMAP account. The October 2026 update rewrote syncing and added a calendar with day and week views. Pro adds read receipts, link tracking, send later, snooze, templates and follow-up reminders.

• Who it's for: people who want a free app that looks the same on a Mac, a Windows PC and Linux
• Price: free for unlimited accounts; Pro $8/month
• Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux; no mobile app
• Standout features: unified inbox, search, themes, read receipts and send later on Pro
• Downside: it's an Electron app, it doesn't support Exchange protocols, and it can't show Gmail's category tabs. There's no iPhone app to pair it with.

10. MailMate: Best for power users who live in the keyboard and Markdown

MailMate is a Mac-only IMAP client from a one-person company in Copenhagen. It's made for people who want control: you write in Markdown, drive everything from the keyboard, build smart mailboxes from detailed search conditions, and sign and encrypt with OpenPGP or S/MIME.

• Who it's for: technical users with IMAP accounts who want a keyboard-driven app and don't care about AI
• Price: $10 every 3 months. If you stop paying, it switches to a Free Mode that the developer says is almost identical
• Platforms: Mac only
• Standout features: Markdown composing, keyboard control, smart mailboxes, OpenPGP and S/MIME
• Downside: development has slowed. The last public release is more than five years old, users are pointed to 2.0 betas, and the newest test build we found is from October 2025. It's IMAP only, with no AI, and the interface looks dated.

More: MailMate alternatives.

Also worth a look

• Dove: an AI email app from the team behind Canary (disclosure: that's us). It sorts your inbox and drafts replies across Gmail, Microsoft 365 and IMAP, on Mac, iPhone, Android, Windows and the web. The free plan includes 10 AI actions a day; Pro is $20/month or $200/year. It needs macOS 15.6 or later.
• Shortwave: an AI-first client with an assistant that searches, summarizes and drafts. Gmail and Google Workspace only. Free plan; Pro $18/month.
• Mailbird: the Windows client now has a Mac version (macOS 14 or later). Free for one account; on the Mac App Store, Premium is $34.49/year or $159 once.
• eM Client: an Outlook-style app with mail, calendar and contacts, and PGP on every plan. Free for two accounts for personal use; Personal is $19.95/year. See eM Client alternatives.
• Proton Mail: an encrypted email service, not a client for your existing accounts. Its Mac app comes with paid plans (Mail Plus $4.99/month). See the best secure email apps.
• Gmail on the web: Google has no Gmail app for Mac. Gmail's offline mode works in Chrome only, so most people add their Gmail account to one of the apps above. See Apple Mail vs Gmail.
• Missive: a shared team inbox with internal chat. No free plan; from $14 per user/month billed yearly.
• Spike: shows email as chat-style conversations. Free for one address; Pro $6 per user/month billed yearly.
• HEY: its own email service ($99/year) with a Screener that decides who can reach you, rather than a client for the accounts you have.

What is the best free email client for Mac?

For most people it's Apple Mail: it's already installed, has no ads and no account limit, and on an Apple silicon Mac it includes Apple Intelligence at no extra cost. If you want something else for free:

• Thunderbird is the most complete free option, with a calendar and PGP encryption.
• Mailspring is simpler and also runs on Windows and Linux.
• Canary Mail and Spark have free plans with unlimited accounts; their AI is on paid plans.
• Outlook is free but shows ads unless you have Microsoft 365.

Our free email clients guide compares them across Mac, Windows and phones.

The best Mac email app for your email provider

• Gmail and Google Workspace: Mimestream if every account is Gmail. If you also have non-Google accounts, Apple Mail, Canary or Spark handle Gmail alongside them.
• Microsoft 365, Outlook.com and Exchange: Outlook, especially for shared calendars and company rules.
• iCloud Mail: Apple Mail needs no setup once you sign in with your Apple Account. Every app on this list except Mimestream and Superhuman can add an iCloud address too.
• Other IMAP mail (Fastmail, your own domain, your ISP): Apple Mail, Canary, Thunderbird, Airmail, Mailspring and MailMate all work with standard IMAP.

Apple doesn't recommend an email provider. Its own service is iCloud Mail, which comes with 5 GB of free storage, and Mail sets up iCloud, Google, Exchange and Yahoo accounts automatically, plus any other IMAP or POP account.

Native Mac apps vs web-based desktop apps

Some Mac email apps are written specifically for macOS. Others are built with web technology such as Electron, so one codebase can also run on Windows. Both work. Native apps usually fit in better with macOS menus, shortcuts and system features like Handoff, while web-based apps look the same on every computer.

• Native: Apple Mail, Outlook, Mimestream and Airmail. MailMate is also Mac-only.
• Built on Electron: Spark (Readdle says so), Mailspring (it's in its open-source code) and Superhuman (according to its team).
• Mozilla platform: Thunderbird uses the same engine as Firefox.

Also check the macOS version an app needs before you switch. macOS 27 runs only on Apple silicon Macs, so if you have an Intel Mac, you're on macOS 26 or earlier without Apple Intelligence. Thunderbird supports macOS 10.15 and later, Canary, Spark and Mimestream macOS 12, Outlook macOS 14, and Airmail macOS 14.6.

Is Apple Mail good enough?

For many people, yes. If you have one or two accounts, use Apple devices only, and don't need read receipts, templates or PGP, Apple Mail covers the basics well, and on an Apple silicon Mac it now summarizes threads and suggests replies too. It's worth switching if you:

• work in Microsoft 365 all day: Outlook
• use only Gmail and want labels to work properly: Mimestream
• want AI, read receipts and PGP across several providers, on Mac and iPhone: Canary Mail
• share email with a small team: Spark
• need encryption for free: Thunderbird

How we chose

We started from what people search for and recommend in Mac forums, and looked at each app's Mac App Store listing, pricing page and documentation. We ranked apps on what matters on a Mac: which accounts they support, whether they're built for macOS, privacy and encryption, AI features, free plan limits and price. Every app here has a current Mac version. MailMate's updates have slowed, and we kept it anyway because nothing else does Markdown and keyboard control as well; its downside says so plainly.

Canary Mail is ranked first because it's our product and the one we know best; we've listed its downsides the same way as everyone else's. Prices change often, so check the vendor's page before you buy.

FAQ

What is the best email client for Mac?

Apple Mail is the best free default. Outlook is best for Microsoft 365, Mimestream for Gmail-only setups, and Thunderbird for a free open-source app with PGP. If you want AI, read receipts and encryption across every provider on Mac and iPhone, we recommend Canary Mail (which we make).

What is the best free email client for Mac?

Apple Mail: it's built in, free and has no account limit. Thunderbird is the best free alternative, and Canary Mail, Spark and Mailspring have free plans with unlimited accounts.

Is there a better email app than Apple Mail?

It depends on what Apple Mail is missing for you. For Microsoft 365, try Outlook; for Gmail labels, Mimestream; for AI, read receipts and PGP across providers, Canary Mail; for team features, Spark. If Apple Mail already covers your accounts, it's a good free choice.

What email provider does Apple recommend?

Apple doesn't recommend one. Its own service is iCloud Mail, with 5 GB of free storage, and Apple Mail sets up iCloud, Google, Exchange and Yahoo accounts automatically and works with any other IMAP or POP account.

Is Apple Mail or Outlook better on a Mac?

Apple Mail is free, ad-free and native, with Apple Intelligence on Apple silicon Macs. Outlook is better if your work runs on Microsoft 365, with calendar, contacts and Focused Inbox in one app, but the free version shows ads. More in Apple Mail vs Outlook.

Is there a Gmail app for Mac?

Not from Google. You can use Gmail in a browser (offline mode works in Chrome only), add your Gmail account to Apple Mail or another client, or use Mimestream, a paid Mac app built only for Gmail.

Which Mac email apps support PGP encryption?

Thunderbird (free), Canary Mail (Pro+) and MailMate have PGP built in. Apple Mail and Outlook support S/MIME, but not PGP.

Can I use these apps on an Intel Mac?

Most of them, yes, but macOS 27 and Apple Intelligence need an Apple silicon Mac. Thunderbird runs on macOS 10.15 or later; Canary, Spark and Mimestream need macOS 12; Outlook needs macOS 14.

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Sources

• Apple: macOS 27 compatible computers
• Apple: What's new in Mail on Mac (macOS 27)
• Apple: Apple Intelligence requirements
• Apple: Mail categories
• Apple: Send Later and Undo Send in Mail
• Apple: Mail privacy and security
• Apple: iCloud data security overview (S/MIME)
• Apple: add email accounts to Mail
• Microsoft: Outlook for Mac licensing
• Microsoft: Outlook for Mac features
• Microsoft: Microsoft 365 Basic
• Microsoft: end of support for legacy Outlook for Mac
• Outlook on the Mac App Store
• Spark pricing
• Readdle: the new Spark desktop app (Electron)
• Mimestream pricing
• Thunderbird system requirements
• Thunderbird: native Exchange email support
• Thunderbird: Microsoft Graph support
• Airmail on the Mac App Store
• Superhuman Mail plans
• Superhuman: supported account types
• Mailspring supported providers
• Mailspring and Gmail categories
• Mailspring source code
• MailMate pricing
• MailMate downloads and releases
• Dove pricing
• Shortwave pricing
• Proton Mail desktop app
• Google: use Gmail offline
• Canary Mail pricing