# Alternatives to FairEmail

Privacy-first Android email.

FairEmail ranks #7 of 22 in Email clients, with an Alt Score of 87. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Android. 10 of 11 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/fairemail/
Category: Email clients

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Android users, particularly technically inclined and privacy-conscious ones, who want a fully featured email client without ads, analytics, or third-party data collection.
- **What you get**: A standards-based IMAP/SMTP email app supporting unlimited accounts and addresses in a unified inbox, with conversation threading, offline storage, and OpenPGP/S-MIME encryption. It includes phishing safeguards like message reformatting and confirmation prompts before loading images or opening links. The app is open source, ad-free, and does not track users or store data on third-party servers.
- **How it works**: You add one or more existing email accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or any IMAP/SMTP provider) via quick setup, and FairEmail syncs and stores messages locally on the device, using IMAP IDLE for push updates. Mail is read and organized through a unified inbox or per-account folders within the app.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-12)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-12)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-12)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [eM Client](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/em-client.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [BlueMail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bluemail.md) | 92 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 3 | [Canary Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/canary-mail.md) | 92 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [The Bat!](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/the-bat.md) | 92 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 5 | [Apple Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/apple-mail.md) | 87 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS |
| 6 | [Mailbird](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mailbird.md) | 87 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 7 | [Evolution](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/evolution.md) | 84 | LGPL-2.1 | Linux |
| 8 | [Mailspring](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mailspring.md) | 84 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 9 | [Missive](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/missive.md) | 84 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 10 | [Outlook](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/outlook.md) | 84 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 11 | [Thunderbird](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/thunderbird.md) | 76 | MPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 12 | [Spark](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/spark.md) | 71 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 13 | [NeoMutt](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/neomutt.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Linux, macOS |
| 14 | [Shortwave](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/shortwave.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS |
| 15 | [Postbox](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/postbox.md) | 63 | Proprietary | macOS, Windows |
| 16 | [Mimestream](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mimestream.md) | 60 | Proprietary | macOS |
| 17 | [Aqua Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aqua-mail.md) | 55 | Proprietary | Android |
| 18 | [Superhuman](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/superhuman.md) | 55 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 19 | [Geary](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/geary.md) | 50 | LGPL-2.1-or-later | Linux |
| 20 | [K-9 Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/k-9-mail.md) | 47 | Apache-2.0 | Android |
| 21 | [aerc](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aerc.md) | 42 | MIT | Linux, macOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Email clients checklist | FairEmail | eM Client | BlueMail | Canary Mail | The Bat! | Apple Mail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | One-time | Free |
| Starts at | ? | €39.95/year | ? | $3/month | €47.95 one-time (Home Edition) | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Android | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Windows | macOS, iOS |
| Protocols (IMAP / POP3 / JMAP / Exchange) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Unified inbox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Snooze & send later | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Tracking pixel blocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PGP / encryption support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Conversation view | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rules & filters (local) | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar integrated | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Multiple identities/aliases | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Keyboard-first shortcuts | ? | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial |

## Sources

Sources for FairEmail. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://email.faircode.eu/pro/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “You can get all current and future pro features without Google's services and support the project by donating € 0.10 or more.”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Fully featured, open source, privacy oriented email app for Android”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 3, 29 June 2007”
- **Platforms**: Android — <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.email> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “FairEmail, privacy aware email”
- **Protocols (IMAP / POP3 / JMAP / Exchange)**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Using open standards (IMAP, POP3, SMTP, OpenPGP, S/MIME, etc.)”
- **Unified inbox**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Unified inbox (optionally accounts or folders)”
- **Snooze & send later**: Yes — <https://email.faircode.eu/pro/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Snooze messages, Send messages after selected time”
- **Tracking pixel blocking**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Attempt to recognize and disable tracking images”
- **PGP / encryption support**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Encryption/decryption supported (OpenPGP and S/MIME)”
- **Conversation view**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Conversation threading”
- **Offline mode**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Offline storage and operations”
- **Rules & filters (local)**: Yes — <https://email.faircode.eu/pro/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Filter rules”
- **Calendar integrated**: Partial — <https://email.faircode.eu/pro/> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Accept/decline calendar invitations, Add message to calendar”
- **Multiple identities/aliases**: Yes — <https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/FAQ.md> (verified 2026-07-12)
  - Quote: “Identities represent email addresses you are sending *from* via an email (SMTP) server”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/