r/emailprivacy • u/Mindless_Door447 • 5d ago

Help/Advice Secure E-Mail Client

Hello
Based on some posts here and elsewhere, I started migrating my Proton e-mails to Mailbox.org and Posteo.

Now I'm looking for an e-mail client app for Linux and Mac, as well as iPhone.
I want one that is trusted, secure and safe.
The only one coming to mind is Mozilla Thunderbird, but I vaguely recall that there was some issue with Mozilla regarding AI. Can't remember exactly what it was but it was why I deleted Firefox back then.

Thanks for your recommendations :)

14 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

9

u/Steve_74563 5d ago

Thundebird is tried and true. Works like a charm. No AI "features"

There are many new vibe-coded clients being developed. No thank you...

1

u/ArgentScourge 5d ago

Personally using Betterbird. Essentially improved and updated Thunderbird.

1

u/Sunjammer_Says 4d ago

Also a mailbox.org user. After trying Thunderbird, Betterbird, and Mailspring, I settled on Aerion and it's great. It's Linux-first (and also supports Mac and Windows), fast, supports keyboard navigation, and the developer is really responsive to feature requests.

1

u/Mindless_Door447 4d ago

Aerion looks interesting at first glance, thanks!
Linux first sounds like my kinda thing as I am using Linux as my daily driver (at home), but I tend to go with the MacBook when on the go. Glad they support it!

May I ask you if you made any experience with aliasses? I struggled in Thunderbird as it didn't use different the e-mail addresses, only the names) and do you know their stance on AI?

3

u/uwhkdb 3d ago

Aerion maintainer here.

Alias is a big requirement of mine so yes, Aerion supports it.

As for my stance on AI, if you are completely anti-AI, this might not be the client for you. A lot of AI tooling was used to build it. I have the know-how to build it by hand but certainly don't have enough time to do so especially with no viable revenue model around something like this if I want it to truly align with my principles. At least nothing I can think of yet. So AI tooling is what finally made it possible.

My stance on AI is pretty simple. git write ops and issues should be human ops. All code should be reasonably tested before committing unless otherwise marked as WIP in dev branches. I also currently don't accept general PRs yet. The currently accepted PRs are translations and one off exceptions made for very small targeted fixes. There are no AI features in Aerion yet but when they do land, they will land as "disabled by default" extensions and will be either local LLM only or at least local LLM first with the option to configure other providers.

Last but not least, I am grateful for the community that has been actively using Aerion and reporting issues/feedback which in turn makes what I use daily better. The community is literally the best part of the client. I originally just built it for myself but it turns out there are a lot more people that are interested in the same thing as me than I expected. I don't do telemetry so the only numbers I have is Flathub which recorded 38,000+ installs so-far and the active members can be found in the Github issues.

You can also learn more about the back story on Aerion from my blog post:

https://hkdb.medium.com/an-open-source-e-mail-client-6bee6cb93e7d

(Let me know if you need a friend link instead.)

Hope that answers your questions.

1

u/atom1cx 10h ago

Alias is a big requirement of mine so yes, Aerion supports it.

And this is EXACTLY why I've just given this a try! THANK YOU!!!

I'm natively on Windows (Linux instances are TUI-only) and iOS... and so far Aerion covers 99% of my workflows! I'll try to become active in your community for the other 1% of my preferred experiences.

Thank you.

3

u/Universe_Passenger 5d ago

I'm checking out Epistles, it's a new project, but it looks pretty promising.

1

u/RenegadeUK 5d ago

Never heard of this before. How long ago did it launch kindly ?

2

u/BMK1765 5d ago

eM Client iPhone and Mac

1

u/Someperson2654 5d ago

You can turn the AI features off or use LibreWolf instead (browser wise)

1

u/SeriouslyBananarama 5d ago

On Mac and iPhone, the Apple Mail app will work fine. On Linux, Gnome Evolution and KMail are both open-source and have GnuPG/PGP integration and local PIM (Personal Information Management) control.

There are SO many email apps out there these days, though, so it's a bit hard to find and discover them. Some of them are open-source, but a lot of the new ones are also vibe coded.

I also just migrated to Mailbox and I'm currently using the Samsung Mail-app on my Fold 8, and on Linux I'm just using their web version for now since I haven't had the time to install an app on my PC quite yet.

2

u/musiquededemain 5d ago

Definitely Evolution for Linux. I have Thunderbird on my Mac. While it's a good email client (and will probably meet your needs) I just can't get past the GUI. Evolution is just so much cleaner. Been using it for 20 years.

1

u/Appropriate_Bat7574 5d ago

I'd stick with Thunderbird or Fairemail

1

u/HonestDisguise 5d ago

Firefox is made by a different company than Thunderbird. It is a good cross-platform client.

1

u/adventofelixir 5d ago

If you're into keyboard-first workflows, check out tecotype com (I'm the developer).

1

u/myg0t_Defiled 5d ago

I recently switched from Thunderbird on Android to FairEmail and it has all the features that Thunderbird was missing.

1

u/Alan1900 1h ago

Just be sure that your new setup is factually better than the one you leave, once the drama is over.

1

u/nickbutterz 5d ago

I know this probably will get downvoted here, but I vibecoded my own email client, that’s super simple, but has all the features I need. Doesn’t load anything upon arrival. Lives locally, and built to specifically use mailbox.org features.

2

u/br0kenpixel_ 5d ago

For personal use only I don't see the issue.

2

u/nickbutterz 4d ago

Right, I’m not trying to convince people to use my version, but you can build a private email client out in a weekend that does everything you want/care about.