IMAP Clients
An IMAP client is any piece of software that connects to a mail server using the Internet Message Access Protocol to read and manage messages.
This can be:
Desktop applications
Software you can download and run on your computer
- Thunderbird and forks like Postbox (now emClient)
- Outlook
- Apple Mail
- MailMaven - an information rich alternative to Apple Mail
Mobile apps
- iOS Mail
- Android mail apps
Webmail interface
Usually your service provider will set these up and send you your login credentials when your account is provisioned (example: [easyMail’s webmail][https://easymail.ca])
If you have the technical chops you could install one of these on your own VPS server and configure it connect to your email provider - your own or any IMAP system.
Commercial Web-based Platforms
These some of the better known cloud email providers - you access them through your web browser, but they all run IMAP under the hood, and in most cases you can also configure any IMAP-compatible client to connect to them.
Many of them will also allow you to run your email under a custom domain
Encrypted Email Providers
These will use IMAP under the hood with proprietary systems for encrypting data-at-rest
- Protonmail
- Hushmail
- Tuta (formerly Tutanota)
Over time we’ll use this page to catalogue common IMAP-capable clients, their quirks, and any protocol extensions they rely on.