Balsa

Linux

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Freedom report

One barScore 5.1

Runs widely1 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Balsa is ranked #126 of 143 in email clients on Freedom251. It runs on Linux.

Compared on email clients

App coverage: desktop

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The record

Product: Balsa is a graphical email client and part of the GNOME desktop environment.
Mail protocols: Balsa supports IMAP, POP3, local mail folders, and sending through sendmail or direct SMTP.
Encryption: Balsa supports end-to-end message signing and encryption with OpenPGP or S/MIME, using GpgME and suitable cryptographic backends.
Mail features: The project lists multithreaded message retrieval and sending, automatic mail checking, printing, and inline attachment viewing among its features.
Address books: Balsa 2.6.5 added limited CardDAV address book support; its build options also include read-only LDAP address book support.
Security: Balsa prefers TLS connections over STARTTLS and offers optional DKIM and DMARC checks.
Credential storage: When built with libsecret, Balsa stores credentials through the desktop Secret Service; otherwise it stores them obfuscated in a config file, a method the project says is not recommended.
Recent release: The project lists version 2.6.5, released 2025-04-12, with fixes and improvements including IMAP connection handling and attachment saving.
Support: The project directs bug reports to its GitLab issue tracker and welcomes patches.
Known limitation: If mailbox dot locking is unavailable because of file permissions, Balsa opens the mailbox read-only.
License: The application metadata lists its project license as GPL-2.0-or-later.
Mail integration: Balsa can be used as the system mailto protocol handler, and its desktop file declares that capability by default.

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Email Clients in 2026#126 of 143

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Sources

github.com/GNOME/balsa· checked 5 Oct 2026
github.com/GNOME/balsa/blob/master/org.desktop.Bal· checked 5 Oct 2026
github.com/GNOME/balsa/blob/master/NEWS· checked 5 Oct 2026