Side by side
Balsa vs meli
Both stand on email clients. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan Linux
Balsa provides broad mailbox support, desktop email functions and message encryption without a listed charge. Its address-book limits and credential-storage differences depend on build configuration.
Visit Balsa
Free plan LinuxMac
meli offers broad mail-source support and a configurable terminal interface, with useful security features. Its read-only mbox support and limited all-email search are important constraints to weigh.
Visit meliThe facts
| Balsa | meli | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux | Linux, Mac |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | Not published |
| Plans published | None | None |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | gitlab.gnome.org | meli-email.org |
| On email clients | #115 of 142 | #111 of 142 |
Balsa: what it does well
- Free and open source under GPL-2.0-or-later
- Supports IMAP, POP3 and several local formats
- OpenPGP and S/MIME message protection
- TLS preferred over STARTTLS
- Can register as the system mailto handler
What to know first
- Linux desktop application only
- CardDAV support is limited
- Without libsecret, credential storage is not recommended
- Read-only LDAP address books
meli: what it does well
- Supports IMAP, Maildir, JMAP and NNTP/Usenet
- Offers configurable shortcuts, themes and tabs
- Includes TLS and GPG security features
- Available free under GPL-3.0
What to know first
- mbox access is read-only
- Cannot directly search across all email
- HTML rendering uses w3m by default